Michele Bannister

Not in person, may try and drop in for the session I'm convening (Other Factors permitting)

Pretty epic

This thread brought to you by how a previous interstellar object was not observed by an operational space mission, who were both excited about the idea I proposed & sad it wouldn't quite work out. Like most unsuccessful observing proposals, this one just gets talked about over a beverage...
/fin

But for interstellar objects, the answer is often no. Spacecraft are not (just) telescopes; space is big so ISOs are small and far away, and flight instruments are built for big close targets, like planets. And something done today for limited gain means something not done tomorrow for certain

Will the response be positive? Potentially yes! Spacecraft mission teams really do like doing cool things with their amazing instruments. 'Could we now do x with y' is happening on some level of formality/execution quite often.

4) is by no means instantaneous and relies on a Lot of factors that are not publicly apparent or require having paid very close attention to that mission's trials and travails during operation. Mechanical items in space age, accumulate quirks, don't have the capacities they did at launch

3) is fundamental politeness: the team who spent decades building and getting an operational spacecraft know it the best. Also, you're asking an unknown number of people to do unfunded work on different science to see if they can do this measurement

1) and 2) are "is the measurement even feasible", which is the first step before "is it worthwhile for the spacecraft to even consider changing this very challenging thing that it is already doing to try to fit in doing anything else".

How to go about seeing if an operational spacecraft can observe an interstellar object:
- Look at the close approach distance
- Consider the spacecraft's instrument suite
- Write a very polite email to a senior person on that mission about the opportunity
- Wait for the mission team to assess

The natural history of ‘Oumuamua - Nature Astronomy ‘Oumuamua is the first interstellar interloper observed in our Solar System and studied in some detail. This Perspective reviews the data acquired during its visit and discusses its origin and propert...

The track history here is that providing peer feedback does not lead to any updating of the ideas. Tried this in 2018-19; got called a 'caveman' [stet] in the NYT. This isn't about a scientific discussion or public scicomm any more; responding is time that we could all spend on science...

Two golden trumpet-shaped flowers, sidelit

First daffodils in the park #bloomscrolling

I do hope she gets a chance to make friends in grad school. So much of uni is not just about the life of the mind

🚀🚀 Could I have made it to interstellar object 3I/ATLAS? Find out in our latest research note! 🚀🚀

Analysis of Trajectories to 3I/ATLAS with a Comet Interceptor-like Spacecraft
doi.org/10.3847/2515...
via @ioppublishing.bsky.social

Pink cherry blossom against a grey sky

Formosa cherry (Jury sterile cultivar) brings the first bud-burst blossom of winter

The Space Telescope Science Institute's MAST archive contains 300 million astronomical observations from over 23 different missions.

Here is an animation showing how the archive has built up over time.

Credit: Julie Imig, STScI

This surprisingly relaxing footage is from SIX MILES under the ocean – and it’s the deepest ecosystem yet discovered

For the record, I am confident that if we imagined that your car had enough onboard delta-v capability, we could calculate a trajectory for it to intercept 3I/ATLAS.

That does not mean that it's worth writing a non-peer-reviewed paper about it, though, let alone hyping that paper.

Light pollution is encroaching on observatories around the globe – making it harder for astronomers to study the cosmos Some observatories that used to be dark and remote are now adjacent to bright urban centers. And sending all telescopes into space isn’t a viable solution.

Richard Green on light pollution ... clear accurate article #astronomy theconversation.com/light-pollut...

☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! Comet 3I/ATLAS is just the third interstellar object ever spotted in our Solar System. Rubin Observatory didn’t discover it, but… Interstellar Object Comet 3I/ATLAS as seen by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory!

☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System!

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪

Watch how seismometers recorded the passing earthquake waves from the magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

Each dot in this animation is a seismic station—red 🔴 means the ground moved up, blue 🔵 means it moved down.

More ➡️ https://loom.ly/6Eo_fYc

We have a grand total of 0 actual Earthlike planets confirmed in the habitable zone of a sunlike star, determining eta Earth requires extrapolation. We need to start filling in the longer period gap, even if we don't get out to the habitable zone. TESS and PLATO long period searches will help #HWO25

Live: Tsunami activity expected in NZ after 8.8 quake near Russia The earthquake, the world's strongest in at least 14 years, has caused tsunami waves in Russia, Japan and Hawaii.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... Local liveblog

UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years Prof Michele Dougherty is the first woman to be appointed to the influential post.

Big day for the matriarchy! 🥳 Huge congrats to the awesome Prof. Doughtery, lead on the Jupiter-bound ESA JUICE mission & STFC Exec Chair.

If anyone's confused on the astro royal hierarchy: Michele and I are the astro equivalents of 🇬🇧Westminster and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Holyrood 🤗

ℹ️: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 👩‍🔬🔭🧪

LAUNCH and FAILURE of Gilmour Space Eris flight 1 from Bowen Spaceport, Australia at about 2235 UTC Jul 29. Rocket ascended about 50 metres while maintaining vertical attitude but translating sideways, and impacted near pad after a 20 second flight. Image from Aussienaut youtube coverage.

Southland lagoon at risk of ecological tipping point, warns DOC An ecologically significant Southland lagoon that has been plagued by algal blooms could be at a tipping point.

The real price of butter.

"Waituna Lagoon, south-east of Invercargill, is part of the internationally significant Awarua-Waituna Wetlands - but its position at the bottom of a 20,000ha intensively-farmed catchment area means it is on the receiving end of sediment and nutrient run-off."

Comet Interceptor is now on Bluesky!! ☄️🚀🛰️

Continuous refilling of the Tūī feeder required on this very wet day. Every time I go into the kitchen I am faced with trees filled with Tūī staring at me

Plant when the puawānanga (Clematis paniculata) flowers. It knows. Never gone wrong with this maramataka tohu yet

SETI Live about 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor. Observed with the @unistellar.bsky.social network and the @setiinstitute.bsky.social Allen Telescope Array, it’s likely a comet—not a spacecraft. As it approaches, we’ll uncover more about this mysterious object. www.seti.org/news/comet-3...

"it didn't start with government experts, climate experts or policy experts. It started with students. And these law students are not from Harvard or Cambridge or all those big universities, but they are students from the Pacific that have seen the first-hand effects of climate change."