Merideth [introvertebrate]
LightNews LightNews
banner
stellarplexus.bsky.social
Merideth [introvertebrate]
@stellarplexus.bsky.social
390 followers 490 following 740 posts
Give me SPACE! Astro nerd, naturalist, animal friend, research librarian, writer, reader, sketcher, former island hopper, aspiring forest witch
Posts Replies Media Videos
stellarplexus.bsky.social
Feels almost as if you can reach through and plunge your fingers into the coarse, rusted sand of a different world…

I mean, for how long did our ancestors look up and wonder why that one wandering star was so much redder than the others, yet we get to look at it up close so casually?

BADASS 😍
hourlycosmos.bsky.social Hourly Cosmos @hourlycosmos.bsky.social · 1d
MSL - Sol 4434 - MastCam - From Kevin M. Gill (kevinmgill.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2qHzvw7
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill
September 21, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
indyfromspace.bsky.social
Tired: STEM (Science Tech Engineering Math)
Wired: STEAM (Science Tech Engineering Arts Math)
On Fire: STEAM PUNK
(Science Tech Engineering Arts Math+ Pyrotechnics Ukulele Ninja Klezmer)
September 20, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
bartlettastro.bsky.social
"And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by" (Sea-Fever, Masefield)

... & a quadrant for sights & calculations

celestial #navigation in the #GoldenAgeofPiracy

#celnav #astrophysics🧪🏛️ #talklikeapirateday #histsci #MarinersMuseum #instrumentation #timekeeping
Antique wooden gunter-type quadrant with engraved calendar and hour lines, photographed on white padded fabric, with a thin string and small metal plumb bob extending from one side. c. 1690. Mariners' Museum accession # 1991.0057.000001
September 20, 2026 at 1:48 AM
stellarplexus.bsky.social
“The Uncompahgre Ute[…] harnessed [triboluminescence from electrical charges under mechanical stress] by making ceremonial rattles of translucent buffalo rawhide filled with quartz crystals. When shaken[…] the crystals smashing into each other produced enough glow to be visible through the rawhide.”
mineralcup.bsky.social Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 2d
#MinCup26 Round 2 Match 4
Both colourful yet opposite in almost every other way, it’s abundant and hard #Quartz against rare and very soft #Stichtite.

VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
September 20, 2026 at 4:23 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
astrokev.bsky.social
A few images from a quick solar session this morning, before the clouds rolled in.
Taken with my 100mm Esprit refractor and Quark chromosphere. Processed in AS4, Imppg and Affinity Photo
🔭
September 18, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
debraceravolo.bsky.social
Feeling very lucky to have clear skies and northern lights while in Iceland. Taken on September 8, 2026 near Vestrahorn Mountain. I love how the shadows and streaks in the sky resemble a mountain.

#astrophotography #astronomy #northernlights
Brilliant green northern lights streak through the sky and reflect off a river near Vestrahorn mountain in Iceland on September 8th, 2026
September 18, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
yeets.biz
i need to know what happened
sign in a restaurant "due to recent events Bigfoot discussions are no longer permitted on the patio"
September 19, 2026 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
brunodias.dev
A version of the "Aella's birthday gangbang" Sankey diagram but it's about Bluesky posters thinking about posting Sankey diagram jokes, leading from "thought about Sankey diagram joke" through various iterations of workshopping and writing the joke (with various dead ends due to forgetting about it, losing interest, etc). Eventually at the end the joke is finally posted; some posters do numbers with it, some don't, some came in a fluffer
September 18, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
mikemelton.bsky.social
Mountain Chickadee for #Paridae #birdoftheday

#birds #nature
Small gray-and-white songbird with a black cap and throat standing on a wet rock beside the water.
September 19, 2026 at 4:50 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
drcarpineti.bsky.social
Last night was a dream come true! Went on the roof and saw a supernova for the first time!

That's galaxy NGC 7331, which is 45 million light years away. It was a Type Ia supernova: a thieving white dwarf steals so much material from a companion that it collapses under its own mass!

🤩🔭
A photo of a little spiral galaxy with red lines pointing to a blueish dot right off the galactic center A photo of a little spiral galaxy with red lines pointing to a blueish dot right off the galactic center - similar to the other one but zommed in
September 18, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
the-physics-well.net
Another great image from @ajamesmccarthy.bsky.social He was working this image of NGC 7331 when a supernova happened! cosmicbackground.io/pages/ea-civ... #astrophotography
A 100 hour exposure of the Deer Lick Group reveals not just a stunning arrangement of prominent galaxies- but thanks to it's position roughly 20° off of the plane of the Milky Way and very little interstellar dust blocking the view, you can see a smattering of distant objects, with some galaxies over a BILLION Light years distant. At first glance you may see a couple galaxies in this crop below- but then, the longer you look, the more you see. Stars have a very consistent "point spread function" that determines their shape, so they're all essentially identical in structure, just with slightly different colors and luminosities. Everything that doesn't fit that pattern, is an ENTIRE GALAXY.
September 17, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
anamariecox.com
New cat just dropped.

Landed on its feet, it’s fine.
Meet the First New Cat Species Discovered in 100 Years
A small, spotted tiger cat from Bolivia may just be the beginning of a wave of new small cat species.
www.nationalgeographic.com
September 17, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
sardonicus.eu
"Total eclipse, Bergonzano, Italy"

Stanislao Farri, 1961
mulitple exposure shot of a solar eclipse over a snowy vineyard
September 17, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
stsci.edu
Hubble has observed many Messier catalog items over 35+ years, including the Orion Nebula, the Omega Nebula, globular star cluster Messier 75, and galaxy Messier 109. Scroll through Hubble’s Messier images, and find your favorite: https://go.nasa.gov/3Ui2kHl 🔭
Messier 42: A vibrant and colorful image of the Orion Nebula, showcasing swirling clouds of gas and dust in hues of purple, pink, and orange, dotted with bright stars. The nebula is set against a dark cosmic background. Messier 17: The Omega Nebula features a dense field of stars and interstellar dust clouds. The image showcases vibrant blues, with bright stars scattered throughout the nebula. Messier 75: A densely packed star cluster, known as Messier 75 (M75), fills the image. The center radiates brightly with numerous stars, surrounded by a halo of smaller, glimmering stars. The background is black. Messier 109: A large spiral galaxy with a bright core surrounded by swirling dust and stars. The image depicts various shades of blue, illustrating large dust lanes and bright groups of stars.
September 16, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
usngo.bsky.social
Throwback post: Our friends at Kitt Peak (home of DESI and NEID) also got a spectacular view of the Lunar eclipse. Note the "tiny" dot in the Southeast starting at 15 seconds!

#Astronomy
September 16, 2026 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
smpritchard.bsky.social
On 09/01, a new supernova was found in the galaxy NGC 7331, so last night I tried to image it and record a spectrum. It's about mag 12 right now. The spectrum shows the silicon absorption of a type 1a supernova. From this I got an expansion velocity of about -9200 km/s (3% the speed of light). 🔭🧪☄️
An image of a spiral galaxy seen at an oblique angle, with many foreground stars. To the left, several smaller yellowish-gold galaxies form a small arc. Near the core of this galaxy is a bright blue-white star, which is actually a supernova explosion. The same image as before, but now the location of the supernova is clearly marked by a red crosshairs. A plot of the supernova's spectrum, from 3400-7400 Angstroms. There are several prominent dips due to the absorption from various elements. The right-most dip is labeled as "Si II" at 6159.75 Angstroms, representing the characteristic silicon absorption feature of type 1a supernovae.
September 17, 2026 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
himmapaan.bsky.social
Clip from October 2023, sped up ×2. I enjoy inking grass. 😅
September 22, 2024 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
edyong209.bsky.social
Briefly popping my head back in to unveil the cover of my upcoming book, LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale. It’ll be out on April 6 in the U.S. and April 29 in the U.K. and you can pre-order it right now! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/757705... 1/
A book cover featuring a beautiful closely cropped portrait of an Anna's hummingbird. The cover says LIFE BEYOND MEASURE: Nature's Hidden Wonders at Every Scale, by Ed Yong. The image also says US: 4/06/27 and UK: 4/29/27
September 16, 2026 at 11:21 PM
stellarplexus.bsky.social
As much as I adore a good phosphorescent (and I do!), that deep blue is just too ridiculously gorgeous and so is the pigment it makes. Team #Azurite all the way. #MinCup26
mineralcup.bsky.social Mineral Cup & Ore Cup @mineralcup.bsky.social · 5d
#MinCup26 Round 2 Match 1:
It’s a visually-striking start to Round 2 as deep blue pigment #Azurite is against lead- and zinc-rich #Sphalerite.

VOTE: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
RESULTS: www.mineralcup.org/2026/vote-re...
Split photo with deep blue translucent crystals jut upwards in a cluster like modern skyscrapers on the left. They have lightly striated faces, and are long with pointed tips. On the right is a metallic grey triangular crystal with deeply striated faces. The face itself is geometrically broken with jagged edges, evoking a cyberpunk-futuristic vibe.
September 17, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
jsench.bsky.social
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by private equity and data science.
September 16, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
stsci.edu
#NASARoman activated the Wide Field Instrument—a 300-megapixel infrared camera that will allow it to explore wide swaths of the cosmos quickly. This test image captures the very first photons of starlight to reach the instrument—taken as an initial performance assessment: https://go.nasa.gov/4rg4qEc
At the top, a grid of 21 panels shows a series of blue images with tiny neon green and yellow circles. A larger image highlights a section of the grid with circular patterns, and an inset presents a detailed star-like diffraction pattern. The colors consist of blue, green, and yellow.
September 15, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
davidkipping.bsky.social
22 years of Roman. It may outlast us all.
September 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
science.esa.int
Webb reveals one of its largest images to date! 😲

This starry view shows the nearby star-forming region IC 348. Here, astronomers searched for brown dwarfs, objects which are less massive than the smallest stars.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

🔭🧪
A star-forming region. It is blanketed in thick clouds of gas and dust, millions of kilometres across, that form swirling patterns. Bright stars are scattered throughout the clouds, with the densest cluster situated in the centre of the scene. Each is crowned with six long points created by the optics of the telescope’s mirrors. In the upper right, a couple of hidden stars blast out long, glowing jets of material. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, K. Luhman, C. Alves De Oliveira, M. Zamani (ESA/Webb)
September 15, 2026 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
thomaskole.bsky.social
In ~1940, Ola Apenes took two photos from the Xaltepec volcano in the Valley of Mexico. It shows a sweeping image of the drying Texcoco Lake, and three towns (former altepemeh) at the foot of the Sierra de Santa Catarina. All this is now Iztapalapa, Mexico City.
June 12, 2026 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Merideth [introvertebrate]
hourlycosmos.bsky.social
Aurora over Raisting Earth Station with Moon - From Simeon Schmauß (stim3on.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/2pQoiDV
What a crazy night, we went into it not expecting much since the solar storm was forecast for after sunrise in central Europe. However, before the sun had even set, I got the alert that the first CME had impacted Earth, so the chances immediately looked a lot better. What then unfolded surpassed even our wildest expectations. We ended up driving to this satellite ground station south of Ammersee in southern Bavaria and just when we arrived we spotted the first diffuse pillars north of us. We experienced three waves of incredibly strong Aurora, especially for our rather Southern latitude. During the second wave we saw individual pulsating filaments dancing over our heads. What a breathtaking experience! Many thanks to Christopher for accompanying me on this adventure, Max for being an all round great guy, and Sebastian who lent me his wide angle lenses that made these shots possible.
September 14, 2026 at 9:00 AM