Franck Marchis
@AllPlanets
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Planetary astronomer at @SETIInstitute, CEO and co-founder of @skymapperspace, CSO and co-founder of @Unistellar, tweeting about space, our planet & us, humans
San Francisco
Joined August 2010
Here we are, alone in space on a spaceship we call Earth. I am disheartened; I thought by now we would have found our cosmic brothers and sisters to share our challenges, joys, and defeats with. But no, we are floating in this galaxy, arguing about our tiny lives and wasting the
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AI is invading many fields in astronomy, SETI as well. Researchers at Breakthrough Listen have now used machine learning to discover 72 new fast radio bursts from a mysterious source some 3 billion light years from Earth.
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@sarahroseetter It's hard to tell who's seeking attention in this tweet: the author fabricating a tale, the fictional woman who supposedly can't die unless she eats an apple due to an allergy, or the fictional passenger who just happened to have an apple in his bag—a common occurrence, right?.
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The Christmas Comet 46P/Wirtanen. Dec 12, 2018 / Bleikvassli, Norway. Picture by Tommy Eliassen Photography
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Science is a window to the vast universe of facts that could change the world while social media is a key hole to an alternate reality for too many of us. We need to work together to change this, but I still wonder if bringing more science to social media is a solution. Thoughts?
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Confirmation from my colleague Peter Jenniskens that four Polish meteorite hunters reported to have found fragments of the asteroid #2024BX1, which burned above Germany last saturday. Initial assessments are that they are Eucrites, pieces of the large main-belt asteroid Vesta.
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We are officially an interplanetary species. Voyager 2 has left our solar system and changed the origin of its reference system to Vega instead of the sun.
I'm running a new instruction set! The star I use to establish my local coordinate system is Vega (α Lyrae), the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. CCS: END BASELINE SEQUENCE B185: BEGIN BASELINE SEQUENCE B186: LOCK STAR(03) (2019:323:024115:2T).
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@cmarinucci @UCBerkeley @FoxNews Because of prop 209, UC Berkeley doesn't practice affirmative action. If he was not accepted at UC Berkeley, it's for another reason.
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Spotted at the Hakos guest farm in Namibia. Probably the best traffic sign ever. #astronomy #hakos #sky
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Success of the #dartmission impact and we captured it with @unistellar from Reunion Island. The yellowish cloud of material appeared after an increase of magnitude. This is beyond what we were expecting
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The truth does matter. Join @AuschwitzMuseum and help them to reach 1.5 million followers this year.
Only 41k+ left to reach the goal of 1,5 million followers in 2022. We are so close!. We ask for your support.Your RT matters. The truth matters, and putting us onto any list is going to change this.
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@ErinInTheMorn I’m definitely voting for Biden after seeing this video. I can't handle four years of terrible taste and bad ideas in the @WhiteHouse.
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We lost a visionary and legendary scientist. Frank Drake left our planet last night. He was the most caring director, an amazing human being, with always a smile when we saw each other. He is the one motivated me to join @SETIInstitute. He changed my career and my life. RIP Frank
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SLIM, the Moon lander of JAXA, has woken up again after the second lunar night and the navigation camera has just sent a picture. #lunarmission #itneverdies.
昨晩SLIMから応答があり、SLIMが2回目の越夜に成功したことを確認しました。昨晩はまだ太陽が高く機器が高温であることから急ぎ航法カメラによりいつもの風景の撮影などを短時間実施いたしました。.#JAXA、#SLIM、 #たのしむーん
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A comet is coming closer to us (0.8AU in May) and its brightness has already changed drastically over the past 15 days. Models suggest that it will be visible with naked eye. Are you ready for a show? #Astronomy4All.
This is a better representation of the steady brightening of Comet ATLAS Y4 over the past 15 days. This is not an outburst, but normal rapid brightening as the comet approaches the sun.
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#artemis1 on its way to Earth captured with a @unistellar evscope by Wai-Chun Yue in Honk Kong . #citizenscience #NASA
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Pan, the ravioli-shaped moon of Saturn was recently observed by NASA/ESA Cassini spacecraft which revealed its complex shape. Enjoy!
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@curious_founder Twitter is a NOT a peer-reviewed journal. Before freaking out people about a new issue that you have “discovered” which aims to get more people to register/buy something from you, you should first submit this study to a scientific journal. #science.
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Just now! Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) observed from San Francisco sitting in my backyard with my eVscope. #unistellar
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An observation from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India with a @unistellar eVscope using our ephemeris tool with @NASAJPL. Citizen astronomer Himanshu Mathur got @nasa #jwst en route to the Lagrange and probably the @Arianespace last stage. Congrats’!
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The #DARTmission impact observed from Kenya with @unistellar eVscope by the Travelling Telescope team including Ronald Wasilwa and Susan Murabana. There is no doubt we saw the brightening and the dust plume. Data processing by Ariel Graykowski
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A 1m asteroid called Sar2736 is going to impact Earth, West of Berlin (city of Rathenow) at 00:32 UT, so in 30 min. HARMLESS but several fragments will probably fell on the ground. Look up if you live in the area. It will be a beautiful show.
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Our hellish sister planet on video. We don’t see animations like these often even though it’s probably part of a common type of exoplanet which has lost its habitability. Maybe there are remains of life up in its atmosphere, so we need to go there and look for it. #exobiology.
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KIC 8462852 is dimming again, and we are all are excited. Multiple telescopes will survey the star. #tabbysstar
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The first images of an exoplanet obtained by JWST, and the first ever direct detection of an exoplanet beyond 5 μm. The JWST ERS Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems I: High Contrast Imaging of the Exoplanet HIP 65426 b from 2-16 $μ$m.
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Io, satellite of Jupiter, seen in visible band with an adaptive optics system on the Large Binocular Telescope located in Arizona. We can now say than AO on ground-based telescope is now better than space telescopes even in optical.
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On 26 April,twin detectors LIGO & VIRGO reported an unusal burst of gravitational waves, possibly the detection of a black hole eating a star. Optical telescope networks searched for afterglow counterpart in a wide region roughly one-quarter of the sky.
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The lack of support of #academia to defend their immigrant colleagues is disappointing. H1B or J1 visa holders, have not been able to go back to their country for 2 years bringing a lot of difficulties in their career and damaging their mental health & family relationship 1/2.
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A game-changer! The SETI Institute, a non-profit scientific research organization, announced today a philanthropic gift of $200m from the estate of Franklin Antonio, a visionary supporter and catalyst of the work of the SETI Institute for more than 12 years.
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The pronunciation of 'Oumuamua, the name of the first interstellar asteroid (or exo-asteroid) discovered, an Hawaiian word meaning “a messenger from afar arriving first.”
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@levelsio It's important to remember that China also bans many products, including tools from Meta, PayPal, and Google. Additionally, the Chinese government often subsidizes local companies by about 15% per product, allowing them to undercut international competition.
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@mcsquared34 Misinformation and propaganda at its best. The bridge was apparently already refurbished and this is a old picture. What is your agenda?.
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I asked Dall.E to generate an image of “astronauts walking on Titan, satellite of Saturn known for its thick atmosphere of prebiotic molecules, yellowish surface with pebbles, frigid temperature and lakes of methane". This is what I got after a few requests for corrections. #AI
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The @LIGO/VIRGO has detected a burst of gravitational wave which origin is unknown. A lot of telescopes are going to observe this area of the sky to find out the source of this unusual event. #notalien #butmysterious.
Signal in LIGO/Virgo data. This was found by a burst search Observed 40 minutes ago. Find out more at:
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Yesterday, astronomers of the #EHTblackhole collaboration revealed the 1st picture of a black hole in the galaxy named M87. Last night from my garden in San Francisco, I used my eVscope to observe the host galaxy in the Virgo constellation. Here the supergiant elliptical galaxy.
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Unidentified Aerial Phenomena or UAP represent observations that are puzzling and waiting to be explained. Just like any other science discovery. Scientists should have open minds on this topic and collaborate on analyzing them. #seti
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A picture of Liouba and Niniane, who observed several @NASA campaign targets from France. Niniane’s shirt says “Forget about princesses, I want to be an astrophysicist.” This is one of our motivations for creating the @Unistellar network & @SETIInstitute citizen science program
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Potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis observed from my backyard a few minutes ago in San Francisco, CA (it’s only 300 m and around 40 times the distance Earth-moon) with my eVscope.
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It’s now official. @Unistellar revealed today the ENVISION, the first Augmented Reality Precision Orientation binoculars for night sky exploration but also for the daylight scouting. @Kickstarter to be announced soon.
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Japanese space agency @JAXA has confirmed that Hayabusa2, the asteroid explorer, has rendezvoused with Ryugu, the target asteroid. The exploration phase can now start
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@DeanPreston Cruelty is letting 200 people overdosing in the street last month in San Francisco while sitting in front of your computer lecturing us about poverty. You prefer us not to do anything and let people die.
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And it's already in the news. A second interstellar object may have been found In Our Solar System. #Nature2ndChance
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Unistellar Network member Kevin Voeller, a high school science teacher is the first Unistellar citizen scientist to have exoplanet transit data from his eVscope featured in a published scientific paper, as well as being listed as a co-author
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@SeraphinaSaysNo @MsPhanLearns You are the one @seraphinaSaysNo who doesn’t understand how this work.
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@curious_founder I may have missed it then. I read your thread carefully again and I don't see any citations. Here my recommendation. First you should properly cite your sources, then make your own analysis, publish it in a peer-reviewed journal, then you can start writing tweets about it. Thx!.
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30 years ago, I was a young bachelor student with a summer job as a tour guide at the Pic du Midi Observatory. On July 18, I witnessed hundreds of astronomers gather to observe the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter. Watching this from the 1m telescope, I knew then that
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I'm deeply honored to receive the Carl Sagan Center Director Award from the @SETIInstitute. Immense gratitude to my colleagues for recognizing my efforts in outreach, education, and science. Thank you! #seti
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A picture taken a few minutes ago from San Francisco using the eVscope of @UnistellarOptics. We found and saw the Centaur asteroid 174P/Echeclus (V~14.4) which is having an outburst. This is a 50s shutter time observations as seen live in the eyepiece.
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The Breakthrough Prize Foundation is examining the feasibility of a private, low-cost, fast-track mission to Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. This mission will be a precursor to a more sophisticated @NASA mission.
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Interesting way to start the year 2019. I decided to test the @Unistellarscope from Park City, UT where the temperature was -18C (OF) and while I was pointing at the Orion Nebula, several snow makers from the resort walked nearby. We shared this special moment in the cold.
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“I don’t think it’s possible to see a galaxy from San Francisco @calacademy”. That was a challenge for the @UnistellarScope so we pointed to the Andromeda Galaxy and people loved it. #ILoveMyJob
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1989JA, a "potentially hazardous" asteroid measuring more than a mile long will zoom past Earth this week, making it the largest asteroid that is expected to get relatively close to our planet in 2022. #citizenscience #planetarydefense #astronomy
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The Singularity can explain why we seem alone in the Universe - an article reporting our @SETIInstitute hangout
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Mandatory selfie with the half-scale model of the Dragonfly rotorcraft. Pretty cool technology that will one day fly on Titan. #agu21
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NASA-funded scientists will discuss new results about ocean worlds in our solar system at 2 pm EDT on April 13.
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Back in San Francisco so I took my @Unistellar eVscope out to test some new capabilities with the upcoming App. Good things coming soon!.Despite the moon and the cirrus, I could see some open clusters and M1. I missed this special connection with the sky. #astronomy4all
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I asked Dall.E to “draw an image of astronauts hiking on enceladus , satellite of Saturn, known for its geysers of water which quickly solidifies becoming snow. The surface is grayish with grooves and pack of snowy material . “ Below one of the results. What do you think? #AIart
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The @NASA_Dawn spacecraft ran out of hydrazine and can't not communicate with Earth anymore. This is the end of the mission for the first spacecraft which orbited several dwarf planets. We learned a lot about these mini geological worlds thanks to it.
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We are starting a pilot program for scientific investigations with the eVscope. Saturday night, we would like to have as many as possible eVscopes observing the star WASP-50 from 8:18 pm – 12:26 am PST . Read the blog post by @AstroPartyDan to know more
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I arrived at @stsci in Baltimore, MD. I always wanted to see this center of excellence where so many of my friends and colleagues work. Thank you @djulik for the invitation. Tomorrow I will talk about @Unistellar and @NASAWebb and my research about adaptive optics for asteroids.
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@steve_kosareff @guskenworthy Gladly took 15 min of your life to write such a dumb statement on twitter for everybody to read. Now please go back to your bubble and when you finally understand the world and what is going on at the moment, come and tell us that you are sorry they killed people.
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I probably don’t look like a typical ~50 year old astronomer. Today at a meeting with colleagues with whom I’ve never worked, one of them started explaining to me the difference between a comet, a TNO and a main-belt asteroid. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
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@alitlstrawberry Comments that are borderline racist and mean-spirited don't support the cause you claim to advocate for. Mixed race couples are common, and everyone has the right to choose their partner's name. Let's promote understanding, kindness, and civil discussions.
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@Laetitia_Leila @franceinfo @AudreyPulvar Inférioriser les femmes c’est justement de les réduire à leur physique et leur dire ce qu’elles doivent faire et quoi porter. Votre argument est ridicule et dangereux.
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The year 2021 was a difficult year for a lot of people. In my case it started with a complicated procedure in my brain. One year later I am fine, so let me tell you the story. A thread 🧵 1/n.
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The @unistellar network is ready to spot and follow the @NASA & @ESA JWST after its launch. Here’s how to find it with your telescope shortly after the launch and on day 6 during the deployment of the sunshield.
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The Flame nebula observed from my garden in San Francisco a few nights ago with the @unistellarscope eVscope. See the power of longer exposures. #unistellar #finallyyouwillsee
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@michaelaye Amazing view. You were part of history today. It's rare we can predict the creation of a meteor, and you managed to record it. Bravo!.
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Alien invasion above San Francisco? Don’t panic that’s probably the exhaust of an airplane still illuminated by the sun high in the atmosphere. But that’s pretty and intriguing. Thanks for your emails. #seti
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What a wonderful panel discussion with @tanyaofmars, @aussiastronomer and @timruss2 on citizen science at #sxsw. We talked about @Unistellar, @the_zooniverse, amateur astronomy and Mars rover images. Thanks to the panelists. #sxsw2022
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The joy of turning soon 50… don’t worry I am fine, it was just a minor procedure. They put me to sleep for 1 hour and they had to shake me to wake me up. I think my body enjoyed this rare deep sleep. Thanks to the great doctors and nurses of @SutterHealth hospital in SF.
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Our recent observations confirmed that Comet A3 could be spectacular in October 2024 and as bright as Hale-Bopp or Hyakutake (for those who are old enough to remember) if it survives. Are you ready? .
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15 years ago, my husband and I adopted, two beautiful baby twin boys. Some thought we were crazy, but now they are teenagers, I've no doubt it was one of the best decisions I've ever taken in my life. They brighten my day while driving me nut at the same time.
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Astronomers have detected another mysterious and powerful fast radio burst hitting Earth from an unknown source in space located very far away, possibly an unknown natural extremely energetic phenomena. Let's wait for the independent confirmation.
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What we like the most about the @UnistellarScope is to be able to share the wonder of space with kids who are not afraid of reminding us why it’s cool. Thanks @AstroPartyDan for joining us in our wonderful adventure. Clear skies!
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What is this mysterious package at @SETIInstitute? New equipment like a microscope? Mockup of Mars 2020? Alien 👽 bodies? I can't tell.
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It was about time someone reveals the true secret of the @SETIInstitute. They are here. we are them. #happyhalloween
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Congratulations to Planet-hunter & leader @nbatalha for being named one of the Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential
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I woke up early this morning to take my @unistellar eVscope out and observed the #cometLeonard from San Francisco. It did not disappoint me. What a beautiful cosmic messenger to admire in the eyepiece in the quiet and cold morning. #astronomy4all #TheUniverseAwaits
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.@ElonMusk "keep in mind that @SpaceX in 2002 was only an office with carpet, a few people & a Mariachi band." #IAC2016 #Perspective
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This picture by @ESA_Rosetta is the result of years of planning & technology development by scientists funded by those who pay their taxes.
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GPS, fast trains, cellphones, chemotherapy, internet and other wonders which make our life better and easier, were imagined & invented by people who believe in curiosity, observations and rational thinking, not by those who have a natural instinct for science.
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We need to think long term—not on 5 years, but 100 years or more. And the goal of our thinking should be to improve our civilization so that we are worthy of contact—to give alien civilizations, should they exist and be watching us, a reason to reach out and make first contact.
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Right now, somewhere in Oman the trojan asteroid Orus has occulted a 11-mag star for less than 4s. Three @UnistellarScope and part of our team are there and hopefully caught the event. More soon #citizenscience #nasa #astronomy.
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I received the eVscopes for my colleagues at the @SETIInstitute including our CEO. 2020 will be the year for more outreach, more science and more education with the @Unistellar eVscopes.
Institute CEO Bill Diamond with a new production version of the @Unistellar eVscope. “We are delighted to be partnering with Unistellar and serving as the science lead for the eVscope, which promises to revolutionize amateur astronomy.”
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The poster I presented yesterday at #spieastro. Citizen Science Astronomy with a Network of Small Telescopes: The Launch and Deployment of #JWST followed up by @unistellar citizen scientists and processed/analysed by @setiinstitute researchers. #citizenastronomy
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Extremely proud of being part of this project. A Sign in Space imagines how Earth might respond to a signal from aliens and invites the public to help decode an ET message. We need you! #seti
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Astronomy remains the biggest driver of advancing adaptive optics (AO) systems, one day we will find life on another planet thanks to AO. The technique is also gaining ground for ophthalmology and deep-tissue imaging making it cheaper and more reliable
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You can still help astronomers to name the largest not-yet-named world in our solar system. Three names have been selected, my preference goes toward Holle, goddess of fertility and rebirth. What about you?
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