Jonti Horner

My colleague and I are looking for a postdoc to do some cool science involving data from Gaia and RV exoplanet observations. For more info, check out the advert at: aas.org/jobregister/...

Not always! Jupiter is a two-faced planet.

Sometimes friend. Sometimes foe.

spaceaustralia.com/feature/jupi... by @jontihorner.bsky.social

Antarctic expeditioners complain of 'predatory', widespread sexual harassment as minister, division urge change A review reveals disturbing reports of a widespread culture of sexual harassment at Australian Antarctic stations, including women being too afraid to disclose their periods for fear of retribution.

We have extreme environmental analogs on Earth (far from most humans, communication gaps, medical gaps, isolation, environmentally dangerous, varying legislation).

We still haven't resolved humans being evil to each other in these places.

Imagine being trapped with your abuser en route to Mars.

a close up of the planet pluto in the night sky . Alt: Animation showing the planet Pluto rotating on its axis going from day to night side of the planet

And it couldn’t come at a more appropriate time with ‘Pluto Demoted Day’ just around the corner.

Is Pluto a planet? Nope for me 🫣 but I just like stirring shit up so what would I know.

However, @jontihorner.bsky.social has some words about it here: www.spaceaustralia.com/opinions/cel... 🔭🧪

panoramic shot of a deep and dens star-filled sky, sitting above a horizon showing a low gradient slope mountain. The mountain is silhouetted. In the sky, many meteors are captured in this long exposure image.

This time of year is always great to check out meteor showers!

Read: The ultimate sky guide to catching meteor showers from your backyard, written by @jontihorner.bsky.social & Dr Tanya Hill a little while back for #SpaceAustralia

www.spaceaustralia.com/index.php/ne...

📷 J. Sullivan/Flickr 🔭🧪

That's all good - but when you're giving a one hour talk about it I bet you don't use the full name every single time :P If not, your one hour talk only contains 45 minutes of content and 15 minutes of 'PSR J2051 +0827' :)

Lich is a great case of naming competitions going right. The pulsar is Lich, and its planets are Draugh, Phoebetor and Poltergeist (hopefully I've got the spelling right) - all forms of the undead from around the world :)

The thing is, human-based names are memorable :) And roll off the tongue so much easier... much easier to say 'Comet Pons-Brooks' than 'Pulsar PSR B1257 +12'. I've had to talk about that one in my talks, and it really doesn't roll off the tongue. 'Lich' is much better - though most don't use it yet!

But you only really use those designations to introduce the comet :) So something like

'Rami, let me introduce you to comet 12P/Pons-Brooks. Pons-Brooks is a Halley-type comet, and is very pleased to meet you' :)

Then there's the rarer ones

X/ -- this is a comet that was observed long ago, and we don't have enough data to calculate an orbit

D/ -- this, like Monty Python's parrot, is an ex-comet. It is deceased. It has ceased to be. Or it is lost...

I/ -- this is an Interstellar comet

So for comets, you have the following

C/ -- this is a 'standard' comet - i.e. one we believe we have never seen pass through the Solar system before. This would be the comet equivalent of 'Mr', I guess...

P/ -- this is a periodic comet - one we are certain has been seen at multiple apparitions

Comet names are really easy - it's just the first bit which is the equivalent of a human title - just used for context. E.g.

Professor Bloggs
Admiral Lemonface
Royal Bodyguard Carl

You only use the first bit once to give context. Then thereafter you just use the name :)

So much better than pulsar names :p

Comet names make perfect sense! Named after their discoverers except for the few named for the mathematicians who worked out the orbit ;) comet nicknames however are doing my head in. I’m totally over the whole ‘devil comet’ thing…

My take on the annoyingly nicknamed “Devil’s Comet” at The Conversation: theconversation.com/the-devil-co... . Despite the hype it won’t be great with the naked eye but will be a fantastic #astrophotography target here in Aus! Best to view it as a warm up act, with better to come in October! #astro

What should you do if you want to get into stargazing? Here are some of my ideas, published at
The Conversation! The most important, for me, is that astronomy is a hobby best shared - so look for your local astronomy club! theconversation.com/want-to-get-... #astronomy

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right, time for the peak of the #Geminid #meteor shower! This year should be extra special thanks to the new Moon. Here’s my take, from an Aussie perspective: theconversation.com/the-geminids... via The Conversation #astro

Thanks for the tip! I’ll make sure to do that in future!

I think I have but I’m pretty much a newbie here so figuring it out slowly with very limited cognitive space right now! I’ll get there though :)

So I really need to start using this thing :) Here's a good place to start - have you seen all the stories about Saturn, and how its rings are set to DISAPPEAR in 2025? Well, don't panic - it's all just an optical illusion :) Here's my take at The Conversation: theconversation.com/will-saturns...

The loss of dark skies is so painful, astronomers coined a new term for it 'Noctalgia' is a feature of the modern age.

While light pollution is devastating for astronomy and stargazing alike, it is also wiping out our cultural heritage that gave rise to mathematics and natural sciences, and ultimately, our technological civilization: the night sky.

How well do you see the stars?
www.space.com/light-pollut...