sam ✅🇬🇪
@sam@chven.us
sam ✅🇬🇪
@sam@chven.us
Alt...
(Old painting of a smiling woman holding a fan) I just learned the professional way to say "I told you so": "This was identified early on as a likely outcome."
The weather outside is beautiful, but I am feeling sicker and sicker.
Slight fever, joint aches, etc.
Thank Cthulhu for work from home days.
@ParadeGrotesque Hope you feel better soon
@ParadeGrotesque the flu that's going around is brutal. hope you feel better soon!
@ParadeGrotesque I hope whatever it is mild and your recovery is swift.
A very ambitious European High Speed Rail network planned by the Commission. One ticketing app, one Railway Area. This would be amazing. From Lisbon to Luhansk with one ticket
OH yeah love ending my workday with a surprise National Geographic interview about the Saturn moons that I helped discover by accidentally pointing the CFHT telescope at Saturn. Definitely my most scientifically productive whoopsie ever.
128!!!! New!!! MOONS!!
Happy Moon Day!
@sundogplanets
What defines a moon?
Is there a minimum size limit or some other property?
Obviously, the small fragments that make up Saturn's rings don't count as moons.
Do we have orbital parameters for these new moons?
Names?
@AkaSci @sundogplanets Obi-wan defines what a moon is. 😇
@AkaSci Paper here with some of them (I'm not a co-author, just an observer, whoopsie) https://arxiv.org/pdf/2503.07081
There's another paper coming soon, possibly tomorrow.
All led by Edward Ashton, a very talented postdoc at ASIAA!
@AkaSci And yeah, this is definitely going to push to some kind of Pluto situation where the IAU is going to have to define a moon!
@sundogplanets Hehehe lol! Quite a whoopsy. Love it!
To be very clear, I am really truly only involved in this discovery by accidentally pointing the telescope at Saturn when I was trying to look for TNOs. Edward Ashton, Brett Gladman, Mike Alexandersen, and Jean-Marc Petit did all the work!
@sundogplanets SIXTY-FOUR new Saturn moons?!?! That's *amazing*.
@sundogplanets Better than causing people to think there are aliens in specific galaxies because you were heating up your lunch in the microwave?
Someone already updated Wikipedia! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moons_of_Saturn
I love wikipedians.
@sundogplanets You made Dr Kirsten Banks very happy. :) :)https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHE95vNhrBf/
Way more moons of Saturn
https://imgur.com/IjHWg3y
@sundogplanets
Somebody should tell Saturn they're just making a fool of themselves...
I've had like 3 co-workers text or email me about this interview this morning, so I guess I should share it. This is the one that I thought was for radio so I didn't even brush my hair. New rule for myself: always assume it's a video interview!
Came out pretty good though, overall I'm happy with it
Brilliant! This is an excellent piece 👏👍
What's so good about your way of talking to people is that you come across as so approachable, so human, and that you ABSOLUTELY KNOW what you're talking about because you have researched and researched and researched!
Your words are worth listening to/reading 👍
Amazingly talented fediverse astrophotographers: gorgeous, perfectly exposed and processed telescope images
Me, a professional astronomer: accidentally points a 4 meter telescope at Saturn for a series of 5 minute exposures
Alt...
A really messy black and white image with an extremely bright, overexposed thing in the centre and bright vertical smudges bleeding up and down because all the pixels have filled with electrons and spilled over. This is a tiny part of a Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Megacam full camera field.
@sundogplanets Maybe you found some more moons. 😁
@sundogplanets this looks pretty cool though! 
@sundogplanets Saturn was just rude for getting in the way of your pictures 😁
@sundogplanets
Well... I guess they're not going to let you point the JWST anytime soon...
@sundogplanets Science isn't always cosmetically pretty!
@sundogplanets That is spectacular!
@sundogplanets I'm sure a little Russ Croman magic in PixInsight will clean that right up! 🪐
During my first own observing run (ESO Danish 1.5m telescope on La Silla), which I meticulously prepared, I only learned mid 1st night that I was expected to focus the telescope.
@knud oh nooooo! That makes me feel better.
@sundogplanets honestly, this would look great as a big poster.
@sundogplanets abstract astronomy
@sundogplanets
I love the stark contrast in that image.
Some may find it overly abstract, but I think if photography can be art then there's no point in complaining about "unrealistic" looks.
The interpretation of the subject reminds me of 1980s video games, many of which, fittingly, were set in space.
@sundogplanets Ringed by moons?!
@sundogplanets Still, fun!
@sundogplanets okay the goat selfie is an instant follow - came for astronomy, stayed for goat selfies
@sundogplanets
"Accidentally" : -) If I was a telescope-managing astronomer, the telescope would "accidentally" be pointing at Saturn regularly. I'm kinda partial to Saturn and it's rings.
@sundogplanets Nothing wrong with plain old fashioned luck!
Congrats on the interview!
@sundogplanets Irregular moons are the most interesting giant planet satellites and that is a hill I will die on
@sundogplanets Genius in the errors! Goddess in (whatever you do Normally) or, -employed
@sundogplanets sounds like some new KSP content is in order! They have a lot of planters bodies to add since their last update now!
@sundogplanets That's very cool.
@sundogplanets Saturn was like... screw you humans, you don't have enough deities to name all my moons! Here's 128 more lol
@sundogplanets Stone. Cold. Awesome.
@sundogplanets My favorite words in science: “huh, that’s weird!”
Are you going to name all the new moons "Prof. Sam Lawler", like we want all the asteroids named "Prof. Sam Lawler"? 🤪
@sundogplanets Congratulations on your slight error! Incredible work! 🌝
@sundogplanets The value of accidents and toying for science and society in general is greatly underestimated.
The largest camera ever built for astrophysics (3200-megapixels, >3000 kg) was installed this week at the Rubin Observatory at Cerro Pachón in Chile.
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera, the final major component of the Rubin Observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope, was transported to the summit in May 2024.
After a few more months of testing, first light is expected around 4 Jul 2025.
https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2511/
https://www.lsst.org/about/project-status
#Science #Astronomy #Space
1/n
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The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory team installing the LSST Camera on the Simonyi Survey Telescope in March 2025.
Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/B. Quint
Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/noirlab2511m/
Here is a fascinating time-lapse video of the LSST Camera being installed on the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
"The team on the summit used Rubin’s vertical platform lift to move the LSST Camera up to the telescope floor onto a transport cart. Following a carefully planned procedure, the team then used a custom lifting device to carefully position and secure the LSST Camera on the telescope."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmRwhZ3k8-g
Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA
2/n
The objectives of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory include -
• Probing dark energy and dark matter
• Taking an inventory of the solar system
• Exploring the transient optical sky
• Mapping the Milky Way
The LSST will image the entire visible sky every 3-4 nights, allowing it to detect objects that change in brightness or position and to discover billions of new stars and galaxies.
By comparison, SPHEREx will take 6 months for a survey of the full sky, with spectra.
Alt...
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory telescope mount in November 2023
Credit: Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA/A. Alexov
Source: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/rubin-TMA-1-CC/
The Rubin Legacy Survey of Space and Time LSST Camera is the largest camera ever constructed for astronomy. It is a large-aperture, wide-field optical camera, capable of viewing light from the near UV to near infrared wavelengths.
Length: 4.5 m
Height: 1.65 m
Weight: 2,800 kg
Pixels: 3.2 billion
Wavelength: 0.32–1.06 μm
Filters: 6 (u-g-r-i-z-y)
Field of view = 3.5° (moon = 0.5°)
Operating temperature: -100°C
https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/lsst
https://www.lsst.org/about/camera/features
4/n
Alt...
A schematic of the LSST camera, with size comparison with a human being.
The focal plane of the Vera C. Rubin telescope consists of 189 4kx4k charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors, arranged in a total of 21 3-by-3 square arrays. The system is cooled to about -100 °C to minimize noise.
The 3.5° field of view of the 64 cm wide array is 40 times the area of the full moon in the sky.
Camera Data Rates: ~3.2 GBytes/sec peak raw data 😲
1 pixel = 16 bits (raw)
Pixels: 3.2 billion
Detector read-out time: 2 sec
https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaclab/with/50212773953
https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/lsst
#Rubin
5/n
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1. Pic othe LSST camera focal plane and detectors during assembly and testing
Credit: Jacqueline Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaclab/50212763208/
2. Schematic of LSST focal plane and detectors
Source: https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/lsst
@AkaSci A veritable firehose of data. The project as a whole has, quite reasonably, been described as a high performance computing project with a telescope on the side. The telescope and camera are undeniably impressive, but the data side of things is at least as ambitious.
Sifting through that flood of images and automatically identifying, categorising and cataloguing vast numbers of astronomical objects/events, flagging particularly interesting ones for further investigation, doing so as fast as the data is coming in, and with sufficient accuracy that the astronomers aren't swamped with false positives/misidentifications, is a huge challenge.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Simonyi Survey Telescope consists of 3 aspheric mirrors: an 8.4-m primary mirror M1, a 3.5-m convex secondary mirror M2, and a 5.0-m tertiary mirror M3.
The primary and tertiary mirrors are fabricated from a single piece of glass.The secondary mirror (M2) is the largest convex mirror ever made.
Note the location of the 3 ton LSST camera perched below the high secondary mirror.
https://www.lsst.org/about/tel-site/optical_design
#Rubin #astronomy
6/n
Alt...
1. Schematic of the mirror assembly and optical path of the Rubin Observatory.
The hole in the tertiary mirror is used to mount equipment for maintaining precise control of Rubin Observatory's optical alignment.
2. Graphic of the assembled telescope.
Here is a fascinating video of the journey of the 3-ton LSST Camera from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California to Rubin Observatory on the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile. The camera arrived on the summit on May 16, 2024.
The video also shows the rugged and beautiful site of the observatory and pays homage to the engineers and technicians involved in the move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbhl1bysCAY
Credit: RubinObs/NSF/AURA/S. Deppe/O. Bonin, T. Lange, M. Lopez, J. Orrell (SLAC National Lab)
7/n
Asteroid name: 2010 RF12
Probability: 10.24%
Impact date: 2095-09-05.99
Asteroid name: 2017 WT28
Probability: 1.10%
Impact date: 2104-11-24.69
Source: NASA/JPL Sentry Data API
Astronomie foto van de dag: Light Pillar over Erupting Etna. Fotoinfo: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250224.html Foto Credits:
Davide Caliò
#astronomie #sterrenkunde #sterrenkijken #apod #heelal
Your weird picture of Paris for the day... The smurfette as Mona Lisa, done as a mosaic.
Alt...
A mosaic of colored squares, representing a dark haired smurfette as Mona Lisa, complete with the classic pose of the original and the background representing nature.
The mosaic is framed like a painting on a white wall, with bits and pieces of other street art and tags around it.
@ParadeGrotesque assumed this was by Space Invader who does loads of mosaic street art in Paris but can’t find it online.
Nope, not Space Invaders. There is another guy who does things more in that style, but I can't find his name online right now.
Space Invaders does smaller thing than this one, which was something 1.2m across.
@ParadeGrotesque Nice! It’s cool AF
@ParadeGrotesque that is neat.
@murena has launched its first tablet running the /e/OS operating system: https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=showheadline&story=19949
It gives a daily report of those asteroids with a reasonable probability of crashing into Earth, in case you are not already afraid enough of the future. Of course, using #snac, what else.
It takes its data from a very cool NASA site, so (again) in these days of uncertanty, I'm not sure how long will it work.
Everyone, take care, and have a great week.
If you are not watching, what is going on in #Georgia, you should start! and get all the information you can. This is a literal fight for #freedom and #democracy by Georgian people. This is the showdown of this Generation against the #Russianimperialism and #authoritarianism. #History is unfolding.
What do you make of her apology, folks? https://www.comicsands.com/jewel-apologizes-rfk-inauguration?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=infeed&utm_campaign=linkprogram
@georgetakei fuck her
@georgetakei aw man, someone else I will never listen to again. No apology
@georgetakei
Isn't the US renowned for being an ask-for-forgiveness-instead-of-permission country?
@georgetakei What I make of it is that I'm absolutely shocked by the apparent number of fellow travelers in America.
@georgetakei an apology as empty as any MAGA lie.
@georgetakei Yeah, no, not ok. And that wasn't actually an apology. 🙄
She also doesn't give any indication that she gets why what she did is wrong.
@georgetakei Usually an 'apology' from a celebrity is only done because of their fear of losing money. It's usually not because they are actually sorry.
@georgetakei Too little, too late. If she’s now forgotten and ignored forever, so be it.
I am so tired of listening to airheaded musicians telling me how I have to look for common ground with people trying to kill folks I care about. You do not stop your declared enemies from hurting you by "reaching out" to them.
And this guy? He made a recording of himself selling his soul to the biggest enemy of decency and freedom since Adolf. He's not just a vicious evil scumbag, he's corrupt and dumb.
Oh, Jewel? So are you.
@georgetakei
Weak apology after the fact.
@georgetakei Don't know who she is but I for one will never forgive anyone collaborating with anyone from the fascistic #TruSk regime.
@georgetakei "Her" community?
She owns nobody.
I don't see a grovelling apology for betraying all those who will be harmed by Brainworm Bob's cynical anti-health measure.
US Gov website purge underway. CDC right now. NIH Office of Women's Health is already gone. Happening quick.
https://github.com/end-of-term/eot2024
End of Term archive backed up everything. ~260TB. If you can seed/ share, please do so
@tomasino And it comes even worse: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/ "The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades and length of service of government workers, the officials said."
@tomasino I'm downloading some of these to my NAS with dubya-get (wget).
#GCompris 25.0 Open-Source Educational Suite Released with Five New Activities, Now Ported to Qt 6 https://9to5linux.com/gcompris-25-0-open-source-educational-suite-released-with-five-new-activities
@gcompris #OpenSource #FreeSoftware #education #Linux
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Screenshot of GCompris showing the main window with the activities and application menu.
"I really wish there were something around now like IRC so we didn't need to use discord"
amazing
I believe, and forgive me for saying this, but the alternative you may be looking for is a thing called IRC.
@babe Best things last forever 🧡
@babe I've been curious to go back to IRC but my hangup is I've largely assumed there's no encryption?
@babe is IRC like IRC? 
@babe Matrix! Nice mobile clients too (Element X)
(and then install an IRC bridge on the server)
((yes I do this))
CC: @Andromxda@infosec.exchange @rufposten@social.tchncs.de @accrescent@infosec.exchange
I've had a lot of people ask how BlueSky compares to Mastodon and the Fediverse. I've tried to make the answer as simple and easy to understand as possible:
🦋 BlueSky is designed to give corporations and wealthy people full control of the network. All of its traffic has to flow through expensive-to-run corporate relays.
The Fediverse is designed to give ordinary people control of the network. All of its traffic flows directly from one cheap-to-run server to another.
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Diagrams of how BlueSky and its AT Protocol functions, compared to how The Fediverse and its ActivityPub protocol functions.
BlueSky's traffic flows from servers to corporate-owned relays, and these relays communicate with each other before allowing traffic to flow to servers. The servers cannot communicate with each other at all.
The Fediverse's traffic flows directly between cheap-to-run servers, with no need for any corporate involvement.
While technically these are both forms of decentralisation, the BlueSky interpretation puts corporations, rich people and wealthy organisations in full control of the network. The Fediverse interpretation puts ordinary people in full control of the betwork.
The fedi experience
Alt...
Girl walking down a road with her hands over her ears with the words "mentioning any minor software issue" next to her. Following her down the road is a boy obnoxiously playing a trumpet at her, the words overlayed "The problem here is that you're using proprietary software and just giving your data away to corporations, what you need to do is adopt free open source..."
@babe Linux moment.
Wow what a view captured by Perseverance just 8 hours ago. This is probably her new science site: Witch Hazel Hill.
#Mars Dec. 16, 2024 (Sol 1359)
📷 https://areo.info/mars20/ecams/1359
#Perseverance #rover #Sol1359 #WitchHazelHill #PerseveranceRover #NorthernRimCampaign #space #science #research #news #STEM #Mars2020 #geology #planetaryscience #Martian #landscape #photography #news #Astrodon
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A photography of a Martian landscape, captured by the Perseverance rover on the west side of the rim of Jezero Crater.
The long-running Fedi server mstdn.social (not to be confused with mastodon.social 🙂 ) has just received a takedown request from the Russian government for hosting @Bellingcat, a news site which has long been critical of Putin:
https://mstdn.social/@stux/113652461647125214
Thankfully mstdn.social isn't in Russia so Putin has no power over it.
If anyone wants to turn this into a Streisand Effect kind of thing, you might want to follow @Bellingcat and slip a donation to @stux at https://mstdn.social/@stux/113623791580168625
“The Earth is not dying,
it is being killed.
And the people
who are killing it
have names
and addresses.”
- #UtahPhillips
#ClimateCrisis #Ecocide #WaterIsLife #WorldOceansDay #Wildfires #AirPollution #Corporations #Capitalism
Alt...
“The Earth is not dying,
it is being killed.
And the people
who are killing it
have names
and addresses.” - Utah Phillips
The fourteenth evening of anti-government protests has begun in Georgia.
Mastodon isn't perfect.
But the fact a social network exists that is completely free to use
has no venture capital investors
has no shareholders to answer to
has no growth targets
with a web interface with zero tracking cookies
and mobile apps with zero trackers at all
with ten thousand server administrators who donate their time for user safety
is - in my opinion - mindbogglingly cool, given the state of the world we live in. Not everything has to be shit. People make things better.
Ted
🖖
🏳️🌈🖖🏽
