Stuart Atkinson

Not that wild... :-(

Enough!!!!! This is absolute INSANITY. 88K satellites from this company, a MILLION from SpaceX, and it's just the start. Will someone somewhere **please** stop these mad people from destroying the night sky and filling Earth orbit with their crap?

A troubled teenage girl finds a new life on Mars, where real space cowboys ride robot horses across the plains in the light of two moons - just as Earth is threatened by an alien AI. Come on, what more do you want?! ;-) www.amazon.co.uk/PLAINS-GOLD-...

I've caught up with writing so J & I are watching the Curling. "Why are they chasing those stupid rocks? It's stupid." she said. "You chase a red laser dot!" I pointed out. She wasn't impressed...

Beautiful art by an amazing artist.

Ah, was hoping you were going to say B&Ms or one of the chains of shops also on northern high streets, up here near the Ice Wall ...

a) which shop is this? and b) DO IT.

REALLY appreciate your support for my writing, thank you!

Two feature proposals accepted by astronomy magazines and two already commissioned features completed and sent in *ahead of schedule*. Jess' sore eye is healing after visit to vet. And I finally heard back from one of the 12 agents I queried 6 months ago - lol, only joking, not a word, obviously...

It's a feature that's fascinated me since childhood, and I've seen it peeking around the edge of the Moon a few times. I don't care if the pics are a bit flat, I want to hear the crew's reactions to *seeing* it with their own eyes.

Forget sleep. I'd be hanging out the window like a dog on a trip to the city if Mare Orientale was passing beneath me! ;-)

Beautiful. Really, REALLY hoping for some great views of Mare Orientale...

A shiny white rock on gravel. NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/Kevin M. Gill

A shiny white rock on gravel. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

A shiny white rock on Mars, imaged by the Mars Perseverance Rover on Sol 1764 (yestersol) using SuperCam and MastCam-Z.

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Close up of a smooth, pale rock on Mars imaged by the Perseverance Mars rover.

Close up of a hillside on Mars, covered with smooth, pale rocks, imaged by the Perseverance Mars rover.

A hillside on Mars, scattered with smooth, pale rocks, imaged by the Perseverance Mars rover.

Ahhh, so, it looks like those white rocks scattered across the hillside ahead of Perseverance are more of those strange-looking soapstone-like polished rocks... Image credits: hillside - NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/S Atkinson, Close up - NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/S Atkinson

You want to put a *million* satellites into orbit? Sure thing, Mr Musk Sir, no problem! Whatever you want, you know that! Yeah, F***those astronomers you told you'd protect the night sky! If there's anything else you want - blow up the Moon for materials, maybe? - just ask, Sir!

Light rocks on the slope of a martian hillside, imaged by the Perseverance rover on Feb 4th. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

Intrigued by all those light rocks on this martian hillside, imaged by Perseverance earlier today (Feb 4th)... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

A startled tyrannosaur surveys a desolate landscape, depicting a scene at the end of the Cretaceous period in Earth's history. A massive meteorite has impacted the Earth, causing catastrophic destruction on a global scale. Volcanic eruptions are just one example of the after-effects of the impact. They release poisonous gases that lace the atmosphere with toxins, suffocating wildlife. And wildfires, like those illustrated here, would have swept across the globe, prompted by infalling debris heating the atmosphere. It was probably the worse day in Earth's recorded history, although not the most devastating mass extinction.

Gosh, I haven't done any new #paleoart in a very long time. So here's a scene I just finished, which I'm quite happy with. I modelled everything except the tress (in #Blender), then embellished it in Photoshop.

Please SHARE!

#sciart

Processed moisaic of new Perseverance images taken yesterday... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

Processed moisaic of new Perseverance images taken yesterday... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

Love seeing the tracks of Mars rovers meandering across the Martian landscape... Processed moisaic of new Perseverance images taken yesterday... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

Image comparing old and new photos of Jess the rescue cat belonging to Stuart Atkinson

First photo of Jess, the one I saw on the shelter website 9 yrs ago, vs latest one taken today. She was lonely, sad, scared, underweight and poorly; she'd basically given up. Just look at her now. Yes, I'm a very proud cat dad, guilty as charged.

Another grey mucky day in Kendal... Artemis delayed... still waiting to hear back from magazine editors and agents (lol!!!)... not seen a star for over a week... but at least I have this green-eyed monster to keep me smiling.

Beautiful work, truly.

Far too many astronomers, professional & amateur, have ignored, dismissed or even justified Musk's obsession with filling Earth orbit with satellite vomit. Celeb astrofolk have stayed silent about it rather than anger him & his acolytes. Time to start shouting.

Processed mosaic of two images sent back by the Perseverance Mars rover.

Lovely new view of Mars, courtesy of the Perseverance rover. Processed mosaic of images taken yesterday. Always love seeing rover tracks on the red planet, but hope to see bootprints before I go... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Atkinson

B&W image from the Mars rover Perseverance processed to bring out details on the distant slopes

B&W image from the Mars rover Perseverance processed to bring out details on the distant slopes

Something a bit different this morning... I stacked/ processed some B&W images from Perseverance to bring out details on the distant slopes... love the dark streaks & areas of exposed rock... Ansell Adams would have LOVED Mars... Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/S Atkinson

Close up view of an eroding outcrop of tumbled large and smaller rocks, in the distance a rocky slope rises upwards

Zoomed out view of the hilly rock strewn Martian terrain outside Jezero crater

NASA Mars Perseverance Rover outside Jezero crater
Sol 1,758 (30th January, 2026)

1) MastCam-Z (left) ZCAM04303 looking to the east
2) MastCam-Z (left) ZCAM04303 looking to the north-east
Site 83 / 1252

📷 Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / ASU / MSSS / Martian-Observer

Image of Jess, the black and white cat which owns writer and space enthusiast Stuart Atkinson

No words to describe just how much I love this crazy ball of fluff. A tiny lunatic with a heart as big as a planet, she chooses to lay and sleep in my arms. Isn't that amazing?

As Cap said, I can do this all day... (but I won't, don't worry!) Background: as Louie knows, J is a rescue cat, scared stiff when we brought her home 9 years ago, hated the sight of me for months, now she's my best bud, my shadow, and I'm a very proud dad.

Seriously cute, it's a wonder I ever get a word written...