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David Dickinson

@astrodave.bsky.social

Writer, Space pundit, Skywatcher

582 Followers  |  386 Following  |  1,364 Posts  |  Joined: 24.08.2023  |  2.1985

Latest posts by astrodave.bsky.social on Bluesky

This image is a detailed map of the asteroid Donaldjohanson, created by NASA's Lucy mission team. The asteroid is a contact binary, meaning it's composed of two lobes connected by a neck. The smaller, left lobe is Afar Lobus. The larger, right lobe is Olduvai Lobus. The neck is called Windover Collum. Two regions are near the nect: Hadar Regio and Mintogawa Regio. Other named features are (left to right) Luzia Dorsum (Ridge), Cashel Saxum (Boulder), Narmada (Crater), Kennewick Saxum (Boulder), Boxgrove Saxum (Boulder), and Mungo (Crater).

This image is a detailed map of the asteroid Donaldjohanson, created by NASA's Lucy mission team. The asteroid is a contact binary, meaning it's composed of two lobes connected by a neck. The smaller, left lobe is Afar Lobus. The larger, right lobe is Olduvai Lobus. The neck is called Windover Collum. Two regions are near the nect: Hadar Regio and Mintogawa Regio. Other named features are (left to right) Luzia Dorsum (Ridge), Cashel Saxum (Boulder), Narmada (Crater), Kennewick Saxum (Boulder), Boxgrove Saxum (Boulder), and Mungo (Crater).

#PPOD: The official names of asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson’s surface features β€” as identified by the Southwest Research Institute-led Lucy Mission β€” have been approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Credit: NASA/SwRI/Goddard/JHUAPL πŸ§ͺ πŸ”­

09.10.2025 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 50    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2
Starlink launch

Starlink launch

Launch path

Launch path

The 2 hour 18 minute launch window opens at 9:34 PM EDT tonight. That’s 2+ hours after sunset… but the launch trajectory takes the mission right up the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, worth watching for if skies are clear. Webcast: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bKy...

09.10.2025 15:14 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Launch

Launch

East Coast launch alert. SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight. Onboard are 24 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper mega-constellation (yes, SpaceX is even launching competitors now… they have that big a piece of the orbital space launch pie).

09.10.2025 15:13 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Missing wind from Milky Way’s giant black hole finally found Astronomers may have glimpsed a long-predicted wind of gas blowing out from Sagittarius A*

Found: Sag*'s missing galactic wind: www.science.org/content/arti...

08.10.2025 22:48 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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My best photos of the comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) above the Sea of Japan (imaged last year using my Canon EOS 60D camera, from Yuzhno-Morskoy, Nakhodka):

1 - 2024-10-20;
2 - 2024-10-16;
3 - 2024-10-13;
4 - 2024-10-03.

@astrodave.bsky.social @davidbflower.bsky.social
#PhotoHour #StormHour

08.10.2025 12:26 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Dedicated Amateur Discovers Supernova in Remote Galaxy Astronomy is increasingly becoming an online affair. Recent discoveries of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS and R2 SWAN highlighted this fact, when both were first discussed on message boards and verified ...

Astronomy is becoming an online affair. A recent find shows what’s possible, as devoted amateur astronomer @filipp-romanov.bsky.social discovered a supernova in a remote galaxy.

Here’s our latest post on the find and how he did it for @universetoday.com - www.universetoday.com/articles/ded...

08.10.2025 14:20 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Comet A6 Lemmon's Encore October Evening Show October 2025 may provide a memorable sky scene, as Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon puts on an encore appearance at dusk. The comet joins Comet R2 SWAN, which slides 0.26 Astronomical Units (AU) past Earth on O...

Comet C/2025 A6 Lemmon has been wowing early morning astrophotographers, and it’s about to go on to its encore dusk apparition in mid-October, joining Comet R2 SWAN in the evening sky. Here’s our latest post for @universetoday.com on what to expect: www.universetoday.com/articles/com...

07.10.2025 23:17 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Perseverance Rover Captures Cylindrical Object Flying Close to Mars NASA has not yet confirmed what it is.

But even a novice astrophotographer knows what a star-trail looks like -
petapixel.com/2025/10/07/p...

07.10.2025 22:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Few mins after I took the moon pic πŸ˜‚

07.10.2025 00:04 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Comet Lemmon photo, 4 degree field of view. T14 at iTelescope.net. 5x 30s L 1x, and 5x 30s RGB 2x. Aligned on the comet.

Comet Lemmon photo, 4 degree field of view. T14 at iTelescope.net. 5x 30s L 1x, and 5x 30s RGB 2x. Aligned on the comet.

07.10.2025 00:10 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Tonight's look at Comet C/2025 R2 SWAN - #Dwarf3

07.10.2025 00:10 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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What are solar storms and the solar wind? 3 astrophysicists explain how particles coming from the Sun interact with Earth Space weather isn’t referring to rain clouds that float through the galaxy. Instead, it’s caused by massive explosions of particles that shoot out from the Sun.

What are solar storms and the solar wind? 3 astrophysicists explain how particles coming from the Sun interact with Earth theconversation.com/what-are-sol... - Space Weather 101 via @us.theconversation.com

06.10.2025 23:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Current Sun.

Current Sun.

Today's Sun, shot with the Dwarf3 smartscope+filter:

06.10.2025 19:08 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
ATHEAt Campaign from @AndΓΈya Space | Day 4 [LAUNCHED]
YouTube video by AndΓΈya Space ATHEAt Campaign from @AndΓΈya Space | Day 4 [LAUNCHED]

The launch action occurs right around 1:17:00 in the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVgF... More on the mission: andoyaspace.no/news-article...

06.10.2025 13:45 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Off and away… there was a successful sub-orbital rocket launch early this morning from Andoya Space Center in Norway. This was in support of DLR’s ATHEAt campaign (the Advanced Technologies for High Energetic Atmospheric Flight of Launcher Stages) testing tech for future reusable space vehicles.

06.10.2025 13:44 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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On 2025-10-03, remotely at the 2-m Liverpool Telescope, I confirmed new distant object CDFZQD2 = 2025 SB57, my astrometric data were published in the discovery MPEC: minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K25/K25...

Image: stacked 8x60 sec. with Sloan r' filter.

#astronomy #space
@astrodave.bsky.social

06.10.2025 09:16 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Comet

Comet

Here's tonight's screen cap of Comet R2 SWAN seen through running clouds at dusk, taken with a Dwarf3 scope:

06.10.2025 01:40 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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2025a6_20251003_actough

Getting brighter... here's another great image of Comet A6 Lemmon from October 3rd, courtesy of Alan Tough: www.flickr.com/photos/77768...

05.10.2025 19:56 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Astro-Challenge: See Titan's Shadow Cross Saturn Nothing wows new observers like seeing Saturn for the first time. I always check out the ringed planet if it's visible, and telescopes down the line at any star party will invariably be pointed Saturn...

Titan shadow events happen when the rings are near edge on as seen from the Earth. After tonight, Titan won’t resume casting its shadow on Saturn again until July 29th, 2039. Here’s our post of the 2025 Titan shadow season for @universetoday.com - www.universetoday.com/articles/ast...

05.10.2025 14:22 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Final Titan Shadow Transit for 2025
YouTube video by astroguyz Final Titan Shadow Transit for 2025

Titan casts its shadow on Saturn one last time for 2025 tonight at 3:50 Universal Time (UT) until 7:23 UT. Saturn is currently 2 weeks past opposition, rising in the east when the Sun sets in the west. The event favors viewers along the longitudes of the Americas. youtu.be/YDqTWpFVUgU

05.10.2025 14:20 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Comet R2 SWAN

Comet R2 SWAN

Here's another screen cap from the Dwarf3 tonight of Comet R2 SWAN - still in the weeds at dusk.

05.10.2025 02:01 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Sunspots

Sunspots

Here's another shot of the Sun today, taken with the Dwarf3;

04.10.2025 23:06 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
AstroBin

Here's another great Comet A6 Lemmon capture:
app.astrobin.com/i/3nbdpr

04.10.2025 22:49 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

@asrivkin.bsky.social @planet4589.bsky.social @noisyastronomer.com @philplait.bsky.social The AMS Fireball page and the video seem to show an east-west trajectory. My money's on a meteor/bollide. I didn't see any good fits for a sat reentry, though Space-Track is lagging on updates.

04.10.2025 15:17 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

One video from North Branford CT puts it at 7:15 PM EDT: www.youtube.com/watch?v=efIk...

04.10.2025 14:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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American Meteor Society We received 176 reports about a fireball seen over CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, Ontario, PA, QuΓ©bec, RI and VT on Wednesday, October 1st 2025 around 23:14 UT.

This one? Decent chance. :)

fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_...

04.10.2025 14:52 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

AYFKM

Now I need to figure out if that fireball my entire Astro101 class saw Wednesday night was actually a space rock as I told them it was...

04.10.2025 14:07 β€” πŸ‘ 28    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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The 83.2% waxing gibbous on Friday evening.
Earlier the moon occulted Gamma Capricorni, ingres at 6.01 PM (UTC+7) and egress at 7.09 PM.
Here, I only captured the egress.

03.10.2025 23:11 β€” πŸ‘ 32    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Auroras πŸ˜ƒ Taken by Eva Kristiansen on October 1, 2025 @ TromsΓΈ Norway
Spaceweather.com
Spaceweathergallery2.com
@tamithaskov.bsky.social

03.10.2025 18:49 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
Near triple shadow transit of Jupiter's moons
YouTube video by astroguyz Near triple shadow transit of Jupiter's moons

The highlight occurs on October 18th, with Io and Europa both casting shadows, followed by a quick hand off to Europa and Callisto. This juuuuust misses qualifying as a triple play by only five minutes! Still, this will make for a great event to capture by video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aGe...

04.10.2025 12:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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