@astronimouse.bsky.social
A mouse living in the old Cambridge Observatory. I love old books and everything astro-historical.
One of my favourite classic Who stories!
29.10.2025 18:19 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I hadn't realised that the @bodleian.ox.ac.uk had digitised their copy of Hevelius' Selenographia - the first really good lunar atlas, from 1647. You can find it here: digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/42bf...
29.10.2025 16:01 β π 33 π 7 π¬ 1 π 1Will you need a raincoat on your lunch time stroll? π€
There's heavy rain pushing across London and the far southeast, with a few showers to the north β
Here's the latest radar π
THE GREAT DOME AND TELESCOPE OF LICK OBSERVATORY, CALIFORNIA.
Why stop at a hemispherical dome, when you can have a full sphere around your telescope?!
29.10.2025 11:53 β π 43 π 6 π¬ 6 π 0You can't beat a big old refractor! we have a few here!
29.10.2025 11:40 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0𧡠Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into lovingly repairing historic books from The Portico's 19th-century collection...
29.10.2025 11:12 β π 83 π 30 π¬ 1 π 2
Hurricane Melissa will bring strong winds & heavy rain to the Caribbean. Could it affect the UK?
Bringing you this deep dive is Met Office meteorologist Honor Criswick.
Me: Doctor Who back for Christmas 2026! That's amazing! Hurrah!!!
Also me: Oh, what a shame it's still Russell T Davies.
There's no pleasing Doctor Fans. π
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Fast solar winds bring the potential for aurora sightings tonight β¨
Parts of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland may get a glimpse where skies are clear enough
Look to the northern skyline in areas away from urban lights π
Professor Keith Seffen from @eng.cam.ac.uk @corpuscambridge.bsky.social will talk about 'Putting the βSβ into mechanics' in our next lecture:
10 November 2025, 18:00 β 19:00 Bristol-Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre, Cambridge.
BOOKING: www.cambridgephilosophicalsociety.org/events/event...
We've got just one more Museum Tots sessions left for 2025 and we're going on a wintery adventure! With stories, songs, crafts and lots of hands-on activities, there will be plenty for your little ones to enjoy. βββ
π
Wednesday 5 November
π 9:45am to 10:45am
π Book via our website: buff.ly/7CW1e0F
Unregulated and understudied cocktails of chemical pollutants in UK rivers, lakes and coastal environments can have harmful effects on aquatic ecosystems even when their individual components are present at βsafeβ levels, our new report warns today: royalsociety.org/news/2025/10...
28.10.2025 10:12 β π 9 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
Half-term planning got you hot under the collar?
Fear not, our FREE exhibition on medieval medicine is here to keep you amused with all the leeches, urine flasks and weasel testicles you could ever wish for.
πBook now: https://loom.ly/kVqsPRY
Image: MS O.1.20 @trincolllibcam.bsky.social
For the research ecosystem to thrive and meet future needs, change is essential.
Our new report sets out recommendations to drive systemic change across the ecosystem and ensure a successful transition to open access publishing.
Read more π https://cup.org/43CqqOQ
#AcademicResearch #OpenAccess
A close-up of a small cluster of snowdrops in bloom, growing among fallen autumnal leaves which cover the ground.
Snowdrops? In autumn?
That's right! In the specialist collection at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire, there are more than 500 varieties of snowdrops - including galanthus 'autumn beauty'.
Typically it flowers over the last few days of Oct and into Nov.
Photo: Issy Vetoshkina
How are we equipping people for the current and future climate?
Our Chief Executive @pennyend.bsky.social has spoken to
@carbonbrief.org about climate science, tackling misinformation and AI.
Read and watch ‡οΈ
www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-b...
It's half term for many people this week, so what will the weather bring? β
Check out our latest Week Ahead forecast with Alex Deakin to find out when and where to expect rain π§οΈ
Watch now ‡οΈ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Xf...
Future versions of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) will be able to run at much higher laser powers thanks to a sophisticated new system that compensates for temperature changes in optical components. (1/2) physicsworld.com/a/new-adapti... π‘ππ§ͺβοΈ
27.10.2025 17:00 β π 35 π 6 π¬ 2 π 1
Graph of max and min temperatures for Durham Monday 27 Oct to Saturday 1 Nov 2025. Max Monday = 10Β°C Tuesday = 12Β°C Wednesday = 10Β°C Thursday = 11Β°C Friday = 14Β°C Saturday = 13Β°C Min Monday = 5Β°C Tuesday = 5Β°C Wednesday = 3Β°C Friday = 7Β°C Saturday = 8Β°C
There'll be a subtle rise in temperature this week π
You'll mostly notice it overnight - after some chilly mornings initially, it will be slightly milder when stepping out the door later in the week
An observing site, with three large domes in the centre and the arching Milky Way above them. To the left is a long building, and to the right is a smaller dome. A fourth, larger dome is hidden on the right side. The horizon exhibits a faint coloured glow: green on the left and red on the right.
The sky above our VLT is split in a greenish & a reddish airglow.
An airglow is only noticeable in the darkest regions. Preserving such pristine skies not only enables scientific research, but also the experience of a perfectly dark night.
https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2543a/
π π§ͺ
Have you noticed an abandoned or derelict Victorian building near you? π© media@victoriansociety.org.uk for a chance for it to be featured in our Top 10 Endangered Buildings list 2026.
ποΈ πβͺ in England & Wales only, built between 1837 - 1914. More here: bit.ly/4hybqrc
#heritage #endangeredbuildings
Join us next week (4 Nov) for this year's Royal Historical Society Public History Lecture, with @greshamcollege.bsky.social:
'Minor Criminal: The Trial of the Man Who Murdered My Grandmother', with Daniel Finkelstein bit.ly/4op6Wpd
6-7pm, Tuesday 4 November: in person and online #Skystorians
A cold and showery start to the week β but how long will it last β
Find out in the full forecast for the week ahead
π
On Friday 21 November we host the 2025 RHS Anniversary Lecture given this year by Prof. Jane Ohlmeyer (Trinity College Dublin): bit.ly/48NJHR5
βVisible | Invisible: Voices of Women in Early Modern Irelandβ
6pm, at Mary Ward House, London, and online. Booking now open and all welcome. #Skystotrians
"Like my new car boys?"ππ
An early motorcar outside of Sim's Coachworks Birnam, circa 1910. (A bit different than the cars you see heading through Dunkeld and Birnam now!)
Born #OnThisDay in 1930 was Gladys West. As a mathematician and computer programmer, West created an accurate model of the Earth's shape, and her work on satellite geodesic modelling laid the foundations for GPS technology. #WomenInSTEM #BlackHistoryMonth https://bbc.in/4nsn0FA
27.10.2025 11:14 β π 37 π 23 π¬ 0 π 0
Before then, I'm chairing two excellent @greshamcollege.bsky.social lectures this week - 'Music of Animals' with the awesome Milky Mermikides (www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/mus...) and then @helenczerski.bsky.social on Oceans (www.gresham.ac.uk/whats-on/liq...). Both free to attend or watch online.
27.10.2025 11:21 β π 7 π 4 π¬ 0 π 0
A raw Cassini image acquired on Feb. 26, 2013 showing the planet's curious hexagon structure around its polar latitudes, as well as the central spinning vortex over its pole. (NASA/JPL/SSI)
Saturn's Northern Hexagon - From Jason Major (jpmajor.bsky.social) - https://flic.kr/p/dYne9e
26.10.2025 08:00 β π 112 π 22 π¬ 0 π 0
This week we look forward to publication, on Thursday, of the next in the Society's New Historical Perspectives book series:
'Atlantic Isles: Travel and Identity in the British and Irish West, 1880β1940' by Gareth Roddy bit.ly/4o9iblT
Available free Open Access from @uolpress.bsky.social 1/2
Enjoy watching a podcast-style video about life & legacy of Robert Leighton - who chose bridge-building over battle lines - & whose bequest led to Dunblaneβs historic Leighton Library, Scotlandβs oldest purpose-built independent library.
βΆοΈ youtu.be/q0GMwC54eG8
β¦/π
