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Last Notes

2026-09-02 13:58:45 UTC

Happy first day of school, and thank the stars for bus drivers! One of my kids just got on the bus (which comes *to my back door* ridiculous luxury!!) My other kid will get on a different bus soon, that also comes right to my back door.
Related to yesterday's shit-show of car-dependence: Saskatchewan has one single type of rural public transportation figured out extremely well. I sure wish they'd give us grown-ups some options, too.

2026-09-02 02:54:39 UTC

My goats love their straw bale playground equipment. And Goatzilla says "yes, these apples you poured out for us are very nice, but can you please hand-feed me instead? I am very spoiled."
Also, my goats would like to tell everyone that genAI fucking sucks.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/199/170/888/030/697/original/1f4d423d878fd0df.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/199/171/674/768/635/original/d72d7a1225f14b37.png

2026-09-02 02:14:28 UTC

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(I'm not actually going to upload incorrect lecture videos. But... it is more satisfying than it should be to *think* about doing this)

2026-09-02 02:14:00 UTC

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😭 😭 😭 apparently the university IT people failed to turn off the built-in Zoom chatbot that tells students everything in the lectures without them ever having to watch the lectures. Classes started today. I am currently feeling grumpy enough to wonder if I it would be less work to "poison" the chatbot by uploading a bunch of fake, incorrect lectures to my Zoom account rather than trying to download everything and upload to another platform like... tomorrow.

2026-09-01 20:13:47 UTC

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Yeah... I've got a good gravel bike, but I'm not in good enough shape to do 35km on mostly gravel roads in a reasonable amount of time... at least it's not -30 right now.

2026-09-01 17:51:19 UTC

A flat tire on my stupid plug-in hybrid car that doesn't have a spare was definitely what I needed on my first day of teaching for the semester. FUCK. $100+ taxi ride? Or risk the scary farm truck that is likely to die at any moment? The currently required car-dependence of living in a rural place really really sucks. I should get a horse.

2026-09-01 15:35:59 UTC

RE: https://scicomm.xyz/@JohnBarentine/117196501010205218
Turn off your damn yard lights (even better, turn off empty buildings' lights - interior and exterior)

2026-09-01 02:33:00 UTC

FAA comment submitted. Time to do a bit more prep on my class that I'm supposed to start teaching tomorrow that I haven't spent nearly enough time on, submit an overdue conference proceedings revision, send a bunch of stupid emails I was supposed to send earlier, and most importantly, eat some more plum tart while I try not to scream in frustration mmmmmm https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/plum-tart-recipe2-1916996

2026-09-01 01:15:24 UTC

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More info in this great write-up by a former president of the American Astronomical Society: https://kelseyjohnson367.substack.com/p/the-launch-rate-is-going-up-our-oversight

2026-09-01 01:14:33 UTC

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There are almost 14,000 public comments on the FAA's plan to remove the few remaining environmental rules from US rocket launches. You can submit your own comments until 11:59pm EDT tonight: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FAA-2026-8614-0001

2026-08-31 22:22:26 UTC

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(I realize there are huge accessibility issues here to adding in-person exams - but I will work with individual students as much as I can to fix those. There's an excellent accommodation centre on campus which I will utilize to its full capacity next semester)

2026-08-31 22:21:12 UTC

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thank you for kind words. Today didn't go *well* exactly, but some small victories.
Big organization that I helped write an FAA comment for won't send it, so a bunch of collaborators are signing it as individuals and sending it anyway.
My college dean is very supportive of making online classes not go well for students who use genAI. So now I have in-person exams added to my online classes that are locked in for next semester, and my classes for next year will likely all be in person.

2026-08-31 14:03:53 UTC

Cried in frustration over my emails at 7:30 am on a Monday morning about stupid shit that's going to happen in orbit and my inability to do anything about it, and my apparent inability to even organize others to do anything about it. It's going to be great week, I can tell.

2026-08-31 02:53:44 UTC

RE: https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/117187836859202645
Well, one launch I was actually happy about and I thought it tomorrow. Whoops. Glad it went well!
#note1ke8…vc9d

2026-08-31 00:41:28 UTC

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Seriously, HALP I HAVE SO MANY PLUMS
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/187/331/310/388/664/original/f8d9b402bcc88cbb.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/187/331/455/590/379/original/782ae2dd175a6444.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/187/331/617/490/193/original/df918291ec5f2dc2.jpg

2026-08-31 00:03:46 UTC

Got roped into helping an elderly neighbour pick plums off multiple trees. Definitely didn't have time to do that, but it was really nice chatting with her, she let me pat her hairless cat (!!) and now I have probably 50 pounds of really tasty plums that I need to figure out what to do with (a very good problem to have).

2026-08-30 19:27:12 UTC

Revising a conference proceedings paper (from over a year ago...) and when I submitted it there were fewer than 8,500 Starlink satellites in orbit, out of about 12,500 total satellites.
Today there are 11,102 Starlinks out of 16,978 total active satellites. Fuck.

2026-08-30 03:15:06 UTC

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This course is a 3rd year physics major course in astronomy, in a university that doesn't have an astronomy major. So I had to figure out how to do a decent deep dive into a few topics. I picked a handful of research papers, both new and historical/significant, and we'll do a deep dive on each of those topics! And now that I've sorted that out, I have "supermassive black hole" stuck in my head...

2026-08-30 02:23:22 UTC

I managed to get the course page up and running for the *other* course (that's not online and doesn't have videos that got sucked in to Zoom's genAI system). Much easier, but I couldn't find my notebook with all my lectures in it from 3 years ago, last time I taught this class. So... if it's not in my campus office, I'm going to be extremely sad and have a LOT of work to do. If it's there, I'm all good to go for the semester!

2026-08-29 21:55:11 UTC

We saw a badger in the garden! And I tried really hard to take a picture of it! And.... if you squint you might be able to convince yourself the blur in the middle of the picture is a badger!
(I am happy to have badgers, because they eat rodents that eat my garden. I just hope the badger is not hanging around during dog walking time)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/181/018/576/656/752/original/efd5a1932c40c59e.png

2026-08-29 19:47:11 UTC

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All the cabbages and some tomatoes picked. Some flea beetle damage for reference (and this is really the first day they've been bad, they did this in <24 hours). And happy goats in a new eating area. Yum, rose bushes.
Back to farm work.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/180/511/940/456/264/original/0952f07ca0c4fca6.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/180/512/844/363/587/original/c1f982cc975e90e2.png

2026-08-29 14:43:42 UTC

The Flea Beetle Apocalypse* has started, so today is harvest-all-the-brassicas day. I also need to move the goat fence, pick tomatoes, help with harvesting garlic, and deal with the Monster Zucchinis that are probably lurking where I haven't picked for a few days. Will feed those to goats with a visiting friend.
*The Flea Beetle Apocalypse happens every year when the zillions of acres of conventional/chemical canola around us die down and the beetles move in to my nice organic garden patch. ☹️

2026-08-29 14:38:56 UTC

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I don't have enough time to move to a different video platform at this point, and they're all too expensive (or too hard to get started on) for the bandwidth my class and a few other online classes need (which my college admin *did* say they would pay for if needed, even though they shouldn't have to do this!)
I'm pretty convinced this is my last year teaching online classes. Oh well, it was a fun experiment while it lasted.

2026-08-29 14:37:16 UTC

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An update on this for anyone who's curious: enough professors made enough of a stink that the IT people figured out how to turn off the student-facing built-in AI chatbot (so they claim, it was still working as of yesterday), and they said they would delete all the AI-generated summaries and chapters that appeared in my lecture videos (though they have not done it yet).

2026-08-28 16:57:23 UTC

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Nothing like a surprise in-person national news interview to make the day even more fun... but hey, it was about the eclipse and the beautiful night sky (must be a slow news day), not terrible things happening in orbit, so I'll take it. (Of course I did talk about freaking many satellites I saw while watching the eclipse... but the eclipse was still cool. Will be at least a little bit longer before Reflect Orbital and copycats drown that out as well.)

2026-08-28 13:40:56 UTC

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Hopefully that incredibly beautiful naked-eye astronomy time last night will keep me from losing it and crying during any of the many stressful, depressing meetings that I have today. (Unless I think too hard about all the satellites that I saw... which is the topic of at least one of the meetings so far...) I'll be on campus most of the day so I can't even take a hayfield-rage-screaming break...

2026-08-28 13:37:15 UTC

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I don't have a good setup for more zoomed-in astrophotography, so please enjoy these wide-angle photos of the peak of the eclipse last night. The moon looks freaky in a very different way than it did with my eyeballs. It was also so super neat to see the Milky Way overhead while the full moon was in the sky! (Can't usually do that, the Moon is too bright.)
A teacher friend brought her kids over, they said "blood moon" was not a good name, and declared it the "ketchup moon"
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/173/377/715/661/311/original/562987570a6c478b.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/173/379/459/071/403/original/aba850102abfc236.jpeg

2026-08-28 03:07:15 UTC

Just picked up half our straw for the year under an eclipsed moon. COOL. Managed 3 truckloads tonight, will have to get the rest tomorrow.
If the moon is up for you right now, go look at it! It's FREAKY.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/170/921/379/106/359/original/3e5772abe2d2b11c.png

2026-08-27 17:55:25 UTC

If you have bandwidth for it, write a letter to the FAA on their plans to remove the few environmental regulations that currently exist for rocket launches. Instructions and information in this excellent blog post, comments due Aug 31: https://kelseyjohnson367.substack.com/p/the-launch-rate-is-going-up-our-oversight?r=566m49&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv4_a1demoo4bm73yo

2026-08-27 17:48:36 UTC

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And now I need to figure out how to move lecture videos off of the fucking terrible Zoom AI platform, write angry letters to admin people, write angry letters to the FCC, write angry letters to the FAA, catch up on a week of terrible emails that I only responded to the most urgent of.... and of course figure out how to get SpaceX to not destroy the atmosphere and Low Earth Orbit.

2026-08-27 17:45:12 UTC

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But positives: yesterday I walked into a local coffee shop and there was an article about Reflect Orbital on the front cover of the town newsletter!! ...then I realized that it was actually *my* article, reprinted from The Conversation hahahaha https://theconversation.com/the-u-s-just-approved-a-giant-space-mirror-to-test-sunlight-on-demand-low-earth-orbit-is-getting-weird-283482
I did have a great time with my parents who were visiting for a few days. And a neighbour dropped off buckets of ground-fall apples for us to feed the goats. So. Happy goats.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/168/693/197/653/788/original/d795ca83229a93fe.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/168/706/548/464/065/original/f6eb170b4e56752a.png

2026-08-27 17:38:09 UTC

I have no idea how I'm going to accomplish even half of the things I'm supposed to do in the next month. I feel rather paralyzed at the moment. I have so many farm things (bringing in the straw tonight, harvesting/preserving all sorts of veggies, moving the goat fence ever-faster on grass that's drying up and not growing anymore). My kids start school next week. My teaching is going to be a fucking disaster this semester. And I have to write a new research grant. Fuck.

2026-08-26 19:03:35 UTC

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(semi-private means for this purpose, non-publicly searchable video platform)

2026-08-26 19:01:36 UTC

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A few good suggestions so far, but here's more info because the questions made me realize I really didn't include enough:
I just want students to be able to watch pre-recorded lecture videos, semi-private. I don't want them to easily download videos (not sure if that's a silly ask), or easily feed videos/transcripts into gen AI. I DEFINITELY don't want them to have a built-in gen AI system that knows the video contents that they can get homework answers from.
My university uses moodle.

2026-08-26 18:20:28 UTC

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I eventually want to just make all my lectures public and post everything somewhere public, but that's not happening in the next 6 days for a course that I'm not even teaching myself.
Or maybe I just stop teaching online courses, which I originally started doing during the early pandemic days, then kept doing becuase it makes less work for the underpaid sessionals who teach my classes sometimes.

2026-08-26 18:18:32 UTC

My university ditched the embedded video system they were using for online courses for "Zoom clips" and it's fucking stuffed to the gills with AI features that will make it so students don't actually learn anything - there's a fucking homework cheat "helper" built right in that summarizes lectures and gives you homework answers.
I desperately need recommendations for another way to do this.
Anybody know anything about this company? https://spotlightr.com/features/
Other video options?

2026-08-26 15:11:43 UTC

Lunar eclipse tomorrow (Thursday night/Friday morning): https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/canada/regina?iso=20260828
Good chance of auroras at the same time! https://www.spaceweather.gov/news/geomagnetic-storm-watches-aug-27-28

2026-08-24 02:47:53 UTC

Popping in from a social media break to say: Reflect Orbital still totally sucks! https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/08/21/1142755/space-mirrors-night-sky/

2026-08-20 15:01:36 UTC

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And a reminder that we ran some simulations of what these "orbital data center" megaconstellations would look like in the night sky: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.02757
And Hugh Lewis recently ran simulations showing that many of these proposed megaconstellations would cause Kessler Syndrome *by themselves* even with the most generous possible assumptions: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.29644
Techbros are awful, example 1795034

2026-08-20 14:59:30 UTC

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I tried making a plot to sort of demonstrate crowding in orbit that would be caused by the 5 companies that have now asked for tens to hundreds of thousands of satellites on sun-synchronous terminator orbits. I wanted to show equator-to-pole, but there's so damn many satellites in all of these I had to show a narrower range of angles in order for the points to not all run together. Anyway... here's what the techbros want for us in Earth's new rings they want to construct
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/128/417/815/823/395/original/486d741341a464a8.png

2026-08-20 14:47:00 UTC

I've got family coming to visit today (YAY) but that means I need to do a whole bunch of cleaning and organizing, including freezing/dehydrating a bunch of veggies I picked yesterday, I need to send off 2 letters for review for the American Astronomical Society to officially comment on stupid things that are proposed to happen in orbit, do a little bit of writing, and the goats are insistent that I need to move the fence to new grass today.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/128/362/808/362/268/original/eaa2e40fb2a84bc0.png

2026-08-19 21:45:39 UTC

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I can't even adequately explain the rollercoaster of emotions I go through looking at these tourist astronaut websites. I always wanted to be an astronaut, I love scifi. These photos of people freaking out about seeing Earth from orbit, experiencing liftoff, doing all the training... DAMN I want to do that. I have imagined it so many times.
But knowing *who* is buying these tickets, and who the money goes to, and the environmental footprint... ugh. It all makes me feel vaguely sick.

2026-08-19 21:39:41 UTC

Dang there are some wild rabbit holes to go down while book writing. Space tourism. https://orbitalradar.com/missions/space-tourism
I mean, I knew about some of this (thanks, Axiom Mission 3 for educating me about "private astronaut" missions by dropping potentially lethal debris on Saskatchewan), but wow.

2026-08-19 20:27:25 UTC

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More here:
https://graphics.social/@metin/117123760167000114
#note1mvn…sxq3

2026-08-19 20:25:33 UTC

Wow. "AI adoption raises homework scores by 18% and reduces completion time by 30%, but lowers monthly exam scores by 20% within six months. High-stakes entrance-exam scores fall by 18 and 24%, with the full penalty emerging only after about two years. " https://mastodon.social/@gvwilson/117123155597432737
#note1qak…p630

2026-08-19 16:06:47 UTC

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Oh look another Reflect Orbital interview request in my inbox. SIGH.
But I will keep doing as many of these interviews as I possibly can. Because Reflect Orbital is an incredibly stupid, awful, destructive, dangerous idea with no measurable benefits.

2026-08-19 16:05:42 UTC

That was one of my favourite interviews I've done about Reflect Orbital. The journalist (who it turns out has a background in optical engineering) actually had to stop the interview when I explained that Reflect Orbital's mirror is really, truly just a stretched piece of mylar and go on a rant about how incredibly stupid this whole plan is.
Now if only someone with power to stop Reflect Orbital would have that same reaction...

2026-08-19 02:20:46 UTC

Please enjoy this sleepy pile of cute fluffy chicks (with slightly awkward amounts of feathers)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/119/778/649/381/672/original/e1a5a56787ccddbf.png

2026-08-18 23:05:42 UTC

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RE: https://mastodon.ie/@psneeze/117117444546244052
Also while I was frantically running between telescopes and students and photographers, the physics department head showed me on his phone that the cover article for Scientific American this month is "The Battle for the Night Sky" without knowing that the very first sentence in the article is about me!
Another great article about the situation in orbit by [@astrojonny.bsky.social](https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/astrojonny.bsky.social )!
https://archive.ph/QcYZ8
#note1666…0mez

2026-08-18 22:57:43 UTC

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Ok that was a bit much, but was all quite fun. But the highlight was definitely when I stopped at the feed store on the way home (yes I had a fancy telescope and chicken feed in the back of my car at the same time. I'm cool like that.)
The guy at the feed store said "So this is a stupid question, but since you're an astronomer I'm going to ask it anyway. Does Elon Musk really have so much money that he launched an astronaut dummy in a Tesla on a rocket?"

2026-08-18 16:39:40 UTC

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...and now I also have to meet with the university provost at the telescope too! And get headshots taken in addition to filming! (Special thank you to my queer fedi-friend who let me send her photos so she could vet my outfit for filming/headshots, because I am bad at choosing clothes).
How did today get to be so... MUCH...

2026-08-18 14:09:57 UTC

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Yay the physics department head called me this morning to confirm that he will be there and he will also round up some physics grad students to help me. Hooray for excellent department heads!

2026-08-18 13:50:10 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.online/@zl2tod/117114531436574918
This is a weird one. Anybody have more info?
#note1kcd…4sdd

2026-08-18 01:20:27 UTC

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I'm extremely glad there are a couple of sunspots right now. This would be way funnier if there weren't any sunspots.
"Come look at.... a circle! Look how circular it is!"

2026-08-18 01:12:57 UTC

I agreed to do a film shoot tomorrow for a university promotion thing, where they wanted me to set up a telescope and look "professorial". I figured as long as I was setting up a telescope anyway, I might as well do some sidewalk astronomy with a solar filter for whoever walks by.
And then they sent out a university-wide email inviting everyone to come look through a telescope at the sun. I guess I'm going to set up TWO telescopes and hope that someone else will show up who can help me...

2026-08-17 22:17:29 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/117077733289449711
After a week of back-and-forth emails, they are now reviewing our paper. Yay?
#note1gle…dtfv

2026-08-17 02:13:15 UTC

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BEAUTIFUL.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/108/420/742/263/755/original/6be28a77a9f00bdf.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/108/421/684/173/748/original/5a3379bd7527d8be.png

2026-08-17 02:11:01 UTC

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RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/117067756308147920
I took these photos from the East Block of Grasslands National Park, a few km hike in from the only drive-in campground. I am so grateful to have access to this!
First, the landscape makes you feel tiny all day. Then, as in that lovely Yann Martel quote I posted here https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/117067760073867737, the "reassuring curtain of blue is pulled away and you realize where you really are: at infinity's doorstep"
And then you feel insignificant. But in a good way!
#note1pd2…py3z

2026-08-17 02:05:46 UTC

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And way fewer satellites were visible at like 1am! (Thanks to geometry)
Enjoy Bortle 1!
We could have this everywhere (or at least, much much more extensively than a few national parks and dark sky preserves)with better lighting regulations! It's possible.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/108/387/016/161/008/original/e60237671131b8d6.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/108/387/947/954/912/original/938161b3e2d1837e.png

2026-08-17 02:00:53 UTC

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And the satellites were BAD. Not that much worse than at home, actually, which surprised me a bit.
What also surprised me was how many random bright flashes I saw: these are from tumbling pieces of space junk. There seemed to be a lot more than I've ever seen before.
Relatedly, my collaborator emailed me over the weekend to let his co-authors know that the CRASH Clock is now down to 2.2 days. WEEEEE.
(Note website isn't yet updated, but explanation here: https://outerspaceinstitute.ca/crashclock/)

2026-08-17 01:56:50 UTC

I had a fantastic time camping! Don't get me wrong, I slept HORRIBLY. Especially the second night. But because it was Bortle 1 skies and gorgeously clear, it was something like this:
"ohhhh my neck ohhh my hips owwww..." *opens eyes, looks up at perfect dome of stars*
"ooohhhh wow. Everything is fine. I am a tiny insignificant speck on a mote of dust, my pain doesn't matter."
Repeat every ~30 minutes all night.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/108/359/036/579/223/original/6b8ec8fa35bda37b.png

2026-08-14 14:47:09 UTC

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I was just checking the light pollution map to see how close I need to get for Bortle 1. AND LOOK WHO FUCKING SHOWED UP TO REMIND ME THAT BORTLE 1 DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER ANYMORE THANKS TO FUCKING STARLINK
FUCK YOU SPACEX!!!!!!!!!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/094/399/919/354/626/original/845d4346c489d765.png

2026-08-14 14:44:27 UTC

Time to print a couple of maps, pack the car, and start driving towards Grasslands! It's cloudy and a bit rainy here and there (not here at the farm where we really need it ☹️ ). Supposed to get gradually more clear through tomorrow night. Big Fancy Camera is coming along on this trip, though I will definitely regret bringing it while backpacking!
I hope that getting to a very dark place will be calming and not just infuriating as I watch the dozens of naked-eye satellites crawling in the sky.

2026-08-14 02:17:20 UTC

I don't WANNA write another fucking FCC comment about YET ANOTHER fucking stupid awful destructive "orbital data center" megaconstellation that uses the EXACT SAME fucking orbits as the other 4 fucking stupid awful "orbital data center" megaconstellations.
The "best" part: this one is called...
Orbital.
Because that's NOT confusing at ALL.
(At least it's not Tolkien, I guess.)

2026-08-14 01:06:40 UTC

Yay new grass for the goats! The rotational grazing gets harder and harder at the end of the summer - the grass isn't growing as fast and I have to move them more frequently.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/091/169/372/722/018/original/486740bbe4bb9236.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/091/170/187/164/375/original/34a7a092b1ee60bd.png

2026-08-13 18:16:57 UTC

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Relatedly: does anyone know how to find topo/trail maps of southern Saskatchewan that aren't paywalled inside some hiking review website? Acme Mapper is ok, but not great...

2026-08-13 17:24:27 UTC

Ok, decision made: going camping with my kids tomorrow (even if there's a little bit of rain tomorrow, Saturday and Saturday night are clear!)
My brain needs this. Wow I'm doing a *terrible* job focusing on any of the zillions of things I'm supposed to be working on today.
(Major downside of farming with animals in a place I have no family but everyone else does, I don't have anyone to cover animal chores for a night. So my partner and I only get to do separate camping trips. Sigh.)

2026-08-13 14:22:20 UTC

Good morning from my cute animals.
The mama goats wanted to immediately head down to the eating pen after morning milking, but were caught by their giant-and-still-nursing babies, so they patiently chewed their cud and let their giant babies nurse. Looks hilarious!
Devil Cat (actually a very nice barn cat) is very hard to photograph because she doesn't stay still for more than a split second.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/088/627/772/998/551/original/3aebb8bb59cdd641.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/088/628/467/709/239/original/1f6542def3cdb340.png

2026-08-13 02:29:14 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/117067760073867737
I was really hoping to go to Grasslands tonight and get some amazing stars (and Perseids! And maybe auroras! And a fuck-ton of satellites!), but the next 2 nights are rainy.
Good, because we need rain. Bad, because I wanted to take my kids backpacking at infinity's doorstep!! Hopefully I'll still get to go in a day or two...
#note1m27…ndu7

2026-08-12 18:58:35 UTC

Now that the eclipse is over and lots of people saw it: did anyone notice any satellites moving across the sky during the eclipse? (Our paper from a couple years ago predicted that maybe possibly you could see some)
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad3920/ampdf

2026-08-12 17:05:23 UTC

I got a few profs from the meeting I was in to end early and look up at the teeny tiny bit of solar eclipse through eclipse glasses. Outreach done!

2026-08-12 14:22:00 UTC

Starting off the morning with a live radio interview about the eclipse and the Perseids, and an opportunity to respond to completely fucking useless official statements from Reflect Orbital (which I managed to do without swearing in my response, please clap).
Now I need to go to campus for meetings. I'll bring some eclipse glasses along, but the 0.09 eclipse from here will be extremely underwhelming. Those of you in the path of totality: ENJOY!!!

2026-08-11 16:07:16 UTC

COOL apparently the American Astronomical Society journals (the Astrophysical Journal/Astronomical Journal/Planetary Science Journal) have refused to even review our article on satellite brightnesses (already posted on arxiv https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.02757) because it's outside the scope of astronomy. Time to go rage-scream out in the hayfield, I guess.

2026-08-11 15:58:21 UTC

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Good article really tightly focused on how Reflect Orbital is going to damage people's eyesight and actually has no plan for how to avoid that. I need to watch that instagram video again... which I apparently pasted the wrong link to above. Oops. Boy it's been a long morning already.
Anyway, fuck Reflect Orbital: https://www.theverge.com/science/976977/space-mirror-reflect-orbital-fcc-solar-eye-damage

2026-08-11 14:25:25 UTC

First (only? maybe?) interview of the day done with [@astrojonny.bsky.social](https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/astrojonny.bsky.social ). I tried to channel this person's delightful fuck-you-reflect-orbital energy that was shared with me by another astronomer: https://darksky.org/news/darksky-and-allies-ask-the-fcc-to-reverse-its-approval-of-the-reflect-orbital-space-mirror/
The other interview I was maybe going to have got cancelled when I explained that a 10% solar eclipse is probably not something that people are really going to want to look at...
Here, have some chicks. It's going to be a long day.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/077/325/816/756/263/original/40877499bf2ab851.png

2026-08-10 22:51:21 UTC

Do I want to try to set up some kind of public viewing for a 10% solar eclipse when I am feeling rather burned out on public outreach? Or, to phrase it differently, if I don't set up a public viewing will I manage to not feel guilty for it?
Another local new interview scheduled to talk about this tomorrow. Sigh.

2026-08-10 17:52:50 UTC

This is the sky Reflect Orbital wants for us, so they can make money: https://starryprinceton.org/scattering_calculations_renderings
They don't fucking care if you can see the stars. They don't fucking care if they damage people's eyes. They don't fucking care if they cause car crashes and plane crashes. They don't fucking care if they disrupt ecosystems and human sleep. They just want money.
Simulations based on Kocifaj, Bakos, & Kundracik 2026 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.06433

2026-08-10 14:13:14 UTC

Today's only(?) media interview is for the BBC Rethink podcast. There's construction going on outside my office on campus, so this'll be another record-from-home-and-hope-my-non-Starlink-rural-internet-doesn't-crap-out.

2026-08-10 14:07:10 UTC

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Last night, I stayed up later than I've managed for a while because the skies were finally clear. Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy, a whole bunch of Perseids, and absolutely stunning numbers of bright satellites. Even keeping track of the number of new satellites does not prepare me for what I see crawling across the sky every clear night, like swarms of unwelcome insects in my home.

2026-08-10 03:21:35 UTC

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I am TOTALLY enjoying reading all these stories of awe and wonder as we get to gaze over "infinity's doorstep" with our own eyes.
This is what I am fighting for! This is what I want everyone to be able to do! It often feels like nobody cares about losing the sky, so reading how much it means to lots of people is incredibly energizing. Thank you, keep the stories coming.

2026-08-10 00:54:18 UTC

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Oh I should add to my own personal list: the multiple aurora shows over the past couple of years that I've been able to see from my own house! May 2024 and especially November 2025 were completely mind-blowing.
I found myself joyously whooping and yelling at the sky. I kept thinking of the Cree name for a really active aurora show, cı̂payak kâ-nı̂mihitocik, which translates to "the ancestors are dancing". It was truly an emotionally powerful event to bear witness to.

2026-08-10 00:29:14 UTC

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Where is the best, most incredible, most perspective-shattering night sky that you've ever seen?
For me, it was the Tekapo dark sky reserve in New Zealand a few months ago (I got up at 1am both nights I was there specifically so I could get some mostly satellite-free skies to enjoy).
Second place: Mojave desert many years ago (before megaconstellations) or winter skies about an hour outside Regina, when the nights are long and there are no sunlit satellites due to geometry.

2026-08-09 21:56:07 UTC

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The world would be a much better place if everyone had easy access to infinity's doorstep, to realize how small we are, how unique and fragile our pale blue dot is.
You don't need a trip on a billionaire's rocket to get the "overview effect." You can do it by finding dark sky access, which is becoming harder and harder to get, partially due to billionaires' rockets.

2026-08-09 21:50:56 UTC

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"At night this reassuring curtain of blue is pulled away and you realize where you really are: at infinity’s doorstep. A plain is what a mountain aims to be: the closest you can come to being in outer space while yet having your feet on this planet."
I really hope to get out to Grasslands Nat'l Park this week and appreciate infinity's doorstep, despite smoke and satellites trying to take that away.

2026-08-09 21:49:59 UTC

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A stunningly beautiful quote from Yann Martel, sent to me by a satellite engineer who loves the sky:
"If you’ve never been, the south of Saskatchewan is so flat the horizon is perceptibly round. Above you, during the day, lords an immense dome of sky so empty it feels like a fullness, with clouds the size of mountains, the sun but a small disk, and a depth of colour that is often chalk blue, oh so chalk blue.
...

2026-08-09 16:32:51 UTC

RE: https://social.treehouse.systems/@ariadne/117063592703392163
Most city dwellers don't know how much of the night sky has already been stolen by billionaires, because poorly planned, wasteful city lights have already drowned out the stars for them.

2026-08-09 03:12:09 UTC

Sending peace
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/063/355/789/141/093/original/bc4b4c7a714ed0be.png

2026-08-08 20:53:36 UTC

The last purple martins have fledged (and are turning up in various silly places around the farm, like this guy just hanging out in the fence).
The swallows, purple martins, and crows are gathering together into larger and larger flocks, and thinking about leaving. It's always so sad when the birds leave us for the winter, and mid-August always seems awfully early. But, well, it's Saskachewan. Winter is coming.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/061/864/032/495/462/original/6696fbb8f23f1e9d.png

2026-08-08 20:31:50 UTC

My oldest kid has started regularly volunteering with a dog rescue group, helping out at adoption events. It's the perfect volunteer opportunity for her, she's so good with dogs. But... gosh I don't need more dogs.... even really cute sweet ones... danger danger danger!

2026-08-07 23:57:37 UTC

The best way to decompress after an absurdly busy, stressful, overall depressing week: teeny tiny floofy sleepy snuggles
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/056/927/493/719/340/original/d6209c3078b738a2.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/056/928/047/031/070/original/88f7cc9a204df7f5.png

2026-08-07 14:34:10 UTC

Only one (CBC national news) interview scheduled for today (so far).
And more chicks have hatched! We had 17 hatch a few days ago, and 9 more have hatched from this last batch so far. I think we'll get a couple more, then hatching is done for 2026.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/054/710/682/197/897/original/d362a165e8d01db7.png

2026-08-07 02:45:01 UTC

Sending peace.
(And angry but productive vibes - Before I quit for the night I have to write a draft letter to the FAA and the FCC about more stupid shit they want to do in orbit. Fun.)
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/051/921/028/405/359/original/f18e9a0e51ff10cd.png

2026-08-06 22:23:46 UTC

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Related, here's an article I got interviewed for about Reflect Orbital and the new Application for Review for NBC national news: https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/environmental-groups-challenge-fcc-approval-startups-plan-beam-demand-rcna591041

2026-08-06 21:44:23 UTC

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Reflect Orbital is just such a dangerous, ineffective idea. The list of binding conditions that they put in the Application for Review (see link above) really powerfully shows how dangerous it truly is. I can't believe that any government regulator would say that this is ok to launch, there are SO MANY THINGS that could cause immediate, significant harm to humans, and long term massive environmental damage (and that's ignoring astronomy)

2026-08-06 21:41:03 UTC

Earthjustice submitted an official "Application for review" of the FCC's approval of Reflect Orbital for launch. It's submitted on behalf of DarkSky International, Environment America, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and the American Bird Conservancy.
Gosh I hope this will actually cause the FCC to review their decision.... https://darksky.org/news/darksky-and-allies-ask-the-fcc-to-reverse-its-approval-of-the-reflect-orbital-space-mirror/

2026-08-06 14:58:54 UTC

There's a new crater on the moon due to SpaceX accidentally crashing a leftover junked rocket body yesterday. Give me your best name suggestions!
(Please note that *I* have absolutely no control over naming craters on the moon, there's an IAU committee for that, this post is a joke. I will appreciate and boost my favourites.)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/spacex-moon-crash-scar-9.7298047

2026-08-06 03:32:01 UTC

I have NOTHING on my calendar for tomorrow! I need to do a shit-ton of writing! Will I actually get to do some writing, or will I have 17 interviews or some random farm disaster? Stay tuned...

2026-08-05 23:54:27 UTC

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Last (???) interview of the day done! Almost 12 hours after the first interview of the day. Dang.
You suck, Reflect Orbital. SpaceX, you suck too. (So does Cowboy, and Blue Origin, and Starcloud, and a bunch of other companies with stupid names and even stupider plans for orbit)

2026-08-05 22:01:43 UTC

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1 live radio interview about the SpaceX rocket crash on the Moon (via Zoom), 1 zoom interview for a written article about Kessler syndrome and orbital data centers, 1 pre-recorded in person TV interview about the SpaceX rocket crash and space debris in genearl, 1 email interview about orbital data centers (requesting more sims), and 1 phone call later tonight about Reflect Orbital.
Holy shit. I'm glad there is media interest, but wow. Time for more tea so I can finish the last 2 requests...

2026-08-05 16:52:43 UTC

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No goats, unfortunately. I will head into the city and do the interview at the CBC studio in Regina. Watch for me on CBC national news tonight, I guess?