Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans

Select committees Well, the fight to stop the decimation of particle, astro and nuclear physics continues. The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology select committee session I mentioned in the previous…

Some thoughts after two parliamentary committee hearings
lifeandphysics.com/2026/03/08/s...
#LifeAndPhysics

Oh well spotted Tanya - yes you are 💯right.

Happy Birthday Gaia 🤗

The Hubble Deep field - teeming with galaxies

The moon - bright and round covered in craters and mare (seas)

Kabloooeee - a supernova explosion

My favourite observatory: the vera Rubin Observatory looking very sci-fi high on the top of a mountain at sunset.

More pictures you say? Yes we definitely need more 🤩 🔭

🔊 Calling all Primary School teachers!🎢

Tues 11th Mar @11am GMT: Join me & @glasgowscience.bsky.social online where we'll be answering your questions live! Just getting my bank of pictures ready in anticipation of what the kids will ask 🤗🔭

🍿: curiousabout.glasgowsciencecentre.org/live-session...

If your pop-sci book shelf is looking for a new addition - Emma Chapman's Radio Universe is coming out this week. It's genuinely delightful and well worth picking up a copy!

👉@dreochapman.bsky.social
📖: www.waterstones.com/book/radio-u...

Officially jealous - gorgeous! 🤩

Pink sunrise sky looking at old tenement blocks. The moon is just setting over some chimney stacks and a seagull has positioned itself perfectly right in front of it.

Good morning Moon 😍
Happy weekend everyone. 🔭

I'm not entirely sure Neil - but please do encourage your daughter to send the centre an e-mail (contacts on the above web link). They are a super nice bunch of really dedicated people and it's in a really lovely part of Scotland.

😂

👌

Remember "NASA makes 'emergency' decision as chances of 'city-destroying' asteroid hitting Earth rise to 1-in-43", that turned out to not be on a direct collision course after all?

Well disappointingly it's not going to crash into the moon either. Party-pooper ☹️ 🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/blogs/planet...

Awesome

Be that H of HR fame? 🤩

CAREERS

Calling the #scicomm community, and anyone looking for a new career in bonny Scotland. New job alert for an Education & Learning Officer at the fantastic #Kirkcudbright Dark Space Planetarium. Application deadline: 27th March. 🔭🎢

www.darkspaceplanetarium.org/explore/care...

😂

Two Geese standing on a sunny wall looking at the camera. Behind them is the sky line of London and the river Thames. The sky is clear with not a cloud in the sky.

Two metal grumpy looking fish adorning a lamppost with a weed growing perfectly half-way between the,

London reflections from the 🚄home
* It was proper hot, ti-shirt weather, but everyone was wearing coats 🤔 #SpotTheScot
* When you smile at passers-by, very few smile back (say "morning" and you really freak them out 😂)
* Lots of bikes everywhere - very well done Londoners
* Everyone looks very chic👌

Lots of lovely messages from colleagues <beams with pride>

"You only missed out on one opportunity I think. A quick dance around the table to the pretty loud music whilst answering the questions would have demonstrated our flexibility as a community reacting to changing circumstances." 😂

😂 colliding black holes sending waves rippling through spacetime - could anyone really cut funding to such awesome mind-blowing science?

😃

Well said Alan!

Anyone watching the UKGov hearing on the STFC cuts yesterday would have also heard the rumba cha-cha-cha music in the background. Turns out it was a dance class for MPs lead by National Treasure and legendary icon Angela Ripon. The Sun newspaper was not impressed!

www.thesun.co.uk/news/3840795...

Loving the eye-nose placement of the sunspots there 🤩

Brilliant - a big high-five to your 2.5yo from me

Happy days 😂

P.S Highlight of the day was the happy singing security guard at the entrance to Westminster calling me (someone not so far off the age of 50) "young lady".... yay to FFP3 masks covering up decades of laughter lines 😂

Going to get that printed on a ti-shirt....😂

🤷‍♀️

Thankfully for those of us with malfunctioning immune systems, it was really not too bad. Lovely high ceilings and lots of open space at the front of the room (even if the back of the room was jam-packed with the wonderful crew of ECRs who turned out to support us)

They're certainly part of the story, and every little bit helps!