Prof. Sam Lawler

Professor of astronomy, farmer of goats.  Asteroid (42910).  She/her.

Has mostly lived in warmer places, now learning to live respectfully on Treaty 4 lands (Saskatchewan, Canada)


Good morning from a moon of Jupiter, apparently

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/119/095/135/488/759/original/cad8df8c19d6571d.png


This is a joke, right?  RIGHT?  Please let this be a joke

https://www.reflectorbital.com/lighting


Whoa, I have almost 10,000 followers.

Hi everyone!  Enjoy this goat on a tire, as a little treat.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/969/182/369/313/923/original/b2cf2926035e5f3c.jpeg


Everything on here seems to be really awful horribleness (everybody please stop actively committing genocide?!)  I'm feeling quite overwhelmed at the scale of all the bad things that are happening.

After this news interview about SpaceX dropping garbage from orbit on everyone, today I'm going to focus on small things I can directly improve.  Taking care of the land that I am so lucky to live on. Growing and making good food.  Making my goats happy.

I will share happy goat pictures later!


Ooo I like this piece of accidental Kuiper Belt art

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/277/289/302/315/438/original/e345e009fd596e7a.png


My partner took our older farm dog to the vet today because she hasn't eaten much for a couple days and found out she's got a massive abdominal tumor.  Decided to have her put to sleep at home as soon as possible.  I am totally still in denial, it's so sudden.  (Nobody is showing up to the meeting I'm supposed to have right now, maybe I'll go hang out with her in the barn and try to process this...)


Just a reminder that there's not a binary "we're doomed"/"we're not doomed."  Every single thing you and I do to use less energy makes the future less shitty.  Don't give up hope.

Don't write back to me with all the reasons to give up on the future.  If you give up on making the future better, you are part of the problem.

Tell me something you're doing right now to make the future better, even if it's something small!


I hate hate HATE dealing with anything related to mechanics or auto parts stores, because I really don't know what I'm talking about with the workings of cars, and that makes the men (always men) working there treat me like an airhead and I have to resist the urge to scream "I am an astrophysicist! I'm not stupid! I just don't know the proper name for that car thingie I'm asking about!!" and I feel stupid and ragey the whole time I'm there. AAAGGGHHH.


I am a ball of guilt.  So many emails asking me to do so many things.  I should be getting ready to travel to a workshop on satellite pollution but instead I'm home sick and doing a shitty job of pretty much everything, and feeling bad about pretty much everything.

Mostly, I am so incredibly angry about getting covid.  I am grateful for the vaccines that I've gotten that made it not a big deal, and the tests that let me diagnose it, but SO MAD that everyone is ok spreading it.


Everyone in the family is testing positive now :(  We were pretty sure that kid #1 had it a couple weeks ago already and just never tested positive, but they're testing positive now, so I guess that was a different illness??  UGH.

Anyway, it's going to be a very very long week with all of us stuck at home.

Please send kid-friendly craft or drawing tutorial recommendations and nature/cooking/cute videos!


I'm talking about gravitational waves and black holes in today's lecture and I just watched a bunch of the simulations here and now I'm feeling slightly anxious about getting swallowed by a black hole.

https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/videos?category=simulation

(I know, it's not going to happen. But entire stars are getting swallowed by black holes somewhere in the universe all the time! Wild)


nostr:npub18y7skwwwcjh4p6e09622zd2zyuhvuf6s4jdryfchqd8qhrxe32cqufm5np It is if you block out anybody else from using a particular range of altitudes of orbits.  Which Starlink has effectively now done.


nostr:npub1y3cwyac2htwp6sva7ldcpn2yduuaff7tcerx80379ejekvnkltuqx6kfmg haha thank you. It's still the previous evening here!  But I appreciate the helpful note. I need a reminder in like...14 hours. (which I have multiple of now, hopefully)


nostr:npub1arrgfhys96h65fzc820n45rmfa2wyll8xdgqxr5dz8qph5u8yg4qccuugh The biggest thing you can do is tell people what's happening in orbit, and how unsafe and polluting it is.  Most people have no idea.

You can also advocate to all levels of your government to prioritize rural and remote broadband internet.  If people had other options, they wouldn't need Starlink.


There are still a lot of chokecherries on the bushes, and the migrating birds love them.  So does my livestock guardian dog.  But the problem is, she's eaten all the ones she can reach in all her favourite spots!  Poor dog.

(Yes, I pulled a branch down for her after seeing her gazing longingly up at the berries - she is the most food-motivated dog I've ever met, so it's easy to make her happy.)

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/194/633/625/101/607/original/3a83ff299db41096.jpg


One thing that's super neat about this time of year is you can see which trees are clones of each other, because they change colour together (I think that's the right terminology? I'm not a biologist though).

There are probably a couple hundred individual trunks in this picture, but you can see that it looks like there are actually only 4 individual organisms because of how the leaves are changing together.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/194/600/633/968/504/original/58588d0c6dc79d74.jpg


Beautiful leaves this morning

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/194/585/553/250/521/original/7dd9e9f6e086ab7f.jpg

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/194/586/911/306/235/original/cd04ac6f049be38e.jpg


nostr:npub1ms8xdsrlfa0s4c9lzr4k5gwstnmc7qey7lmzch738a2a86ue3yhqu4p4hv YES it's really obvious here in the flat prairies especially


May all your beautiful sunsets be accompanied by friendly goats waiting to greet you.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/191/475/606/631/860/original/a137cc7e7be8c4f9.jpg


Next week I don't have to teach any classes!!  Teaching-wise, it's a weird time for a break. Sanity-wise, it's AMAZING, I'm SO HAPPY.

My to-do list: catch up on marking for 2 classes, write an invited opinion piece for an important journal, maybe write an opinion piece for another publication (if I get a good idea for a slightly different take), cook *lots* of amazing food, get the farm ready for Real Winter, and protest transphobia in my government.

Going to be an interesting week!


Well, I think I can say that I made it through this incredibly packed-full week that included: paper submitted, NYT interview, MIT tech review interview, live radio interview, 2 conferences (one of which I gave 2 talks for and watched a few talk sessions, one of which I only somewhat attended), normal teaching load+online quiz, first snow, normal parenting and end-of-season farming workload. Wowee.


...and now come the emails from students who missed the exam even though I stated multiple times in lecture and in emails to the whole class exactly when the quiz would be: during our regular lecture time.


Ok, a handful of students are turning it in at 20 minutes.  So it's not impossibly long....


Oof, 15 minutes in and not a single student has turned it in yet...I think I made it too long.  Sorry, students.


I love/hate that I can see how many of the students in my class taking the online exam. 91 students taking it right now.  (I went to 3 "Big Quizzes" each worth a smaller fraction of their grades rather than a midterm and final exam, because I have so many test-anxious students, but they still hate this. Sigh.)


WHOA this talk is all about shooting incredibly fast projectiles at granite spheres and aluminum plates to learn about how debris flies off impacted meteorites. #DPS2023

(But now I have to hang out on Zoom and wait for panicked students to ask me questions during the online exam. SIGH.)


nostr:npub16nggsyukflgkj9tv8pnljs24dfw5arqfj4v2jhs9yp65cucpc73q2u7jj7 nostr:npub16a3wq0x5ky070sp36ekmz3jwjqj7r2csgd0s97ym58tlvtfnshds6k9dah I came halfway through the talk so I was assuming!  But the way the speaker just answered a question, I'm pretty sure you're correct and they didn't actually get any (this is what I get for severely multitasking while watching talks...)


nostr:npub16a3wq0x5ky070sp36ekmz3jwjqj7r2csgd0s97ym58tlvtfnshds6k9dah Nope, definitely a tiny asteroid, not human-made space junk. They recovered some small pieces of it


nostr:npub12capncsyewqh47ekgc7g6z9ry0t74990hldzgwzp8z0ttp7w64hs6vzhek I guess now astronomers will get to see how bright those ones are. 😭

And the world will get to find out how good their collision avoidance algorithms are.


nostr:npub16a3wq0x5ky070sp36ekmz3jwjqj7r2csgd0s97ym58tlvtfnshds6k9dah yep, a tiny one


nostr:npub1us567yxlhm43wxvx9fx3wneatlr078cjdhrvyt3vrnz487k9v9kqh3rsy0 No, just explaining why only medium sized stars (like our Sun) have big planets


Neat statement about planet formation from #DPS2023: Around small stars, you don't expect large planets because you run out of gas in the disk quickly.  And around big stars, so don't expect large planets because you run out of time (the stars destroy their disks before large planets can form)


Welp, first snow.

Only a tiny bit though, the 4-legged animals don't really even seem to notice (the chickens, however, are extremely offended and didn't want to come outside at all. I side with the chickens here).

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/188/362/813/863/842/original/782d23f379ecc836.jpg

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/188/364/286/412/740/original/eb63e701a11f7353.jpg


nostr:npub15878x9ccu54yvm7ucw6w8zpcnv98e906fgtkwffxwxz0zllkhckq4kc8yf It's just a tad below freezing.  It's supposed to be up in the 20s (C) in a couple days though.


Oh maaaan the ground is turning white. I mean, with record high temperatures I guess it's nice that the weather is somewhat normal here?  (Too bad "normal" for here = freaking cold and snowy in early October)


nostr:npub1x00n4mmhffmf4ew6n9kd32lnd4mqz4u50rxsn0zmjj5l0eesnl9qaj94p4 Thank you for sharing that!  I do really appreciate hearing how lots of different people's brains work.  And I'm sorry you felt pushed out.  Academia is a really weird place. Slowly trying to make it less toxic, but wow there's so much to fight against...


nostr:npub13zdazs6c9vxl2yafl0yw504ylw7me2r5qq2gtkfm7vz9lucljpdq50y9ek NICE enjoy the eclipse!  I will be very very sad if it's cloudy here - we're supposed to get 60% coverage!


nostr:npub1x00n4mmhffmf4ew6n9kd32lnd4mqz4u50rxsn0zmjj5l0eesnl9qaj94p4 Yeah, the whole system is rather screwed up. I know a large fraction of the students in my class just need a "science credit with a lab" and don't particularly want to be there. And if I don't have something like a quiz or a homework assignment, most of my students won't actually do any of the learning, so this is what I'm stuck doing.  There definitely has to be a better way, but this is the system I'm in, and I shared all these tips for other profs who might be in a similar position.


nostr:npub1dygukfpdg89nsepq3tkr7gsxnszl2m76w4q04zz9rz6yhgff8qcsp9kajg Yeah, I know. I absolutely would have HATED this when I was a student.  But this one requirement really, really makes it harder for students to say, post the question to a forum and get help before the end of the exam period.  So yeah, really sucks, but I think it's worth it for much better academic integrity.


Oh also: each student gets the questions in a different random order, so they can't work through it together.

Anyway, I'm sure some will still cheat.  But I've done my part to make that as difficult as possible, hopefully without causing problems for the students who are actually trying to learn stuff.


My astro 101 exam is all done for tomorrow.  Things I incorporated to try to make it difficult to cheat on (not impossible, it's always possible to cheat):
-super short time limit, but open book/notes
-they have to answer each question before going on to the next, no skipping around
-questions are as specific as possible to my lectures
-anything with a written component is worded in a way that (I think) will be hard to immediately google, and hopefully will also be hard for chatGPT to answer.


...I had a deep and urgent need to stop working on the astro 101 exam for tomorrow and go make hot chocolate.  I guess this is how I cope.


Oh NO it's SNOWING I'm not ready for winter....


The #DPS2023 prize talk right now is about an ongoing project to carefully image each of the giant planets with Hubble at least once a year and watch for changes.  It's SUPER beautiful and interesting, and I'm reminded of this comic that summarizes how freaking cool Saturn is: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2010-07-06


nostr:npub12tzzr2vc0lcx84zwzmvgh338maf6f4a7umuku0gte9n995r7ztlqaf6792 Let's find it!!


Staring at snuggling cats, channeling that warm fuzziness, mostly ready for live radio interview in 5 minutes.


nostr:npub12tzzr2vc0lcx84zwzmvgh338maf6f4a7umuku0gte9n995r7ztlqaf6792 Is that a particular TNO?


This cuteness has been in the background of all my meetings today, so I thought I should share more widely. Have some cute.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/183/518/633/145/362/original/2ac2be1b1de789ec.jpg


Last week I agreed to do a live radio interview today about auroras and the solar eclipse next week and I am so tired today I am feeling really grumpy with past-me for signing up for this.


nostr:npub1nu968lpe4mqdkjzurvz00e70yfdyqypay2q2xrr2ae9h4eljxcjqykl6r5 it's probably higher?  I don't know the exact number/rate, but that recent JWST result probably puts some good constraints on that: https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-rogue-planets-stars-forming


nostr:npub16nggsyukflgkj9tv8pnljs24dfw5arqfj4v2jhs9yp65cucpc73q2u7jj7 I just really liked how casually the speaker dropped that fact.  It's WILD to think about.


Crazy #DPS2023 statement of the morning that is true: there is a planet somewhere in the Galaxy that gets eaten by its star about once a decade (as the star loses orbital energy due to tides and spirals inwards). Whoa.


Oooof making breakfast and getting extremely grumpy kids on the bus while hopping back and forth between conferences on Zoom is... not my favourite way to start the morning.


Had a beautiful, tiny thunderstorm this afternoon, including a little bit of hail.  (Yeah, it's really weird to get a thunderstorm at this time of year here. The rain is very appreciated though).

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/180/079/275/006/565/original/7782c330bc69ec87.jpg

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/180/087/665/159/149/original/2059ff741644a13c.jpg


nostr:npub1sk2skeaexcftu2rqn6x2smhy0uj437vj9lr3q0y7cyckyy9fdp3smaeyvp No optics labs here, all humanities profs.  Chalk dust makes them work better!


I love/hate having chalk dust all over my hands at the end of a lecture


First possible snow and negative temperatures in the forecast.  SIGH.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/177/823/995/566/967/original/c125e9bc9ade47f7.png


Currently watching the plenary talk on JWST and OH MY GOD JUPITER

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/52302207952/in/album-72177720301006030/
#DPS2023


Just got asked by a journalist to comment on the FCC's fine on an improperly drifting satellite - it's great!  But it's only a first step.  nostr:npub1cg42w2zuq5c6fk6vd08z72r6afw5j7ndrrnlx486nm00t6tzrydq9s5ed5 wrote a nice piece about this, if you missed it: http://drmeganargo.net/index.php/2023/10/04/the-fcc-issues-first-fine-to-a-satellite-operator/


My groups' talks yesterday went great.  I have to say that I am really lucky to work with a couple of my good friends on discovering new TNOs!

Our talks were about the LiDO Survey, which looked off-ecliptic, and was able to discover over almost 150 new TNOs all at high inclinations.  We're now doing orbital modelling (that has started with the paper that I finally submitted last week) and characterizing the survey so we can "de-bias" our measurements

#DPS2023


nostr:npub1cg42w2zuq5c6fk6vd08z72r6afw5j7ndrrnlx486nm00t6tzrydq9s5ed5 I've had better luck directly emailing the science editor, the pitches seem to get lost sometimes.  Definitely give that a try, it's a huge reach!


nostr:npub1cg42w2zuq5c6fk6vd08z72r6afw5j7ndrrnlx486nm00t6tzrydq9s5ed5 Great post, thank you for writing it!  Have you thought about writing for The Conversation?  https://theconversation.com/uk/pitches  (You're UK-based, right?)

I've had incredibly good uptake/media coverage of everything I've written for them.  Let me know if you have questions!


Congrats, Manitoba!! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/2023-manitoba-election-results-1.6985468


My research group is all giving talks coming right up (ending with my talk) so I'm going to go focus on that. Will try to post a summary later!


A. Doner: 8th "generation" of grad students to be the lead on the Student Dust Counter on the New Horizons Probe, now looking for dust at 55AU. Catching both interplanetary and interstellar grains.  Comparable measurements to Voyager probe at larger distances.

Starting to see more dust than expected: more TNOs at higher distances than expected?  Previous model most ignored scattering TNOs, these are probably important.
#DPS2023


J-M Petit (I'm a co-author): OSSOS++ comprehensive model of the Kuiper belt - I'm so excited to get this put together - it will be incredibly useful for Kuiper Belt modelling and planetary migration history!

1146 TNOs that can be debiased to measure true structure of the Kuiper Belt!

So much structure in main classical belt that couldn't find a parameterization. (Too much good data!)

Will be available soon here: http://www.ossos-survey.org/
#DPS2023


B. Gladman (my former PhD supervisor! [oh yeah he still plots everything with SuperMongo])
OSSOS survey produced beautifully precise orbits, so we can see amazing structures in classical belt- but you need to look at barycentric orbits and free inclinations.

The Kernel is real < i_free 4.5. There's a gap in outer part, very different inclination distributions on each side.

CC belt covered whole region, beyond gap get dynamical excitation (yeah, this is pretty far into the weeds)
#DPS2023


M. Dodici: cold classicals probably formed where they are today. But he has a wild proposal: what if instead they ground themselves down into dust and then reformed in orbits they are on today?  You can maybe do it, if you don't go to too wild eccentricities.
#DPS2023


First talk: nostr:npub1lx6kndj5wk24frv2u8jg9l63xgpu80md4l0wtye09cdfycwxc5kq6qg7jr telling us what Arrokoth is telling us about planet formation. Everything small should be a contact binary, New Horizons lightcurve data agrees so far, all fits with streaming instability model of planet formation.

Arrokoth is chunkier than first though (more like a snowman, less like a pancake). Most of the time, even a snowman will not have a big lightcurve because of geometry - New Horizons gets different angles and can help.
#DPS2023


This next #DPS2023 session is all about TNO theory and observations, which is my favourite!!  In addition to presenting a talk, I'm a co-author on 3 other talks in this session hahaha


Professor sweater: check
coffee: check
cats in background for Zoom talk: check


Well, I was going to go brush my hair and put on a professor sweater before my talk, but then a cat sat on my lap.  I guess I'm trapped now.  Maybe I'll do my talk in a gross farm hoodie.

(...I guess geographically I'm supposed to say "bunnyhug" not hoodie, but I could live in Saskatchewan for 1000 years and never be able to say that with a straight face.)


nostr:npub16uvm3qukvrkeur4rd33ejwq4namqwke5jmrcypm9resechj3szjs6nhk77 I spent a lot of time hiking around there and driving on those amazing roads while in university, and I got married in the road pull-out just outside the observatory!  I love Mt. Wilson a lot.


Now time to run through my talk a couple of times and see if I really *can* fit 17 slides into 7 minutes and actually get my science across...


[Hahaha my PhD supervisor just asked a nasty question about observation biases to one of the speakers that I KNEW HE WOULD ASK]


nostr:npub16nggsyukflgkj9tv8pnljs24dfw5arqfj4v2jhs9yp65cucpc73q2u7jj7 Ooooo very good point!


Woohoo! Shout-out to my current survey CLASSY!  Will help to find more of these Sednoids (I hope I hope I hope) and could help to confirm this theory.
#DPS2023


Y. Huang: 3 most distant Sednoids (Sedna, 2012VP113 a.k.a. Biden, Leleakuhonua). Experience weak Galactic tides, weak scattering from planets, now orbital evolution is only precession - winding back in time, they all match up 4 Gyr ago. (Notes this is not the same thing as the current Planet 9 "clustering")

This "primordial clustering" is incompatible with Planet 9. Suggests: early rogue planet or stellar flyby. Only rogue planet theory creates aligned orbits. COOL.

#DPS2023


I. Matheson: Mean plane of the Kuiper Belt could show presence of distant giant planet, BUT will need about 10x more known TNOs to measure this.

Now trying to measure mean pole of plutinos, but super hard, lots of observational biases baked in, also should evolve with time

#DPS2023


A. Thirouin: Mutual events are when a TNO and its moon pass in front/behind each other, can get a lot of info about shapes and orbits.  Pluto-Charon had mutual events in 1985-1990, but won't again for like 120 years. One other system has been observed so far, but they predict 6 more systems that will have mutual events soon!
#DPS2023


( nostr:npub1lx6kndj5wk24frv2u8jg9l63xgpu80md4l0wtye09cdfycwxc5kq6qg7jr is doing a great job of moderating this session!)
#DPS2023


E. Fernandez-Valenzuela: Weywot is Quaoar's satellite, it's super dark. Ran an occultation observation campaign (requires lots of cooperation between many observers across wide area). Diameter = 170km, albedo = 0.04
#DPS2023


A. Verbiscer: New Horizons is funded to keep observing for a few more years, will get to observe a bunch of scattering TNOs which go SUPER far from the Sun, neat!  It's a telescope *in* the Kuiper Belt. Has measured lightcurves and better orbits for many distant objects - couldn't do this nearly as well from the ground.
#DPS2023


A. Stern: Arrokoth is made out of 5km mounds - computer models match the data well, but why 5km?  Will get to test this with future observations of asteroids from Lucy Mission to see if all primordial bodies have this 5km mound shape
#DPS2023


Today is Trans-Neptunian Object Day (TNO - same as Kuiper Belt Object) at #DPS2023, I'm giving a science talk later today, and I'll share a few highlights when I can.


nostr:npub1dea66ghgeckds8tjxhmh8rh62fmmkhzpzflf9vpwx48ejzdly40sg65qkz me toooo


My 7 minute talk for tomorrow *only* has 17 slides.  I did the 20 slide talk in 7 minutes just fine today - although tomorrow's talk is about Kuiper Belt orbital dynamics, so it won't make me nearly as rage-filled as talking about for-profit satellites destroying the sky... we will see!


nostr:npub1dea66ghgeckds8tjxhmh8rh62fmmkhzpzflf9vpwx48ejzdly40sg65qkz I wouldn't say we've "won" that - still fighting (and not fighting for totally darkness or no satellites - just reasonable numbers of each!)  I posted a lot about light pollution specifically a couple months ago when I attended a conference on light pollution..


nostr:npub15878x9ccu54yvm7ucw6w8zpcnv98e906fgtkwffxwxz0zllkhckq4kc8yf I listened to your Ologies episode!  It was so informative, thank you!  Also, I grew up around carob trees and we always called them "stink beans" and I never once thought to try eating one.  Now I live in a place where they totally cannot grow so I'm a little sad I learned about how awesomely edible they are like 35 years too late.


Ways to show people how bad the night sky can get:
Set of simulations from our paper a couple years ago https://uregina.ca/~slb861/satcon.html

A more realistic visualization of these simulations (by nostr:npub185g57xwqmyt4466lhkwtkrl43gdpnx4xsxthz9uqvzshl0jzfwds06q29f): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mega-constellations/id1598820453


SatCons 101: a really careful and informative set of videos about satellite megaconstellations
https://cps.iau.org/community-engagement-hub/satcons-101/


Holy shit that was WAY TOO MANY THINGS in one day.  Anyway, here are the links from my #DPS2023 talk on satellite pollution

Groups to join already fighting against light pollution:
https://cps.iau.org/
https://darksky.org/


Getting too close to my talk, time to focus...


S. Benecchi: outreach observations of Uranus and Neptune from New Horizons. Had simultaneous Hubble+New Horizons+amateur astronomy data of Neptune and Uranus
#DPS2023


K. H. Yip: "Computer scientists and astrophysicists don't speak the same language, even if they both speak English."

Partnering with Machine Learning conferences to get CS people to help with planetary science challenges. Problem: ML doesn't like surprises, science is full of surprises! Physicists/astro background needed to win challenges, not just ML background.
#DPS2023


G. Orton: Juno mission is going until 2025. Neat result: the Great Red Spot has roots hundreds of km below the "surface" of Jupiter (whoa).  Juno+amateur astronomer observations show that the Great Red Spot is getting really small.
#DPS2023


I'm giving the last talk in the education and public outreach session at #DPS2023 - I'll try to write down a few highlights while I watch the talks before mine


I ran through my talk twice, it's hard to get under 7 minutes, but I think I can do it.  Now I have 3 hours of teaching, then immediately to my #DPS2023 talk session, eeek


nostr:npub15c3axwdn5hn7372eal8mkk7wwxf9zmmr2rtur5jlncpzzzd6tpeq5ny8g2 Aww, thank you!


Also!!  Here's a NYT article that I think I'm quoted in (but I don't have a NYT subscription so I'm going to wait until my university library gets it tomorrow).  But if you have a NYT subscription, read on about the stupidly bright satellite BlueWalker3.  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/science/bluewalker3-ast-spacemobile-astronomy.html

Nature paper is supposed to be public, but I can't find a link yet (will edit when I find it).  I'll be writing an opinion piece about this soon!


Ok now time to go teach some classes and hopefully get a chance to run through my talk that's happening later today at least once...


It is not inevitable yet how the story in orbit will unfold. Inevitability becomes the justification for moving forward, but it's not inevitable.  The skies belong to all of us, not just humans, need to honour that through advocacy.

Noctalgia: "sky grief", she recently wrote a Science e-letter on this with nostr:npub1dgzsgsvdqg6r9h2pj6x24s2qu9eydcmuukmdpsswvfvwr4ecu6msahp74y: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-loss-of-dark-skies-is-so-painful-astronomers-coined-a-new-term-for-it1/

Advocates for a UN statement/treaty on safeguarding outer space as a shared commons of our cultural heritage

#IAUS385


Points out that there's already a cost to satellites in research astronomy: brighter skies mean we can do less science with the same amount of taxpayer $ due to the actions of for-profit private companies. This hugely affects traditional stargazing, highlights effects on Wayfinding: dawn or dusk are when satellite light pollution is worst, when observations are most important for navigation.

#IAUS385


Aparna Venkatesan: "I thank my students and my children for holding me accountable to the future" wow I wish we could all have that mentality! Highlighting the voyage of the Hokule`a using traditional Polynesian celestial navigation - tiny ship just returned to San Francisco.

We humans have an ancient relationship with the night sky, and we need to reclaim this before it's lost - the sky is currently being colonized by bright satellites.

#IAUS385


Nick Campion talks about how SpaceX has powerful "sustainable" imagery + "helpful" narrative, but we're actually just re-doing violent colonization in space.  How do we fight this?

We don't need to argue that there aren't benefits (there definitely are).  SpaceX is essentially "greenwashing" the pollution they are producing - need to calculate TOTAL cost of satellite constellations (enviro, culture, human). "Our Space: not yours to destroy." Nature does not end as we leave the Earth.
#IAUS385


#IAUS385 seems to be mostly disconnected between the in-person part and the online part...this is very confusing - hope #DPS2023 does a better job when I switch over to that conference later today (and give a talk... side note: remind me NEVER to try to attend 2 simultaneous online conferences while also doing my normal teaching/farming/parenting stuff, this is nuts and I haven't even left the house yet)


Hilding Neilson nostr:npub1gj4nx64ye4pkmfwqcdcgp3h389yz5h6jtyczqf9rz9emcqqqfs3qc0ul9j just talked about how Indigenous treaties acknowledge the land, and ask the question "what can you give back to the land" rather than being purely exploitative like, say, the Outer Space Treaty or Artemis Accords.  What can we give back to outer space?  #IAUS385


Well, I got the time zone wrong and didn't get up stupidly early to watch talks, so I totally missed the one session I really wanted to see at #IAUS385 - Indigenous perspectives on satellite pollution.  Sigh.  I hope there are going to be recordings available...


20 slides for a 7 minute talk encouraging astronomers to fight for regulation of satellites!  Easy to talk fast while I furious, I guess.


nostr:npub12hxruac9ekvyqayn35up0zdt3hs4zlyfuxzjhv0dkhvcuhrvcn2swwg0au The talk is only 7 minutes, one lecture is 50 minutes, the other is 90.  So...maybe I can just repeat myself a lot?  "Starlink is bad. Starlink is bad. Starlink is bad."


I spent all weekend happily doing farm work.  Now I have to finish my 2 talks for #DPS2023 (one is TOMORROW EEEK), figure out how to watch the talks remotely, figure out how much of the #IAUS385 meeting on satcons I'm going to watch (and how to watch it - talks are approximately 2am to 10am my time so...ew), also figure out what I'm going to lecture about in 2 classes.

It's going to be Quite A Week.


nostr:npub1zehrm7ru7xq6q0vesy7pp6ej7xkaamn5pfdpjpj9u678hkq0atksx0yzxx I wonder if it would work with me humming just the viola part for a quintet, haha


I've had a string quartet (that I definitely played at some point in the distant past) stuck in my head for like 3 days and couldn't remember what it was... finally went on a googling rampage and figured it out!

Dvorak quintet (not quartet, oops) in G, *swoon* lovely (gosh I love Dvorak - especially mvt 3)


nostr:npub15878x9ccu54yvm7ucw6w8zpcnv98e906fgtkwffxwxz0zllkhckq4kc8yf Oh WOW!!! This one is next on my list :)


I've been working my way through the podcast Ologies (which is AWESOME) and I finally got myself to listen to the space junk episode (which I had been avoiding because, well, I'm extremely aware of that and I figured it would be stressful).

Turns out that the host actually quoted from an article I wrote back in 2020 in the episode! How totally cool!!  https://theconversation.com/spacexs-starlink-satellites-are-about-to-ruin-stargazing-for-everyone-149516

https://www.alieward.com/ologies/spacearchaeology


Even had time for a quick walk to appreciate the gloriously yellow woods. Trying hard to completely enjoy the very brief fall - winter is coming...

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/151/398/546/904/282/original/a2356f9436136b8e.jpg


Low tonight is 2C, so last field harvest (and we got it done before dark so we didn't even have to take advantage of the harvest moon)

Tomatoes (all of them - green or ripe), eggplant, zucchini, pattypan squash, peppers, ground cherries, a bit of parsley. Ready for first frost.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/151/376/479/402/580/original/a07b3351aa0a4805.jpg


I just got a #SkypeAScientist match with a classroom in a numbered school in New York City (my theme is New York today, apparently).  Cool!


I still have to make a second 7 minute talk about how astronomers can fight against satellite pollution... Sigh.


Ok, I think I managed to condense my 22 page paper into a 7 minute talk 😬

Running through it with collaborators shortly (who are also presenting) for the hybrid #DPS2023 conference next week


I think an hour+ long international meeting on satellite regulation and a NYT interview before 9am has earned me a second cup of tea.  (Holy shit, what a morning).

It's the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation in Canada (not recognized in Saskatchewan - FU Scott Moe), and my little act of T&R was to make sure the NYT reporter had contact info for a couple of Indigenous astronomers to get their perspective. Hope their perspective gets into the article, too!


Woo! New York Times interview in half an hour to talk about satellites!


Nothing like a 7am meeting (on a Canadian holiday - thanks, UK) the morning after an 8pm Zoom meeting.

Starting the day off right: I have to make 2 talks today that I'm presenting remotely at a conference Monday and Tuesday (along with attending a different online conference in a different time zone, and also my normal teaching load).  I think I got this, but this is a bit much...


Nothing like an 8pm zoom meeting to celebrate paper submission

(just kidding - I am totally brain dead. Hopefully someone else at the meeting is more awake than me...)


nostr:npub1cq4ff5ncpv2rj9tcgm4hxgc265ycl6knufgatqjdn62dle8ffmaqqv3cpd NICE!  Congrats on the coverage!


nostr:npub1w6qd4huwke66fjkmct0uvnltxf2az9aeky44yrkryay9c2zxp3ksggxk7c Pretty much everyone in astronomy uses it.  I have quite a love/hate relationship with it.


SUBMITTED!!

Time to go for a walk!

(haha just kidding time to make dinner and then go take care of animals)


Kids have eaten, files are uploaded, now waiting for the LaTeX mess to compile on the journal submission site and then I can check and see what terrible mistakes I've made

And then hit SUBMIT

...and then a couple of referees can check and see what terrible mistakes I've made!


FIXED IT!!

Now waiting to compile and download

Bus will be here any moment...


There is ONE LaTeX error between me and paper submission.

Time to scream into the void.

Or walk away and never publish this stupid thing.


...I hate LaTeX so very very much


Well, looks like tomorrow will probably be the end of the tomatoes and corn.  Guess we'll be harvesting like crazy tomorrow afternoon!

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/142/905/851/827/609/original/8f872dcd42cc6ef4.png


nostr:npub1hr0q3yq9s8ejx7rvc4mw3r7mmkzr7zp6tryngug0h4sj3tfm5dlqkp4k2l Thank you for doing this!  It really DOES help


Ended the lecture showing off the successful DART mission that demonstrated we have the technology to deflect a hazardous asteroid if we discover it early enough!  🎉

Then reminded them that the crazy proliferation of satellites currently happening will make it much harder to discover asteroids early enough.  😡


Ah dammit I just realized I have to reshuffle all the figure files before I can submit...ok it's totally not going to happen today.  But the text is DONE and the files for supplemental info are DONE and UPLOADED and maybe I can get it to the point where I can just upload things and submit quickly tomorrow, the most insane day of the week!  (Haha probably not. But I can dream)


I just have ONE STUPID PLOT to fix before I can submit this.... will I figure out how to fix it before the bus gets here??


I just got to take a short break and pat my goats with a grade 6/7 class who came to visit the farm.  Best reaction to seeing the animals: one of the students yelled "Wait, llamas are real?!"


nostr:npub1rkuyuucd8exd3f6z3p0atrr6ya25t5zyam34zkew9ky2mfyuweus8hsqsh Thank goodness I am 10 years out from my PhD thesis now!


but first of all I have to actually read the whole damn thing carefully one last time.  And ooof it's so long... why did I write such a long paper....


Anybody want to take bets on whether today's the day I actually submit this paper that's been really-almost-so-close-to-done for like...3 months?  (I completely hate the paper now, so it's probably done. That's what that means, right?)


I did indeed get uninvited for asking for a remote talk.

Yesterday I asked conference invite #4 if I could do that talk remotely.  Stay tuned for the exciting "no" answer that I will almost certainly get!


Oh WOW more super awesome invites to do things that I really want to do!  Yay/oh no (how do I possibly have time for all this...)


Oh WOW more super awesome invites to do things that I really want to do!  Yay/ohnohowdoIhavetime


I got home from campus, decided I needed a break, got tea and a brownie and went to sit outside in the lovely fresh air.  I opened the back door, and saw.... goats.  Outside the pen.  Happily wandering around.  Ohno.

(They are back in now.)

I got to sit for a little while, now time for harvesting beans and making dinner and feeding everybody... September is HARD.


Oh my gosh it is still Monday, isn't it...


Oh noooooo risk of frost tonight and I did not pick any tomatoes.... crap.


nostr:npub1mkhqfmdxfkhl2resqtfxu0g7q54zfg3ffz43uftulv6hp963g6kqlk7fmh Of course, *I* never procrastinate on anything.

Hahahahhaaha I procrastinate on everything


nostr:npub168zah4l2a6rt8lwck69rs73ch6d53y97k9tnfku5yj5jzq09vuns3cp56f That's a really lovely story!! Thank you


nostr:npub168zah4l2a6rt8lwck69rs73ch6d53y97k9tnfku5yj5jzq09vuns3cp56f what assignment did you have that took years??  I'm intrigued


(I should specify that they've had 10 days to do this assignment, and it's been not-cloudy for 8 of those days)


The first "big" assignment for my astro 101 class was due this morning (which is taking a picture of the sunset from a place with a good clear horizon view, and documenting the time and location - they'll repeat this throughout the term). Of course, it was cloudy at sunset last night, so now I have 26 emails asking for extensions.

I'll extend it for everyone... I should really be tough and say "that's ground-based observing for you!" but I actually want them to do the assignment.


I needed both a jacket and a headlamp for taking care of animals this morning, because as we approach the equinox, it's colder and darker and yet the fires are still burning in northern Canada.  (It's really bizarre to have it be so smoky and rather cold at the same time.)


nostr:npub1jryymc6dtwgc6304u4wn8xtv4hmpd9snj3gu6wp7w0dme2s0d6lqemx953 Hello fellow Lawler!  Hope your Friday goes well, not quite Friday here yet.


Today I saw what I can only assume is all the grackles in my area leaving in a massive flock of hundreds (maybe even thousands) of birds.  It was incredible.

So yeah, turn your lights off at night!  It helps the millions of birds migrating tonight.  (Also helps you and lots of other animals...)


Can I attend 2 simultaneous remote conferences in different timezones while also doing all my regular teaching and farming and parenting and not completely lose my mind?  (I already have 2 accepted talks in one of them, and the other is about satellite megaconstellations and astronomy so it's pretty darn important aaaaAAAAAHHHHHH! This is hard)


I'll write more about this later when I have time, but apparently the Planet-9-that's-not-really-Planet-9 theory article just came out and I'm quoted a bunch: https://physicsworld.com/a/earth-sized-planet-could-be-lurking-at-the-edge-of-the-solar-system-simulations-suggests/


nostr:npub1pglyf8qwlje7fhqznclv8us0wtuvzuxexpwyakt4c3m2xxrkdd5q7h8uyg I'm mentioned in this book, and I was taking a class from Mike Brown when he announced the discovery of Eris :)


In class today, I was talking about the 2006 IAU definition of a planet and Pluto getting reclassified as a dwarf planet, and a 4th year undergrad told me she remembered being really mad when that happened.

...While she was in preschool.


nostr:npub1h3e5xm8fq775g88wjrvk8xzmw8txdzkrny7j8sg209x96s6l2guqlfeklu There are thousands more Starlinks than cubesats in orbit.  And Starlinks are car-to-pickup-truck-sized, with a ~10% failure rate.  I'd argue they're far worse than cubesats.


The paper I'm assigning my more advanced class to read this week has an awesome title: "Betelgeuse Just Is Not That Cool" (referring to Betelgeuse's dimming a couple years ago that everyone got excited might be an imminent supernova, but was probably just a dust cloud-burp)

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab7935/pdf


This is day 3 of holy-crap-I-can't-believe-how-busy-I-am.  But I'm almost through the craziness to a few much more chill days, starting with my friend's MLA swearing-in ceremony tonight and a visit from my very good friends/former housemates/farming mentors tomorrow.  Almost there!


nostr:npub1h3e5xm8fq775g88wjrvk8xzmw8txdzkrny7j8sg209x96s6l2guqlfeklu Thank you for sharing this!!


nostr:npub12j8k63p637wgkspex0r75eyzkyzne8naxelwr67fv379gh4p6c0q30jxr0 This is what I ended up using: https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference/generated/scipy.stats.ks_2samp.html


nostr:npub13u47z8gqcyydhwv7x80kn6dskp4uvhh0xm4f2vyqsemj0k5nv7gsq0ks67 5:30, which is early, but not too terrible


Auroras on the prairies!  Go outside and look if you're decently far north and are lucky enough to have access to dark skies.  (Currently not super spectacular, but very visible)


nostr:npub1l7ve526wews4rrhgeeyc5hz8yypnnw44yaxpdmaec5a6ldtlnufs9q70au OH NO that's... something


nostr:npub1eqm8c7cldvgny9nt8qt93gl6djk3gar9cwzz4pzdftw92cvhqs9svkn4w8 it's the privatization that is going to cause Kessler syndrome, and then NOBODY can use LEO for a few decades/centuries. Private companies already own way more than half of all active satellties.


I am tired but I also just heard incredibly depressing predictions about the near-future of low earth orbit in a meeting and I am about to teach my astro 101 class about orbits and artificial satellites so...maybe I'll just drink some water rather than push myself into a coffee-induced shaking-yelling-lecture.


nostr:npub1awcs0ca9jsdw2are38m7q5f0d8t2sttz3vl7wys7lasu4v9hjkpsmmx3zz I've put it in different places for different jobs at different institutions.  My current employer rates community service work higher than most places I've worked, so I put it under "service to the research community."


nostr:npub1g7tzlzs2fkj0en4wtwjmga6h9mty7pnlem7m42mcvyw85glfcu5s77n6x7 nostr:npub1rlsas8l0zrcqwnhqjjhqcqyxss67cntmdaupf07w976fnrv54vzstq7sp6 Thanks for the share!  I'll definitely keep yelling about this as much as I can.

Quick correction: I'm in Canada, not the UK. Thanks!


Hey cool, looks like I crossed the 5,000 follower mark last night.  Hi, everyone!

Here's a goat trying to eat a cattail "hot dog."  Because goats are way, WAY better than billionaires.

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/111/029/654/988/561/444/original/bf90260c52fb29c2.jpg


Muting this thread now!

Some more info if you are interested in learning more about this mess in orbit from an astronomer/stargazer perspective:

-me getting interviewed by CNN about this ~18 months ago: https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2022/04/04/spacex-satellite-pollution-gothere-cnn-plus.cnn

-a 1 hour talk I gave about this ~1 year ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpdPHOAw_Us

-simulations of visible satellite distributions at many different latitudes: https://uregina.ca/~slb861/satcon.html

-SATCON2 report: https://noirlab.edu/public/announcements/ann21034/


WOW lots of comments already - I can't answer all of these individually, sorry.  It's actually not super easy to find satellite numbers - surprise! Private companies aren't real excited about sharing info.  Best info for civilians is from nostr:npub1szrghespz5jvfcsz3x46j4eu9yhgarjqmr2tqujsmlvlr2cpw3yq0zhd7z's excellent website https://planet4589.org/space/con/conlist.html and T.S. Kelso's database https://celestrak.org/satcat/search.php.  Both of these are run as side projects by individuals - not paid for by the companies launching all this stuff.


nostr:npub1zjtfeswqdjyy4sszac9f9zsutndyup3q7t06yrxuzypemyq9xl6szkruu9 nostr:npub10kpejapvt6u8m7ls45aspdg9935v50fqegm6fq4ex8n2v3ajavgqz80rjj Astronomers are painfully aware of this fact https://planet4589.org/space/con/conlist.html


nostr:npub10kpejapvt6u8m7ls45aspdg9935v50fqegm6fq4ex8n2v3ajavgqz80rjj Almost all the satellites you can see with your eyes now are Starlinks.  Nicely demonstrated in this awful/beautiful photo: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220614.html


nostr:npub1jmlh72aghydlx785ljqlfsx473068wykyxlmaj829rqrm7t30hdqu2gnlz Yeah, true.  They gifted it by not regulating it, and he took advantage of the lack of regulation.


I just had to update my numbers for a lecture, so here's your periodic reminder: Starlink is now 55% of ALL active satellites in orbit.

And given the recent news about that awful billionaire unilaterally deciding to cut of internet access to parts of the world whenever he decides to, this is extra important to share.  Why did our governments effectively gift Low Earth Orbit to one awful dude? This is so bad.


I have a "BE QUEER DO STEM" pin to wear to a meeting today with an Important Person to quietly protest the transphobic/misogynist policies his political party just put in place here.


nostr:npub1pdtuw0rknntgtwk8fgvtt6cnrmdq2w3mtp49vzp4ha53lzmhh7psjh2yd3 There's a list here (not sure who maintains it, but it's a great starting point): https://truesciphi.org/ast_mas.html


D. Chevalier: started off with a great land acknowledgement and noting that Indigenous people have been at the forefront of dark sky preservation (highlighted Maori efforts)

She's specifically looking at bats, built a small, portable simulated streetlight for tests, uses "sticky pi" open-source trap/photo-classifier+bat noise recorder.+ pitfall traps

Collected data at UBC farm! [where my partner got addicted to farming and our farm journey started!]

#ALAN2023


Side note: #ALAN2023 is very international!  (At least, for a conference that I could drive to from Saskatchewan)  The speaker just tossed off a joke in French and a large fraction of the audience laughed


I'm an astronomer currently fighting for regulation and better engineering of satellites (particularly Starlink) so that the night sky isn't ruined for everyone: https://theconversation.com/soon-1-out-of-every-15-points-of-light-in-the-sky-will-be-a-satellite-170427

I also have super cute baby goats!

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/108/210/288/664/193/149/original/4ef5b9347892c8a3.jpeg

https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/108/210/292/557/966/534/original/280ca481cc4b9307.jpeg