A star chart showing Venus as a bright object low in the western sky.
“What is that bright star in the west?”
That’s the planet Venus! It will be visible in the evening sky for a while so do look west after sunset.
Mark diaries: solar #eclipse 4 months from today!
UK #scicomm chums, if you're planning an event for the 🌞🌚🌍 partial alignment, @gostargazing.bsky.social are offering v reasonable rates for solar-spec bulk-buys: 200 for £25. Deadline for orders is end of May!
ℹ️: gostargazing.co.uk/solar-glasse...
I’ve been quiet here as I’ve been stupidly busy talking to journalists all over the place. While I wish I was up there with the astronauts, it is so much fun being a little part of such an exciting event!
Just… wow 🤩
Earth as seen from Artemis II, on its way to the Moon. Aurora over both hemispheres, lightning, zodiacal light… and just think how many sleeping humans are contained in this image. More info and links to other mission imagery: www.nasa.gov/image-articl...
NASA's Blue Marble picture of Earth, from 1972
It's only worth going back to the Moon if it makes us look properly again at Earth, and appreciate how beautiful, precious and fragile what we have here is. The most famous images from Apollo aren't about the Moon - they're pictures of Earth. We need to stop taking our home for granted.
Two almost life-size models of astronauts in space suits with a woman in between wearing a shirt covered in stars.
Stopped by the ground floor to say hello to Neil and Buzz before I left work today 😁
Started my day at 5am by talking to BBC News, had a chat with BBC local radio earlier, and will be on 5 Live later this evening. A very long day, keeping going with coffee and Mars bars, but looking forward to seeing Artemis II launch. Fingers crossed for a safe launch & a smooth ride for the crew!
I’m so tired, but determined to stay up to watch (hopefully) the launch of Artemis II! Between getting up before 5am to talk to BBC News, staying up to talk to 5 Live at 10.45pm (and others in between) it’s a veeeeeeery long day 😂 #excited
The moon, about three quarters full, against a blue sky. The image is a bit blurry.
Mooooooon! iPhone through binoculars. I know, I know, SLS is nuts, we can explore more cheaply with robots, etc, etc, but I’m excited to see humans going back to the Moon. There is just something that much more visceral about having humans go there. #artemis #moon
It was a real pleasure to record an interview this week with Dr Chris Smith from The Naked Scientists for their latest podcast episode all about the exploration of the Moon! You can hear the whole episode, and find out how well chick peas grow in lunar regolith 😋, here:
Oh yes. Me too. 😩
Looking forward to talking all things Moon-related with high school teachers tomorrow at a CPD event run by The PTI! I’ve been doing subject talks for them for around 10 years now, so much fun talking with teachers who are passionate about their subject - and sharing that with their students
They do get filtered into my junk folder, yes. I just find them quite amusing! No, I’ve not tried visiting any of the websites… I will try that 😁
And another! This time requesting my highly valued expertise at the 3rd International Summit on Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering where, apparently, my participation would add tremendous value 😆 #ComedyConferenceInvites
TWO comedy conference invitations in the inbox today. Apparently they would highly value my distinguished keynote contribution at the Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering Summit in Prague, and the Expo on Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in Hamburg! #ComedyConferenceInvites
🙄😂
Love it 😁
Those evenings when all the trains are delayed, lots of people are stuck at the station, there are planets in the sky, and I wish I had my little telescope 🔭 so I could do some guerrilla astronomy 😁
I was impressed by the committee, too. They asked some really good questions.
The passion from all three of you was obvious, great job! 👏
Rows of people wearing orange lanyards in a House of Commons committee hearing. At the front is Catherine sporting her "I'm about to perform an appendectomy" mask and looking particularly snazzy.
Here is my run-down of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) where @jonbutterworth.bsky.social @si-wills.bsky.social & I argued for no funding cuts, & Prof. Michele Doughtery explained why they were needed. The public gallery again packed with physicists 🔭👩🔬⚛️
People sat in rows a committee hearing - all smartly dressed
Here is my run-down of today's Science and Technology Committee hearing (House of Lords) where "considerable disquiet in the science community" was raised with Sir Patrick Vallance. Really great to see the public gallery packed with physicists!
If I actually thought all these plenary speaker invites to conferences all over the place were genuine, I'd never be in the office! Has this spam escalated recently? Or am I just seeing more of them? #academiclife #conferencespam
Obama is correct. It's likely aliens exist, somewhere out there (the universe is big). It's highly unlikely they have ever visited Earth. Telescopes are being used by a lot of clever people, and we haven't found solid proof yet. Rewind to 4.55pm to hear my take on it: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
I know exactly what you mean! Juniors is so much fun 🤩
If you are fed up of the bile and vitriol on social media, I’d strongly recommend going out and volunteering with real people. Building human connections is so important for mental health, and it can be a lot of fun. I laughed so much at parkrun yesterday my face hurt 🤣 #loveparkrun #volunteer
So can I now :(
It was a beautiful cosmic coincidence!
What a display!
And also in The Netherlands #aurora