Tootfinder

How about some recent, well, pretty unusual #astronomy papers? Like https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.02162 = Dangerous Questions in Astronomy Education or https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.19984 = Communicating astrobiology and the search for life elsewhere: speculations and promises of a developing scientific field in newspapers, press releases and papers ... or https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.04718 = Quantum panprotopsychism and a consciousness-centered universe

SPHEREx and JWST reveal what comet 3I/ATLAS is... and isn't - Big Think #astronomy

SPHEREx and JWST reveal what comet 3I/ATLAS is... and isn't
Designed to map galaxies, the SPHEREx mission's first science result is instead about interstellar interloper 3I/ATLAS. No, it's not aliens.

I've a "old #astronomy software" side project and I'm looking for the early Mac software "StarMap" or "Star Map" from Bruce Webster.
So far my searches came up empty, but I'm not a specialist in old Mac software.
Does anyone have a copy of this app?
It's described in detail in a July 1985 BYTE article: #retrocomputing

A comet the size of a small city... just passing by our neighborhood onto the next solar system in a few million years.
#astronomy #comet #interstellar
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/a11pl3z-discovery-interstellar-object-1.7575576

Astronomy as a strategic driver for sustainable development: #Astronomy for Development is to direct astronomy towards addressing urgent societal needs.

The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón in Chile has started to repeatedly scan the sky.
Some of it's first images are available at #astronomy #galaxies #rubins

✴️ Dark dwarfs lurking at the center of our galaxy might hint at the nature of dark matter
#astronomy

Dark dwarfs lurking at the center of our galaxy might hint at the nature of dark matter
Celestial objects known as dark dwarfs may be hiding at the center of our galaxy and could offer key clues to uncover the nature of one of the most mysterious and fundamental phenomena in contemporary cosmology: dark matter.

Can anyone recommend good reads on how astronomical #bigdata is being managed, given the massive volumes coming in from, e.g. radio telescopes? Looking for mid-range accessibility, with some technical depth, but not specific to any one telescope or pipeline - more surveys/summaries of the kinds of architectural patterns / platforms, storage & retrieval tools. TIA & please boost for reach!
#astrodon #data #astronomy

Sieste, jour 3. On va essayer de récupérer de la courte nuit (3h de sommeil) Toujours pas d'orage, on cuit en attendant.
#RAP2025 #Astrodon #StarParty

🔭 Photographers Build the World’s Largest Remote Observatory
https://petapixel.com/2025/07/11/photographers-build-the-worlds-largest-remote-observatory/

Photographers Build the World's Largest Remote Observatory
Clear night skies and nearly 500 telescopes.

🛰️ The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought
https://phys.org/news/2025-07-milky-teeming-satellite-galaxies-previously.html

The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought
The Milky Way could have many more satellite galaxies than scientists have previously been able to predict or observe, according to new research. Cosmologists at Durham University used a new technique combining the highest-resolution supercomputer simulations that exist, alongside novel mathematical modeling, to predict the existence of missing "orphan" galaxies.

Objectif lune! #RAP2025 #Astrodon #StarParty #astronomy