🎧 New episode out now, with space physicist Brian Walsh! Brian put a telescope on the moon to look back at the space around Earth, and he has come up with a clever way to protect us from geomagnetic storms. @drbwalsh.bsky.social #solarwind #geomagneticstorm
www.buzzsprout.com/2464891/epis...
The SMILE mission’s boat journey has begun -
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
(Interestingly, the boat ride distance ~7,500km is much further than the distance from Earth to low earth orbit ~400km)
#heliophysics
Thanks to you and the team. A great contribution to the community! It’s a hard problem, but a big gap is moving from things like this to financial losses
Happy Periapsis Day to those that celebrate! Earth is at periapsis in its orbit around the sun. The closest point between Earth-sun in the year-long orbit.
Gorgeous first-light images from Carruthers Observatory - absolutely amazing
#heliophysics
science.nasa.gov/science-rese...
Boston University's "LEXI" telescope landing on the moon. A golden lander sits on the lunar surface against a starry background. A red banner reads "Top Posts of 2025, #1, BU's 'LEXI' Telescope Lands on the Moon".
The top social media moment of 2025 was when BU's telescope, the Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), was about to land on the moon. It is part of NASA’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, which launched from Florida on January 15. This historic event tops our annual recap.
Dismantling NCAR would be devastating for the research community and the public. Join AGU to ask Congress to speak out and save NCAR: agu.quorum.us/campaign/151...
Good views west of Boston tonight
Magnetopause already compressed inward past geostationary orbit. GOES-18 is in the magnetosheath
This looks like it could be a big one! Look to the skies this evening.... But now that I've said that, I've jinxed it.
Power on! That small step function is the first power on in space of the COSSMo instrument from yesterday. The BU student-developed payload is on the Carruthers Geocoronal Observatory and will monitor the sun in UV and soft X-ray. #heliophysics
A small experiment - over the past 2 months I saved all the junk mail I received, ~7.1 lbs. Projecting to the number of adults in the US, that’s 813 million pounds of unsolicited mail every month in the US
SMILE spacecraft passed through thermal testing. A nice video of the progress by the ESA team
www.youtube.com/embed/8soC68...
'NASA is under attack.' Space agency employees and lawmakers protest mass layoffs, science cuts amid budget turmoil - They're telling everyone to 'jump ship.'" By Josh Dinner at Space.com
Go to: www.space.com/space-explor...
Image credit: Josh Dinner
This month marks 10 years teaching at @bostonu.bsky.social. It has been almost 1,000 energetic and curious Terrier students
Motivating to be part of 450 US space scientists in Des Moines this week. My favorite line of the workshop “whether they know it or not, everyone in this country is becoming a space worker” in reference to the growing reliance of daily life on the space environment
LEXI made it to lunar orbit. 2 weeks to landing and X-ray imaging
One of the most exciting step-functions in electrical current I’ve seen. Lexi powering up successfully shortly after reaching orbit. ☀️
And we’re up
T-8 hrs to launch. Weather in FL is looking good
T-less than a day to LEXI’s launch on the Blue Ghost. Weather in Florida is looking good
In 1651 if you wanted to bash someone’s idea you wrote a book with a gorgeous art critique. It looks like Riccioli didnt like geocentrism
If there’s room you could also include one of the first maps of the moon defining many of the names we use today. Thanks to #bostonpubliclibrary for sharing
Quickly approaching launch. Excitement is growing to image Earth's magnetosphere from space
science.nasa.gov/science-rese...
Regular special collection at BPL. Just need to make an appointment in advance for viewing. Lots of good treasures in there
de Magnete (1600) by Gilbert started magnetospheric physics. Earth is a magnet! When this was written this also resolved a debate of why compasses pointed north. Thanks to BPL Special Collections for sharing an original copy.
#heliophysics
SMILE is on the move! Always impressive the logistics that go into shipping spacecraft
youtu.be/7aJTuJPGYy8?...
Two months out from launch! LEXI’s science mission ends when the sun and Earth are too close in the sky to image earths magnetic field without solar background. From LEXI and the moon, this is “new Earth.” From Earth’s perspective - a full moon. Graphic from @firefly-aerospace.bsky.social
SMILE mission is coming together www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
Back to Helsinki with the Vlasiator team for more sabbatical numerical simulations. I’ve been told February is still the “dark” part of the year here
