Well, now we'll all notice....
Planetary scientist, Dad-in-training, space enthusiast, Professor based at the University of Leicester https://linktr.ee/leigh.fletcher https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5834-9588
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Well, now we'll all notice....
Flyby success! ESA's Juice spacecraft passed Venus at 07:28 CEST on 31 August. This photo shows our deep-space antenna in Spain in communication with Juice during the flyby. Juice’s current location, Venus, and its destination, Jupiter, are both visible in the sky ❤️
📣 We're looking for post-docs in the fields of heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics and fundamental physics. Come carry out your independent research with us. Apply to the ESA Research #Fellowships in Space Science 👉 www.cosmos.esa.int/web/space-sc... 🔭🧪☄️
Bet the view is amazing, if a little toasty. You can follow #ESAJuice on its Venus flyby (happening right now) via the NASA Eyes app: eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-s...
An overview of ESA's roster of upcoming missions, and hopes for the future. Ambitious plans need ambitious funding, so all eyes are on the Council of Ministers in Nov (Bremen), setting ESA budgets for the next 3 years. July interview with @cmundell.bsky.social 🪐 www.techjournal.uk/p/esa-seeks-...
Go #ESAJuice! Swinging by Venus this weekend #planetsci, follow @operations.esa.int for updates:
During the next week, many of us will experience our last 8pm sunset until next April. It has already happened for some southern and eastern parts of England! We've been losing 3-5 minutes of daylight per day through August.
A teaser for the Pluto map I'm working on, originally scheduled to be released on the 10th anniversary of the New Horizons flyby of Pluto. These are minimaps which supplement the main map and contain less information - the main map is much larger and contains all the official and unofficial names.
Onwards to Venus for #ESAJuice (after a little communication blip on the way). No science data or images from the flyby on Aug 31st, but the momentum gained during this 'hot phase' is crucial for getting us out to the cold realms of Jupiter in 2031. #planetsci
Today our team released findings on the nature of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, based on our first round of JWST observations. The data are incredible: Not only did we detect and map gas and dust in the coma, but we found that 3I is one of the most CO2 rich comets ever seen! Check it out:
Is there a non-paywalled version of this article somewhere? Guess who no longer pays a subscription....
A new moon discovered around #Uranus by #JWST, a world just 10 km wide spotted from ~3 billion km away. This is a new member of the family of "inner moons," and we've never gotten close enough to see what they look like. Maybe some future robotic explorer will reveal their icy surfaces...
Maryame El Moutamid and colleagues have discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus. The JWST observations show a 10km moon orbiting 56,000km from Uranus's center. This moon adds to the complex puzzle that is the Uranian ring and moon system. #planetsci 🧪 science.nasa.gov/blogs/webb/2...
Some very deserving #planetsci folks on this list - congratulations to all! 🪐
The website says "Finally decommissioned in February 2021." We did manage to get some giant planet observations there, but it wasn't straightforward, and we haven't had a chance since we managed a glimpse of Neptune in 2020... www.gtc.iac.es/instruments/...
Subaru decommissioned their mid-IR instrument (COMICS) in 2020. Gemini's MICHELLE and T-ReCS instruments went in 2011-12. CanariCam (on GTC) went in 2021. And Keck's LWS has been retired for years. VISIR was the last mid-IR imager/spectrometer on an 8-m observatory, and has done an amazing job.
ESO's call for proposals for next year is out, and contains this sad (but not unexpected) line: "VISIR will be decommissioned in P117 (Q2 2026) and is no longer offered." Now there's no mid-infrared Earth-based capabilities from 8-m telescopes (thank heavens for IRTF). www.eso.org/sci/observin...
Flybys are just snapshots (cool new data at a different season, but not quite the Cassini-level reconnaissance we need), but if China sticks an entry probe on, it'd do great science. Wonder what their RPS system is like...
A future #Uranus mission simply can't happen without radioactive power sources. This article does a good job explaining where we are, but it's a tough read for Outer Solar System fans... prior to 2025, it really felt like we had wind in our sails. Sigh.
Full details of all the #StompRoundLeicester elephants, plus a walking trail, can be found here: stomproundleicester.co.uk
How many universities do you know with their own space elephant? This is 'Ele-gene Voyager' (by Marta Zubieta), celebrating @uniofleicester.bsky.social roles in space exploration @physicsuol.bsky.social and DNA fingerprinting. Part of the Loros #StompRoundLeicester
Mark diaries: 1 yr from today! 12th Aug 2026: total solar eclipse🌞🌚🌍 for Northern Spain, Greenland and West Iceland. Where's the best spot? Well eclipsophile.com has kindly calculated the average Aug cloud cover & Spain looks v promising 🧪🔭 📷: M Tomasso ℹ️: www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/sola...
truth
Images from Palomar at 2 different infrared wavelengths last night - one that Saturn's methane atmosphere absorbs, and one the it reflects! (The faint point source is the moon, Tethys!) Taken by David Ciardi, Catherine Clark, @lowbacca.bsky.social and Miranda Felsmann; animated by me (and ezgif!)
Sure, I'll be there - best conference of the year :-)
Ouch. I dearly hoped I could spend this summer sciencing, but despite all my 2024 efforts, committees said "nah" and it's back to endless word wrangling for me.
We are pleased to announce the release of the #JWST Cycle 5 Call for Proposals for General Observer and Survey time and funding for Archival Research programs. Read more: ow.ly/IjWC50WyF62
Fancy joining the #PlanetaryScience team at @uniofleicester.bsky.social? We have 3 postdoc positions open: Mercury with BepiColombo with Emma Bunce; the Martian ionosphere with @bscredrojo.bsky.social; or Jupiter's auroral lightshow with @jnic.bsky.social. Visit jobs.le.ac.uk and search "Physics"
Return leg of my journey from Durham was going so well... air conditioning, table to get some work done, lovely scenery... and then Cross Country cancelled my last train. Expensive taxi FTW.
I do sometimes show up at exoplanet conferences just to showcase solar system data. But to be fair, the Earth-observing community does this to solar system planetary scientists all the time, so what goes around....
Got here not long ago and accidentally stumbled into a bar. See you tomorrow!
Long train to Durham to attend the National Astronomy Meeting... got bashed in the head by handbags 3x; sat next to crying baby while trying to write a paper; and cooked on a packed carriage. Still, Durham turns out to be not too shabby!
Lovely image. I haven't seen the movie that the still comes from, they said it was fast, so there must a reason the team called for more videos.... they'll not claim a detection without two views of it.
Amplifying the call from Marc Delcroix and co. over the weekend: the team are looking to verify/refute a potential impact on #Saturn on July 5th, 09:00-09:15UT. Videos taken by amateur observers at that time might hold the key. This 📸 credit: Mario Rana pvol2.ehu.eus/pvol2/news/v...
They certainly move noticeably from night to night, particularly in the north equatorial belt, but don't forget that this timelapse is sped up as it spans many months in 2024-25.
Our final call for expressions of interest for the STFC Rutherford Fellowships, with a deadline tomorrow - do get in touch if you have any questions!
I think at least some of you follow because of NASA flavored things. And I am hearing some VERY bad things that are getting memory holed as quickly as they occur. Not only that, but significant chunks of leadership at NASA Centers have been taking early retirement offers, leaving staff unprotected
You can see an outbreak on the South Equatorial Belt in Dec'24, and another on the North Temperate Belt in Jan'25. Peter's done this before - he wrote about it for @planetarysociety.bsky.social back in 2017, when Juno had only just arrived at Jupiter... www.planetary.org/articles/201...
Peter Rosén has created another great animation of #Jupiter's storms during the 2024/25 apparition, made from thousands of amateur observations and projected in a variety of different ways. Incredible amount of work must have gone into this #planetsci [Credit: P. Rosén] youtu.be/x1W_Ux_jgaE?...
Are you in, or near Leicester this Sunday? If you are, come and see me in the Night Sky Show at De Montfort Hall, for an epic adventure and evening of cosmic entertainment. It's out of this world. Book here: www.demontforthall.co.uk/event/the-ni... The cheesiness is optional
International or UK researcher looking for a #fellowship in #astrophysics, #planetaryscience, and/or space instrumentation? Leicester @physicsuol.bsky.social is inviting expressions of interest for this year's STFC 5-year Ernest Rutherford Fellowships (deadline June 26th): le.ac.uk/physics/rese...
ESA studying impacts of proposed NASA budget cuts The European Space Agency is weighing options for programs affected by proposed major budget cuts at NASA as it also seeks to expand cooperation with other nations.
Carly's looking for a postdoc to join her team at @oxfordphysics.bsky.social to work on Europa exploration - go join them! #planetaryscience
Scientists expected the trailing side of Uranus's moons would be darkened by radiation. When we looked we found the exact opposite. @startswithabang.bsky.social Here's why and what it might mean: bigthink.com/starts-with-...
We are in the final days of our effort to collect signatories on our petition to protect NASA science and SO CLOSE to our 20,000 signatory goal. ANYONE in the world can sign. Help us reach our goal: planet.ly/petition
UK universities lost £6.2 billion on research grants in 2023-24 as the gap between grants and costs widened. Via @annamckie.bsky.social www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Happening now: NASA's Juno mission is closing in on Jupiter for the spacecraft's 73rd close encounter with the giant planet. Follow along virtually in real time at eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/sc_juno See the latest real images from Juno at missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam/processing
Huge congratulations to both of you!
Tomorrow, my kids and I are joining a "pack" on a Wolf Run to support "Wishes for Kids," in memory of a young friend. If you think the idea of me (a) running and (b) running in mud sounds like my idea of hell, why not support those making me do it? www.justgiving.com/page/claire-...
'Galaxy Rise' 777 images captured by Don Pettit are processed, graded & interpolated to create a video from ISS Expedition 72 with music by Chris Zabriskie. Cropped and edited from 6m04s 4k original. Credit: Don Pettit / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran
The answer may not be clear right now, but if anyone can find it, I have every faith in you (and all my amazing US colleagues trying to chart a course through the storm).
The challenge now is to make sure that the next generation of researchers don't have to say the same thing....
The 2025 #NASA astrophysics senior review report is public. "Every mission received the highest possible rating for... scientific return", & are "producing important, impactful science in a cost-effective manner". Some important screenshots: assets.science.nasa.gov/content/dam/...
OPAG discussing the recent budget proposal (PBR) for NASA, noting that Uranus is not mentioned once (Uranus Orbiter & Probe previously had some "out-year" budget for studies from FY27). That's absent in this PBR for FY26. And radioactive power source budget zeroed out by FY29, how could we have UOP?
International or UK researcher looking for a #fellowship in #astrophysics, #planetaryscience, and/or space instrumentation? Leicester @physicsuol.bsky.social is inviting expressions of interest for this year's STFC 5-year Ernest Rutherford Fellowships (deadline June 26th): le.ac.uk/physics/rese...
Bluesky really needs a *dis*like button.
ESA folks finding zeroes for ExoMars, EnVision, Euclid, LISA, Ariel contributions, and so many more in those documents... the damage to international partnerships and trust would be incalculable if this budget proposal comes to pass...
I can highly recommend visiting the UK National Space Centre which has an exhibit on UK nationals hired by NASA. My favourite is of course Tecwyn Roberts who designed the NASA mission control centre for all the TV drama.
Based on 20 years of observations by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, new research sheds light on one of the solar system’s most mysterious planets. Via WIRED Japan: www.wired.com/story/a-new-...
Trump vs Harvard: It's the fascism, stupid iandunt.substack.com/p/trump-vs-h...
Spent the day in Bristol's School of Earth Sciences examining for a PhD viva: new Cassini/CIRS results for Titan's atmospheric dynamics and composition, showing that there's still so much to learn from this precious 13-year dataset. Congrats to Nick Teanby's student, Dr. Lucy Wright!
My colleague Beatriz has been doing an amazing job leading this Mars mission concept for ESA's M7 opportunity - the Mars community are meeting in London this week to explore the scientific potential for this mission - follow her for updates!
🔭🧪 Congratulations to Prof Nial Tanvir who has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his work studying gamma-ray bursts, the most violent explosions we've ever seen. le.ac.uk/news/2025/ma...
The new JWST Titan paper is now available #openaccess on arxiv: arxiv.org/abs/2505.10655
We are inviting proposals from UK research organisations to explore the feasibility of a UK-led scientific instrument for NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, designed to search for Earth-like planets beyond our Solar System. 🔭 🌍 Find out more 👉 space.blog.gov.uk/2025/05/19/u...
And finished our centenary celebrations with cake and solar viewing...
Hosted a whistle-top tour of Leicester’s research in planetary science, astrophysics, space projects, and Earth observation science. Ten minutes each to show where we are after our first century, and where we dream of going next.
Our research started with gas physics, then atmospheric physics and rocket physics in the 1960s. Working with a new Astronomy Dept. (1973), Leicester introduced a physics with astrophysics degree (the first in the UK). The groups merged to make the Department of Physics and Astronomy in 1987.
Today we're celebrating 100 years of Physics and Chemistry at Leicester. Ten Physics undergraduates started at Leicester in 1925, today it's more like 650 students. Ken Pounds sharing a history of space science and astronomy @physicsuol.bsky.social from the 1960s onwards.
#ESAJuice had a payload checkout at the end of March, and the Monitoring Camera (JMC2) captured this image on April 9th (stretched as it’s dark out there, with some nice Star Trek lens-flare). RIME antenna in the foreground, background PEP plasma instruments. Data on ESA’s Planetary Science Archive.
The new Titan results from JWST and Keck can be read here (Nixon et al., doi.org/10.1038/s415... [££]), with this glorious 1-17 µm spectrum showing all the molecular features in absorption and emission. [Sorry for the paywall, hopefully an arxiv link soon…!]
More #JWSTSolSys results reported today in @natastron.nature.com, led by Conor Nixon and co.: the long-awaited multi-instrument look at Titan’s surface and atmosphere, seeing clouds evolving in altitude, detecting chemical species (methyl), and fluorescent glows from CO and CO2.
A quarter of the journey to Jupiter is now behind us, with #ESAJuice continuing its whirling path around the inner solar system, picking up speed for the final swing out to Jupiter in 2029-31. Flybys of Venus (Aug’25) and Earth (Sep’26 and Jan’29) still to come.
End of the first day of the #ESAJuice meeting, we were treated to a tour of Uppsala's Gustavianum museum by an incredibly enthusiastic guide who was working on the nearby Valsgärde burial ground... astonishing Viking helmets, swords, shields, delicate balances, and glassworks. What treasures...
"May your #ESAJuice science results echo in eternity" The opening speech living up to the grand surroundings of the Aula in Old Uppsala University building. My neighbour shrugs: "'spose it's alright."
#ESAJuice is more than halfway between its August’24 flyby of Earth, and its August’25 flyby of Venus - the NASA “Eyes” app allows you to follow the spacecraft as it loops around the Solar System on its long journey to Jupiter. eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-s...
Arrived in Uppsala for the 25th #ESAJuice science team meeting. Three days of meetings reviewing current mission status, operations planning, instrument calibrations, software development... right now JUICE is heading towards its Aug'2025 flyby of Venus.
Found the most amazing place to stay in #Stockholm last night - a berth in the Mälardrottningen -Lady Hutton, right on the edge of Lake Mälaren and Gamla Stan. The yacht was built 101 years ago, spent time in the Royal Navy in the 40s (anchored in Panama), and became a hotel in 1982.
How the weather got ‘stuck’ over the UK – and produced an unusually dry and warm spring Article in The Conversation from me and @mattpattclimate.bsky.social, discussing spring 2025, blocking and climate change. theconversation.com/how-the-weat...
These stunning views of Jupiter's dynamic auroras are all published today in our article in Nature Communications #openaccess, led by @jnic.bsky.social and the JWST team at @physicsuol.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1038/s414...
Next time anyone searches for auroras on #Jupiter, it's going to be this astonishing movie from JWST that shows up. Kudos to @jnic.bsky.social for leading this work, it was great to hear the gasps of amazement from across the office when these first landed. Another great #JWSTSolSys result.
There you go again, blaming gravity. Pretty sure you've been doing that for 20 years.
**Frosty glasses clink** Cheers 🍻
Planetary scientists have been really, really mad about DEI-related conference abstracts being taken down from LPI meeting sites. I wrote about it: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Calling all scientists, science postgrads & anyone who’s ever worked in a scientific discipline! Can you spare even just half an hour next Tues 12pm to join me, Chris Packham & 100+ scientists to urge for government policy to be informed by science? Let’s fill Parliament Square with scientists! 💪
www.scientificamerican.com/article/trum...
Ah, so not Pope Bob then. Thanks for the clarification, BBC.
It might be many years in the future, but it's great to see ESA getting organised and thinking about participation in future flagships - including Habitable Worlds Observatory. See below for details of an ESA Townhall meeting next week:
Helsinki is hosting the #EPSCDPS25 planetary meeting in September, with abstracts due May 7th. There's a #JWSTSolSys session planned, encouraging topics from across the #planetsci community - do join us in Finland! meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EPSC-DPS2025... 📷 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, ERS Team
Vacancy: Three-week summer journalism internship at Carbon Brief Carbon Brief is offering an exciting opportunity for students, or recent graduates, to work with the team for three weeks this summer. Deadline: 02 June, 9AM BST Apply here ➡️ buff.ly/ypeV1mr
Word of the day is ‘forswunk’ (13th century): exhausted from too much work. I like to think that ‘foreswunk’ is to be exhausted before you even begin.
🔭 Saturn's Rings Appear to Disappear Image Credit & Copyright: Natan Fontes apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap25042...
Happy 35th Birthday to #Hubble: long may you continue gathering precious photons! With the help of Masters students here in Leicester, here's seasonal #Uranus over a quarter century (1995-2020), evolving from southern summer (1986), through equinox (2007), on to northern summer (2030) [📷 NASA/ESA]
🎉 Happy 35th Birthday Hubble Space Telescope 🎉 Today at the Centre we're hosting a special #Hubble35 event with hands-on demos, engaging talks with experts @leighfletcher.bsky.social, @jnic.bsky.social and @revjb.bsky.social, and fun craft sessions. Let's have a closer look at the Hubble story 🧵
Exciting PhD opportunity at @exeter.ac.uk: Forecasting Martian Dust Storms (funded by @ukspaceagency.bsky.social)! Please share widely! More details: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...
Celebrate Hubble’s 35th year in orbit! In honor of the legendary space telescope that redefined the universe, NASA released an assortment of observations recently taken by Hubble, including data used in this video of Mars at the start of Martian spring. (1/5) 🧵 🧪 🔭
Portrait of a planet: As we mark the 35th year of Hubble in orbit, the space telescope's team has released a head-turning new view of Mars. Image details: go.nasa.gov/42HRQl5 Other spectacular new vistas from Hubble: go.nasa.gov/3GoxMNi
Tomorrow I'll be @spacecentre.bsky.social with @jnic.bsky.social and @revjb.bsky.social to celebrate #Hubble35, showcasing the Hubble planetary science and astrophysics taking place @physicsuol.bsky.social.
