Holy smokes, that is an absolutely phenomenal photo.

Nah, I can't claim knowledge on that. I just googled "meteor showers 2026" and learned about it after the fact.

"When you see a Lyrid meteor, you're watching a tiny piece of Comet Thatcher burning up in Earth's atmosphere ... Thatcher is a long-period comet that last made its closest approach to Earth in 1861. Each year, our planet plows through the debris it left behind, producing the Lyrid meteor shower."

Don't miss the Lyrid meteor shower 2026 peak tonight! Viewing times, location and tips The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in the early hours of April 22, offering up a possible feast of impressive shooting stars and the occasional fireball.

Potentially relevant data: Just had an inspiration and googled meteor showers, and discovered that early this morning was the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower.

www.space.com/stargazing/m...

If it weren't for [lack of] executive function I'd potentially have taken over the world by now.

Sorry for getting so verbose! But astronomy and astrophotography are subjects of significant interest to me. #sorrynotsorry

5) I did a bit of of orbital object analysis through an astrophotograph I took a few years ago, in this thread:
bsky.app/profile/emma...

Alas, most of it took place in an off-bsky convo, but we were able to determine a handful of specific object candidates for a faint light streak in that photo.

4b) Unrelated, but note of mild interest - sometimes you can get some interesting dashed or dotted line effects in long exposure light trails from, for example, aircraft lights which blink.

4a) Combining 2) and 3), if it were a light trail from a long exposure, I'd expect the brightness to be fairly consistent throughout the length of the tail, rather than brightest at the leading end and fading out towards the trailing end, if the light making the trail stays a consistent brightness.

3) It'd be helpful to know how long the exposure was. I'm thinking a few seconds because there's no visible trails or elongation on the stars, which you tend to get after 15-30 seconds, so it's far more likely that the tail on the object in question is "real" and not a long exposure light trail.

2) Since it seems large enough to make out a shape, and the entire shape seems lit up (as opposed to being a bright reflection on one edge or corner) that makes me think incandescence, which would be consistent with atmospheric re-entry, which again would make me think meteor or deorbiting debris.

1c) However, there are other orbits (geosynchronous and polar, for example, or highly eccentric) which move differently and thus may appear to traverse in different directions across the sky.

1b) Mostly, I *think* objects orbiting Earth will seem to move west to east across the sky, but it depends on the specific orbit they're in. Earth spins from west to east, and so satellite launches tend to be towards the east to take advantage of rotational velocity rather than fight against it.

A meteor is my first thought, but I have lots of second thoughts, too.

1a) It looks considerably "larger" than the generic tiny pinpoint glint I'd expect of most of the orbital objects - but if we had directions to map to the photograph, it'd help make that determination. (cont'd)

I had never heard Goodhart's restated so clearly or succinctly, but that is fantastically well put.

Repeating for those who haven't clicked, or won't click, the link: "If you play a game the structure of the game teaches you behaviors, because that’s how you score points and are rewarded."

Wario chic?

Imagine making AI slop when bald eagles already exist.
#birds 🪶

You are not.

Battle Angel vibes?

Dancing Joker's RS assassination scene in Natural Selection is quite possibly my single favourite scene from the entire Battletech canon. I can't even begin to fathom how many times I read and re-read that.

Fluids are topped off (and, in one mildly semi-notable case, vented) and I get to be me for another week.

G’night, moots and besties.

That's probably appropriate, because I have it on best authority that fully a third of any given spider is appendages.

Kinda a pity, but on the other hand, if they *had* lived up to the promise... well, I'm content if anyone is spared that kind of torture.

No update after two and a half hours.

I fear we've lost Kevin.

*I'm* not awake at 3:15 AM dabbing leaky eyes and feeling Big Feelings while watching somebody's first impression and reaction to a Fred Rogers video; *you're* awake at 3:15 AM dabbing leaky eyes and feeling Big Feelings while watching somebody's first impression and reaction to a Fred Rogers video.

Irises are simply the best flowers, full stop.

If I had to pick one as my favourite..... yeah. Yeah.

It is an absolute delight!

I have definitely been there, friendo. Massivest of massive hugs.

Don't get it very much anymore, mostly because my life is so full of the most amazing people that I can't fathom wanting them to be gone.

(I do sometimes still feel like I must be a net emotional negative for them, though.)

“I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger and ONE POINT TWENTY-ONE GIGAWATTS……”

why no, never seen either one of those movies a hundred times, why do you ask?

When we learn how to talk, it often comes at the expense of forgetting how to listen.

But listening is the most valuable skill a human being can have.

Listen.