Pretty good results for M27 and M51 last night with EQ mode on the #seestars50 #astrophotography #astrodon

China wants to launch its lunar probe Chang'e 8 in 2028/29. Remarkable for such a developed national lunar research programme: Its large number of international collaborations, mostly with countries from the global south:

Source: https://spacenews.com/china-selects-international-payloads-for-change-8-lunar-south-pole-mission/

China's first lunar mission Chang'e 1 launched in 2007, with many missions and without any setbacks since then.

Before Easter, I was honoured to give a colloquium to the Lviv Fellow Society (#Ukraine). I've never been there in person, but thanks to my ongoing tight collaborations in , I feel bound there and I hope I can visit soon.
To make it more attractive to the general public, I spoke of my recent extravaganza about the "Simulation Hypothesis" https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2025.1561873/full

and it was fun as it sparked many new questions.

Here is the full recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyM_Pe9pV7Q

Gilles nous partage une photo de #m63 nommée la #galaxie du Tournesol
Ce résultat à été obtenu grâce à 85 poses de 300 secondes avec son filtre L-Pro
#astronomy #astronomie #astrophotography #astrophotographie #astrodon #galaxy

As usually in this period, my neighbours have their "cosmological simulation" flowers blossoming in all their glory, my favourite #flowers of course. #astronomy #astrodon #science

Curiosity rover mission updates: three new posts by Lucy Thompson, Susanne Schwenzer, and Scott VanBommel

Sols 4515-4517: Silver Linings https://science.nasa.gov/blog/sols-4515-4517-silver-linings/
Sols 4518-4519: Thumbs up from Mars https://science.nasa.gov/blog/sols-4518-4519-thumbs-up-from-mars/
Sols 4520-4521: Prinzregententorte https://science.nasa.gov/blog/sols-4520-4521-prinzregententorte/

Ein sehr schöner Artikel von @sianderl:

https://www.zeit.de/2025/17/hubble-teleskop-weltraum-kosmos-bilder

Es ist schon Irrsinn, wenn ich darüber nachdenke, wie anders die Welt war, als Hubble gestartet wurde und wo wir heute sind (gleiches gilt auch für die beiden großen Röntgenteleskope XMM-Newton und Chandra).

Einen Artikel zum 35sten Jubiläum von Hubble mit neuen spektakulären Weltraumbilder gibt es hier:

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Hubble_celebrates_35th_year_in_orbit

This is Cygnus Loop -- a #supernova remnant located in the #constellation Cygnus

For more on the #astronomy of this constellation, check out: https://starrytimepodcast.podbean.com/e/cygnus-cosmic-background/

For the bittersweeet #LGBTQIA love story of the constellation Cygnus: https://starrytimepodcast.podbean.com/e/cygnus-myths-and-retconstellations/

And for fun facts on *actual* swans: https://starrytimepodcast.podbean.com/e/asterism-swan-creature-corner/

:https://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2025/3dmodels/more.html

The Sickle: Pillars of Creation in the Galactic Center by JWST

Full size image & more info: https://flic.kr/p/2qZRbgr
Credit: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/j.Roger/AndreaLuck CC BY

MIRI Filters: F770w, F1130w, F1500w
Proposal ID: 3958
PI: Angela Cotera @setiinstitute

Curiosity on the Road to Boxwork Formations

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26552-curiosity-on-the-road-to-boxwork-formations/
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26552

zoom app https://zoomhub.net/J90bk

#Mars Mar. 9, 2025 (Sol 4476)
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS; Release Date: Apr. 24, 2025

Curiosity Looks Downslope From the Sulfate Unit

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26551-curiosity-looks-downslope-from-the-sulfate-unit/
https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26551

zoom app https://zoomhub.net/yzPNN

#Mars Feb. 7, 2025 (Sol 4447)
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS; Release Date: Apr. 24, 2025

NASA’s Dragonfly Passes Critical Design Review

The mission to Saturn’s icy moon Titan will investigate prebiotic chemical processes and complex organic compounds that, on Earth, are the building blocks of life.

https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/dragonfly/2025/04/24/nasas-dragonfly-passes-critical-design-review/

Rivers of Titan

Saturn's largest moon is one of the few bodies in the Solar System with active rivers shaping its landscape: rivers of liquid methane. Using images acquired by Cassini and Huygens, a new study shows that they follow the same physical laws as Earth's rivers.

https://www.ipgp.fr/en/news-and-agenda/news/the-rivers-of-titan-physical-laws-similar-to-those-on-earth/

On this day, six years ago, @LIGO Livingston and Virgo detected an unusual gravitational-wave signal.

GW190425 was only the second signal from (most likely) a neutron star merger. Its distance to Earth was significantly larger and the sky position less precisely determined than for the first such signal (GW170817). Therefore, astronomers did not observe any afterglow in the electromagnetic spectrum.

The total mass of the merging objects was unusually high compared to known double neutron stars.

https://www.aei.mpg.de/142401/news-from-the-gravitational-universe

The publication abuout the observed gravitational-wave signal appeared on 6 January 2020:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab75f5

went to a talk last night by a prominent #astrophysicist (which is why I was remiss in posting) & I can't stop thinking about Kessler Syndrome.

The degree of space debris *already* in orbit of earth

:https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/The_cost_of_space_debris

Guillaume nous partage une #astrophotographie de #ngc3184 une #galaxie dans la constellation de la Grande Ours
Il y a au total 201 poses de 300 secondes sur 3 nuits et un traitement sous #photoshop et #pixinsight
#astronomy #astronomie #astrophotography #astrodon #galaxy

This week's sky at a glance, April 25- May 4. Very useful Sky & Telescope observing guide by Alan MacRobert. #AstroDon #Astronomy #Astro #Space #Astrophotography https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-april-25-may-4/

Mars and the Beehive. 135mm focal length. 24 April 2025. #AstroDon #Astronomy #Astro #Space #Astrophotography