@todlauer.bsky.social
Extragalactic observer (black holes, galaxies, galaxy clusters, stellar pops) that also dabbles in planetary astronomy. Really, basically a pixel pusher.
Guy Bilout illustration of the concept of the cosmic optical background. The dark black sky seen out the slit of an observatory dome casts shadows on two observers inside the dome.
I just love this surrealistic illustration of the cosmic optical background that Guy Bilout did a few years ago for a NYT article. Light comes from the dark Universe.
27.10.2025 05:09 β π 20 π 1 π¬ 1 π 0
Llamas! Look out! Fortunately, there is a song about this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBaU...
25.10.2025 03:07 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Yeah, not much has really happened since 1942...
23.10.2025 16:27 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 1Oddly, that doesn't work here, at least. I run coffee & sometimes get a dozen from DD, and they just sit out for the whole day.
22.10.2025 22:34 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Geez - Just leave it somewhere where the graduate students can get to them and they'll be gone in a flash.
22.10.2025 21:04 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0New one? I was waiting for any one.
22.10.2025 20:31 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0He's already turned the West Wing into a gaudy palace with all the stupid gilding.
22.10.2025 20:20 β π 18 π 2 π¬ 1 π 0
A little essay about DESI on the occasion of visiting the KPNO 4m, where the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument is measuring an extremely precise history of the expansion of the Universe.
noirlab.edu/public/blog/...
The University of Arizona says, "No!"
www.kvoa.com/news/top-sto...
It's scary, but ALL of those 60s slogan came from one guy: James J. Jordan Jr. www.nytimes.com/2004/02/06/b...
21.10.2025 02:02 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Well there are many ways to get rid of rings: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUwi...
21.10.2025 01:10 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Mountain Lion.
20.10.2025 14:12 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0
On days like this I miss Santa Cruz.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/s...
Looks like south NJ back in the day...
20.10.2025 01:07 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I grew up with Apollo, which was an incredible experience, but not that interest in human SF now. I mean, you're going to Europa. Robotic exploration gets better all the time,
19.10.2025 21:38 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0What is amazing is that this video is not all over the news. It demonstrates a deep pathology.
19.10.2025 17:24 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Looks like a tiny interferometer.
19.10.2025 17:19 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I didn't get a picture of the best sign I saw today, but I remember what it said:
Somewhere in America
A little Hispanic girl
Is hiding in an attic
And keeping a diary.
#NoKings
Chicago!
18.10.2025 22:11 β π 18 π 5 π¬ 0 π 0Solving the case was a snap.
18.10.2025 20:42 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0
Tucson on River road.
18.10.2025 18:03 β π 36 π 9 π¬ 1 π 1
Tucson this AM
18.10.2025 16:51 β π 17 π 1 π¬ 0 π 0Funny - in my office this PM I was just showing off my thesis. The CCD images, software to do the image processing, higher level data products, and tex files of the thesis itself all fit on a single 6250-bit 9-track tape - the only one still in my possession.
18.10.2025 01:01 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Thanked a friend for data analysis,
"By the way, I wanted to say I think you've done a wonderful job. I appreciate the way you've handled this thing."
Who knew to reply,
"Well, the way I look at it it's my job to do this thing the way you want it done and Iβm only too happy to be able to oblige."
Particularly at the 5th grade level.
16.10.2025 20:16 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0100% true.
16.10.2025 20:14 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0And of course the we were right at the page limit, so as for a more detailed justification...
16.10.2025 20:12 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0From the last review of our JWST prop
Strengths
The path to science is clearly laid out, and the analysis techniques used are state-of-the-art
Weaknesses:
A more detailed justification would strengthen the need for JWST observations, as well as a more specific description of the path to science
I remember polywater when I was a kid, and of all things, just rewatched "The Naked Time" last night. Self-breeding form of water is certainly a horrifically scary idea.
16.10.2025 19:04 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0That's 1) throwing in the towel, & 2) If is random, any careful work to think it through is irrelevant. Only the specification of observations is needed. When people want a lottery, they mean a lottery of the standard proposals developed for competitive review.
Lottery in the top quintile? Maybe
