dfschmidt.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

The Euclid Space Telescope just found a particularly beautiful example of an Einstein ring (a gravitational lensing effect) around the galaxy NGC 6505. Source: doi.org/10.1051/0004...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

The moon and Mars last night.

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

2024 was the warmest year on record. As usual, Carbon Breif has an excellent summary. www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the...

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

Two stages of the same sunset.

submitted 46 days ago • 0 comments

Freezing rain followed by clear blue skies made a beautiful scene yesterday.

submitted 48 days ago • 0 comments

Ever seen iceberg pictures like this? This configuration would be inherently unstable and the berg would probably rotate. You can try it yourself and draw a similar berg (or any other shape) here: joshdata.me/iceberger.html

submitted 55 days ago • 1 comment

Happy New Year everyone!

submitted 55 days ago • 0 comments

I write squiggles on a whiteboard to help students understand the deep secrets of the universe.

submitted 56 days ago • 0 comments

I recently started reading this book on the philosophy of astrophysics (as far as I know, the only one ever published on the subject) and I have to say, it's been fascinating. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

submitted 57 days ago • 0 comments

Altocumulus at sunset

submitted 60 days ago • 0 comments

Persistent contrails contribute to global warming, but they can be avoided with only small adjustments to flights. www.nature.com/articles/s44...

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

submitted 69 days ago • 0 comments

Two years ago I enrolled in an online MSc program in astrophysics at Liverpool-John Moores University to pursue a longtime interest. I finished the program this semester and just got the diploma today.

submitted 73 days ago • 0 comments

Hello! I'm a math professor and love teaching. I also have a background in climate science and astrophysics, and I am fascinated by planetary atmospheres, stellar interiors, and the parallels between them. I'll be posting here on astronomy and climate science.

submitted 75 days ago • 0 comments

I found an interesting recent study of current drought and precipitation changes in the context of natural variability. It compares paleoclimate records (distant past) instrumental records (recent past) and model projections (future). agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

submitted 79 days ago • 1 comment

Sunset last night

submitted 81 days ago • 0 comments

The Northern Hemisphere winter solstice is on December 21, but meteorological winter begins today and ends on the last day of February. This definition corresponds more closely to the coldest time of the year. Happy first day of winter everyone!

submitted 85 days ago • 0 comments

With Northern Hemisphere winter approaching, sunrise times are getting later, which means it is now easier to watch a sunrise. I recommend it.

submitted 88 days ago • 0 comments

If climate change can exacerbate wildfires, why has burn area decreased? According to this modelling study, climate change has contributed a 16% increase in burned area, but this was more than canceled by the 19% decrease due to land-use changes. www.carbonbrief.org/climate-chan...

submitted 89 days ago • 0 comments

In honor of Blue Sky, I bring you...a blue sky, with subtle wave clouds--probably atmospheric gravity waves.

submitted 91 days ago • 0 comments

Every galaxy in this image could host millions of inhabited planets teeming with countless life forms of every imaginable variety... or they may all be completely sterile. The universe looks very different depending on which of those options is correct, and we really don’t know which it is.

submitted 94 days ago • 1 comment

Venus just after sunset yesterday.

submitted 94 days ago • 0 comments

The greenhouse effect of CO2 has been known from experiments since the 1850s, but now it can also be calculated from first principles using quantum mechanics: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

submitted 99 days ago • 0 comments

Sundogs and cirrostratus over central Virginia earlier this week. I suspect that many of us in the atmospheric sciences got started because we looked up at something like this and wondered what was going on up there.

submitted 100 days ago • 0 comments

Hello everyone! I am moving in from Twitter and hoping to find some of the insightful conversations we once had there. I specialize in climate science and large-scale atmospheric circulation, but more recently I am teaching full-time in a math department and doing research when time allows.

submitted 101 days ago • 1 comment