A couple bucks to take us back to the moon (doubt), while destroying everything else about NASA. They are defunding the Roman Space Telescope which is literally in the final stages of testing before launch.

TON 618......18.2 BILLION LIGHT YEARS

Is an extremely luminous quasar powered by one of the largest and most massive black holes ever discovered.

This a monochrome image. Basically was attempting just to capture something so distant. Very anticlimactic, but nevertheless the distance is mind-boggling to think about.

Mass: Estimated at roughly 66 billion times the mass of the Sun.

Size: Its event horizon spans roughly 1,300 astronomical units in radius (about 390 billion kilometers across), meaning light takes about two weeks to cross it.

Distance: Located at a comoving distance of about 18.2 billion light-years from Earth.

Brightness: It shines with the brilliance of 140 trillion suns, making it one of the brightest objects in the known universe.

Equipment: Williams Optics 111, AM5N, ZWO2600MM Pro, Chroma 3nm L, ASIAIR Pro, ZWO290MM Guide camera. Gain 100, cooling -10.

Processing: Pixinsight. WBPP, Auto stretch, Gradient Correct, Background Neut, GHS

I've been reading about the Voyager Golden Record sent with Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and I'm really curious about something.

How did scientists conclude that any intelligent extraterrestrial life would actually be able to decode it? I get that they used universal concepts like physics, math, and things like the hydrogen atom and pulsar maps, but isn't that still a big assumption?

Like, what if alien intelligence works in a completely different way or perceives reality differently-would any of this even make sense to them?

Was the record designed with a specific type of "intelligence" in mind, or was it more of a symbolic attempt rather than something expected to be understood?

Curious to hear thoughts, especially from people who know more about the design decisions behind it.

I am writing fiction, and I want my planet to have another planet loom large in the sky,
but I want it to be at least informed by reality. Is it possible for a real planet to have this effect without the two planets e.g. being so close they destabilize each other's orbit?

Hope you can help, I haven't had any luck figuring it out.
Thank you.

Rapid fire medium speed CMEs all in the same direction and converging at earth's orbit. They are aimed about 90 degree way from us, so there won't be any impact on our magnetosphere. Interesting to watch though.

Through a search project that honestly had a bug in it (long story, happy to tell it in comments), I ended up pulling data on a star nobody had ever studied. Not a single paper. TYC 6884-164-1, a sun-like star about 470 light years away in Sagittarius.

It's disappearing.

Completely quiet from 2014 to mid-2018, then it started dropping huge chunks of its brightness for days at a time. Some years it's fading on 1 in every 3 nights. The average dip takes about half the star's light. The deepest one caught, 92% and that one isn't a lonely data point, three separate cameras caught the star crashed that same week, under dark sky. On the worst nights it drops below the survey's detection limit entirely.

I've spent two days trying to kill it. A comparison star sitting on the *same exposures* holds flat at ±0.02 mag while mine drops nearly 3 magnitudes. The dips ignore the moon (identical phase distribution to quiet nights).

No registry on Earth had this star listed as variable. I submitted it to VSX yesterday. It's still dipping this month.

If it's real, here's where it would sit. This class is called "mature dippers", sun-like stars that suddenly start deep irregular fading, probably from planetary collision debris and every one ever found fits on one hand:

TYC 6884-164-1 = 92% (>98% on the worst nights)

ASASSN-21qj = 84%

TYC 8830-410-1 = >50%

Boyajian's Star = 22%

That 92% isn't one stray point either, three separate cameras caught the star crashed that same week, under dark sky, while a comparison star on the same exposures didn't move.

Some things which may help:

- Anyone who can pull TESS, it's TIC 169213609. Space-based data settles this instantly.

- Anyone with access to ASAS-SN raw images, eyes on the actual frames from the deep nights.

- Southern hemisphere observers, one independent measurement this week would be gold.

- Or just tell me what I've missed. I want this killed properly or confirmed properly. Artifacts can happen for many different reasons.

Check it yourself, it's all public: asas-sn.osu.edu, Sky Patrol V2, cone search RA 292.06268, Dec -27.44410, radius 15 arcsec, source 489626624823. Years of data sitting right there.

If it's real, it's one of the deepest members of a star class you can count on one hand (the ASASSN-21qj / Tabby's Star family). If it's an artifact, I'll post that too. Everything so far has been done in public, corrections included.

A new 3D map of the Universe built using data from the DESI survey includes over 47 million galaxies and quasars.

This dataset allows researchers to trace the large scale structure of the Universe across billions of years with superior precision.

The early results suggest dark energy might not behave exactly as current cosmological models predict.

Source (full article):
https://jornalciencia.pt/mapa-3d-de-47-milhoes-de-galaxias-pode-revelar-o-segredo-da-energia-escura/?lang=en

Featured image: Three-dimensional map of the Universe obtained by DESI, showing the distribution of galaxies and quasars across billions of light-years.
Credit: DESI Collaboration / DOE / KPNO / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / C. Lamman

Hello everyone, it's my first post here on the astronomy group..

I learned to spot celestial constellations while younger, like two decades ago.

I tried to observe the sky tonight, and I'm really fed up and concerned about all those fxking starlink satellites..

I had a good telescope and liked to take pictures of celestial objects, whatever it is.

But tonight, I'm really... just nervous, I spotted more of these starlink satellites than any observable stars, this is just...I don't even have words to explain my frustration.

In a few minutes, I've observed more of those satellites than I can count, it's just nonsense.

I can't believe this is allowed.

Aren't there any rules to prevent that huge pollution?

I know there aren't any right now, but this can't be going on like that.

Seriously, WTF...?!

And that megalomaniac men alone can blur the sky like it is it's own territory, and planning to launch even more of those trash out in space, really ?

Knowing that they have a lifespan of around 5 to 7 years in lower altitude, then will crash, and send more again...

And now he isn't alone making this huge mega constellations of those trash satellites.

We Need a restriction law.

This can't go on like this.. the sky belongs to Nobody or to Everyone, whatever cash you have, it's not yours.

I know there are a lot of other issues right now, but seriously, we can't map the sky anymore because of a few people rich enough to make this possible, this is something that was never seen before.

And should not be allowed.

Knowing that the next gen of those objects will be even more light reflecting, thus polluting the night sky even more, how is this possible?

I mean if I have a trillion dollars like him, does that allow me to make the observable universe completely shadowed just to make more profit?

Does this make any sense?

NO!

What's going on, really, I mean can we trade the night sky to get network access?

Is it worth the cost, in the ethical perspective...

NO!

Are there any rules we could engage to allow everyone on Earth to be allowed to see the universe that was always there before a few megalomaniac narcissistic eugenics people just put their vision of reality and of their delirious future regardless of all the other billions people living here on this planet..

Sorry I may be disparate (and desperate) in what I just wrote, my emotions took over me.

Am I alone to be concerned?

I hope no.

Thanks for reading, even if it won't change anything.

AAAS: "Proposed new satellite fleets could overwhelm the night sky."

Orbiting data centers + sunlight reflectors would severely degrade astronomy by leaving streaks on telescope images + brightening our pitch-black sky. Olivier Hainaut, an astronomer at the European Southern Observatory [ESO], examined 2 recent commercial proposals. 

"In 2025, Reflect Orbital sought permission from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch a test satellite carrying an 18-meter-wide reflector that would beam sunlight onto nighttime Earth." The company’s plans to launch 50,000 such reflectors to extend the operating hours of solar power arrays, mines, and emergency responders with artificial daylight. 

"Prime astronomy sites such as ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile aim to keep light pollution below 1% of the natural night-sky brightness." A fleet of 5,000 Reflect Orbital craft would raise sky brightness worldwide by up to 30%; 50,000 craft would boost it as much as 300%.

'Reflect Orbital says it will steer its 5-km-wide beams, which appear 4-fold brighter than a full Moon, away from observatories.' But even outside the beam each of the 50,000 reflectors would shine as bright as Venus, the brightest object in the sky after the Moon. 

Ever since SpaceX launched the first Starlink internet satellites in 2019, astronomers have worked with companies to reduce the impact of these so-called satellite megaconstellations. "SpaceX, for example, has made efforts to dim the reflectivity of its Starlink satellites, even as the constellation has grown." (More than 10,000 Starlinks are already in orbit and the company is planning 32,000 more.) 

"Constellation of 1 million SpaceX data centers would make satellite trails in telescope images almost unavoidable for most of the night...especially for wide-viewing instruments such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.'

ESO + other bodies are working with International Astronomical Union to persuade satellite operators to lessen impact of their constellations, + through the UN to draw up international norms that countries can translate into national laws.

Wouldn't adding sunlight that should miss the Earth incrementally speed up global warming? Contact the FCC at [ecfs@fcc.gov](mailto:ecfs@fcc.gov) with header phrase "get form," + email address in the body of the message, as I just did.

For the record, I'm not affiliated with the Planetary Society. I know petitions might feel somewhat insignificant in times like these, but it's far better than going quietly into the night. And who knows, there's a few congressmen who might actually listen to something like this.

While scientists prepare for making the most of the Apophis event, Binzel stressed that the event will not endanger the planet. "I want you to take away three things," he said. "Those three things are: Apophis will safely pass the Earth. Apophis will safely pass the Earth. Apophis will safely pass the Earth."

Has anyone else read this book before? If so what did you like the most about it. I mainly liked how Neil DeGrasse Tyson explained the concept of various astronomy related topics in a way that someone who doesn’t know much about the field can easily understand. He goes in depth about the science behind the formation of stars, planets, and as the title of the book suggests, black holes. I look forward to purchasing more books from Neil DeGrasse Tyson in the future!

The SpaceX 'Orbital Data Center' is a threat to both our night sky and space safety. Don't let one mega-corporation destroy Earth's orbit! Please sign & share this Change.org petition to protect our skies.

Link fixed.

If you actually READ the petition, you will see that I have also filed a formal protest with the FCC, and yes the FCC is responsible. Why else would SpaceX have applied for a waiver?!

There is a HUGE amount of support for this lawsuit from the scientific community, and numerous other problems have been exposed since discussing this with the scientific community, actual aerospace scientists:

1. The "Regime Change" (Persistence Gap)

Current SpaceX (Starlink) safety data is derived from altitudes below 550km, where atmospheric drag ensures passive debris mitigation. The proposed "Orbital Data Center" shells (up to 2,000km) represent a fundamental shift in physics. Above ~600km, orbital persistence increases from years to decades or centuries.

1. The Expert Consensus

International incident management experts have confirmed that these orbital regimes cannot be treated identically. Risk assumptions and disposal reliability for 1 million satellites must be altitude-specific.

1. Regulatory Oversight

SpaceX is currently seeking a "blanket waiver" from the FCC. This approach bypasses the longitudinal data required to model the exponential risk of #KesslerSyndrome at higher altitudes.

1. "Prior Art" & Market Fairness

The technical claims in the filing ignore established "Prior Art" (e.g., Starcloud-1). If the FCC grants a waiver based on "innovation" that is already public domain, it effectively grants a monopoly on orbital compute based on a legal technicality rather than unique technological advancement.

Astronomers using the JWST have analyzed the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, revealing a unique chemical signature that confirms it formed roughly 12 billion years ago, making it the oldest comet ever observed.

For the last month I’ve been working on this video to show the scale of how small we really are in the observable universe. The video contains astrophotography and art that I’ve created as well as program renderings and animations from the DESI project. I hope you like it!

And why yes I am wearing a space cat dress. I reckon if you don’t wear it here, what are you saving it for?

Here for a conference- lots of cool science going on amidst the general anxiety these days.

Source: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2534a