2026-08-23T03:46:09Z https://yabu.me Galaxy Map https://yabu.me/npub18vljg4rtv88jpv5hejd4r9wd0daeqd7gkcs293drlps446r9xd6sk4gxp4 https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/108/194/890/571/976/856/original/701b390278e0b2db.jpeg https://files.mastodon.social/accounts/avatars/108/194/890/571/976/856/original/701b390278e0b2db.jpeg https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsyx5c8pjrfpcyp5yeswh2mle8x8qvk47sm0gnzkk7l3qpk5skn92gzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2ch8qvn In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqstluw83yp9j5f6vsmzup4rz8ec8zy9t4v3aaww4lryg8z0n4v3smchtnl4e'>nevent1q…nl4e</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>glad that you could be creative. Since most astrophysical parameters are estimated using Bayesian probability I wonder if telescopes could be rebranded as Bayesian data collection devices. 2026-07-30T09:28:02Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsxg30agw4cg0srkc7p5zsevhjcu5ah5zht7qypch5zjvtvsxfzdxszyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh29fhgx6 UK science is the latest victim of the AI bubble. The Labour party has transferred funding from real science like astronomy to AI research for fear of &#34;falling behind&#34;. A shame that the AI bubble has not popped yet - the larger it gets, the more victims it claims, like a metastasizing cancer. 2026-07-30T09:04:05Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsyytvxnk2rj0e2slxaw0cd0swvhkszxttqhwhgye5y406wmzaszpqzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2wunwfx In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgg0cnucmwz5gpct4n62g0vdl6psh2uplujxtcjx03jnnv4uyyn6qsegl8q'>nevent1q…gl8q</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I&#39;ve never understood the concept of these rankings. For undergrad degrees it doesn&#39;t matter much where you go and for grad degrees what matters is strength in your specialty. So who cares what the people who create these rankings think of the theoretical collective strength of a university as a whole? 2026-01-15T17:55:13Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsfj9857ju73q3hjgw9yp46aaf6qa4v3v25249cn6vrp95rgmyclaqzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2yqwrrk In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsvwhdhqzysjexlst4cnfcysuh2av8x0g0ln0zpxyzy3ejvn06rqssaa7flm'>nevent1q…7flm</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>well like strings and arguably dark matter, epicycles could explain almost anything if you distributed them in the right way. I think epicycles are a cautionary tale. Your model can explain everything and still not be real. In fact if it can explain *everything* that is a cause for suspicion.<br/><br/>Epicycles turned out to be an early version of Fourier analysis. 2025-12-10T17:03:11Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqszfdskr833vl3xhng4u7w9v6pxk20kfp2w57r7242xa7arc823hcczyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2ean0k5 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs0a4hyhn0sj4redgh7m36wfnzaepgnysh9kjsya53lyhlw3hhftzqcuw0e0'>nevent1q…w0e0</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I&#39;ve long had a soft spot for Aquinas because of what he wrote about epicycles.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/696/280/526/327/968/original/24c86f855fa7cd05.jpg"> <br/> 2025-12-10T16:45:43Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs0a4hyhn0sj4redgh7m36wfnzaepgnysh9kjsya53lyhlw3hhftzqzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh25hktge In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqstgghyezlwje8daawf37tdvpmvjtx5h6p4jazc9g2jjk2dn77gccq3llkdz'>nevent1q…lkdz</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>The Toulouse church was turned into a stable for Napolean&#39;s military and has since been deconsecrated. When I was there the building was being renovated for a museum and Aquinas&#39;s coffin was sitting on a trolley next to some cleaning supplies. I&#39;ve never seen anything so melancholy in my life. 2025-12-10T16:38:55Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqstgghyezlwje8daawf37tdvpmvjtx5h6p4jazc9g2jjk2dn77gccqzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2sge8n5 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs0hnc47edcqj6qmtdnmqpmml6caq2u3zl2es9rdu4pwevev2fgngswcd8k3'>nevent1q…d8k3</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>The last time I was in Toulouse I visited the Church of the Jacobins, which is where Thomas Aquinas&#39;s tomb is and apparently has his *other* skull. The article explains that the Catholic Church does not know which skull is real (and perhaps is reluctant to disappoint one group or other with a decision). 2025-12-10T16:31:49Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsfnt5f7t0zp372uuy9e7amyd2m0x9uxx28r82c0k7dvx5rtsaqsqgzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh298d9nn In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsrc5njkxnlgqqhlg3nqnqnrvqf4anlca6d33qzrcm2plsd4dhmgxgl6tk8c'>nevent1q…tk8c</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>The paper is cited on the poster at the upper right. (I was a co-author.) More resources here: <a href="https://gruze.org/10pc/resources/">https://gruze.org/10pc/resources/</a> 2025-10-08T16:57:38Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsdhev578uwfv3pekrcddxmmxva56tfv9fcxurav3ejm5qfwnuucwgzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2g7alp3 I&#39;m working on a huge VR astronomy world for Horizon Worlds and there are many maps (and a Star Cinema, and starships to travel the galaxy, and a meeting space, and a garden, and an observation deck, and the ability to view the sky in many different frequencies, and a cafe and ... much more).<br/><br/>I am redoing my maps to put the galactic centre towards the top for this VR app. Here is a revised 10 pc map.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/338/064/143/846/922/original/dd47b6c402eb159c.png"> <br/> 2025-10-08T09:56:42Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsg9ulmgj5mdktkaq8sukllqj8fglj90q54ktek6mz892vg8hn4r2gzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2ddtwg0 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqstcgl8aqj6qagaxdm4alx2uq8gnuzgvpf684pl2nswk0jl53g805cffp893'>nevent1q…p893</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/178/894/292/876/542/original/72355d58f6224972.png"> <br/> 2025-03-17T17:14:28Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqstcgl8aqj6qagaxdm4alx2uq8gnuzgvpf684pl2nswk0jl53g805czyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh25prcpa In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsgf0gr7apm0axm966enfzjmqh994sryayed5lhdv2rersy2mkuw9g4dydzg'>nevent1q…ydzg</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Also, the location of the Polaris and Cepheus Flare clouds is labelled in the walkable galactic atlas that I&#39;ll be releasing as part of the Star Central VR world this week. 2025-03-17T17:11:32Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsgf0gr7apm0axm966enfzjmqh994sryayed5lhdv2rersy2mkuw9gzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2ak4rl8 In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsyxfs02pk9kv3e4kf5qsxurnzpuqa98nxxpea9eztpv9wtkezz3eccjcv8v'>nevent1q…cv8v</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I explained that in the thread, but there are more than 200 references listed in SIMBAD if you want more detail: <a href="https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=polaris+flare&amp;NbIdent=1&amp;Radius=2&amp;Radius.unit=arcmin&amp;submit=submit+id">https://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-id?Ident=polaris+flare&amp;NbIdent=1&amp;Radius=2&amp;Radius.unit=arcmin&amp;submit=submit+id</a> 2025-03-17T17:04:37Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqszr5eggq305f5fvetja8pcnue9k3zgz40hm2vvfzu7lnpvwucsxxgzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh20auyqe In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsf0kmz8ghl39c23vekqhktudk0nj690zxggurkxwcemsarx3x4huqnt92uz'>nevent1q…92uz</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>A photo of the Polaris Flare centred on Polaris.<br/><br/>Credit: Nicocarver, Wikimedia Commons, CC license.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/178/634/350/257/531/original/0b07f3b7d79ed521.png"> <br/> 2025-03-17T16:09:52Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsf0kmz8ghl39c23vekqhktudk0nj690zxggurkxwcemsarx3x4huqzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh226a8rn In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsy3l8l64etvj9pn6f4acz97w573t9qkttaec8ptkqy0h7jnufwhjs36v5w4'>nevent1q…v5w4</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Someone asked me once about all the dust seen in the direction of Polaris, a dust cloud called the &#34;Polaris Flare&#34;.<br/><br/>So far as I can tell, the Polaris Flare and Cepheus Flare are both high latitude dust clouds that extend above the larger Cepheus Rift cloud complex and are located about 300 parsecs away. So the Polaris Flare is a background dust cloud. I don&#39;t think that there is much dust around the Polaris star system, which lies within the mostly dust-free interior of the Local Bubble. 2025-03-17T16:04:20Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsy3l8l64etvj9pn6f4acz97w573t9qkttaec8ptkqy0h7jnufwhjszyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2j4ggkq In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsr5pvvnjghn8j0vdk0t4q3gazc94ww5rp850tcujn3v4ry6we4lesr77td0'>nevent1q…7td0</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I&#39;d like to have some content in Star Central that I can change periodically and one obvious possibility is &#34;Star of the month&#34;. Looking at this format.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/178/491/066/097/257/original/859497eff4e42e53.png"> <br/> 2025-03-17T15:31:56Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsr5pvvnjghn8j0vdk0t4q3gazc94ww5rp850tcujn3v4ry6we4leszyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2zlmn5g Spending the day adding some more interesting features to my Horizon Worlds world, Star Central, including more information about objects in the Local Bubble and a &#34;Star of the Month&#34; display. Expecting to launch it on Wednesday unless some undiscovered bugs show up.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/176/899/215/949/531/original/bd0e8c953ec8e535.png"> <br/> 2025-03-17T08:48:29Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsd7c5mgaxl8as2q20vatvtwyjm6fdgydvrj5k5rkdaxg0mgsyh4fczyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2uxz2jn A side benefit of Mastodon that I wasn&#39;t expecting: my Bluesky feed is full of US residents screaming and yelling about their political trainwreck. My Mastodon feed is full of stars and math and people getting on with their lives.<br/><br/>The world needs more social networks not based in the United States. I still peek over at Bluesky in horror but increasingly Mastodon is my refuge. 2025-01-29T07:54:52Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs2q3yzdu3rnlq4lg9rymv6cy7ztnxz6js9y5w0u38kl9kky9j7a4gzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2mndc2y In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqswewt08246kh844qz6zyasxmac9u756q6ssmruxrhy3yd40l3677c6rlart'>nevent1q…lart</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>I don&#39;t want to spark a flame war, but it would be interesting to have a technical document that at least tries to objectively compare the two protocols (ActivityPub vs. ATProtocol). When I see Bluesky people attacking ActivityPub I don&#39;t know how to respond.<br/><br/>Or perhaps there is such a document that someone could recommend? 2025-01-14T10:22:17Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqswewt08246kh844qz6zyasxmac9u756q6ssmruxrhy3yd40l3677czyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2jlqycf Interesting claims about ActivityPub over on Bluesky - any response?<br/><br/><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/emily.space/post/3lfou3yzmy223">https://bsky.app/profile/emily.space/post/3lfou3yzmy223</a><br/><br/>#ActivityPub 2025-01-14T10:17:30Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsdnxyasgu56g22wqzc7yd8n2pm5q6l7zw3klk8klez0ukq00ajyzgzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh23580kd I never expected such a subversive ad from a chocolate company. Congratulations Cadbury - this is one of the cleverest ads I&#39;ve seen in a long time!<br/><br/><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73rkqkTY6dA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73rkqkTY6dA</a> 2024-12-03T12:23:38Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs04xfj28a53vgh022nyc2fqrpr9tfcxcr2rkyrqhmdtc98e97uk2qzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2xpwemq In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqsqqnrn3y0e0ng7lywgh2tyfpjmek5qqv33shhtjy29jsvucxr293sqyr493'>nevent1q…r493</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>The first map is based on a new model of the distribution of red clump stars (see <a href="https://astrobites.org/2017/11/30/gaia-and-the-red-clump/">https://astrobites.org/2017/11/30/gaia-and-the-red-clump/</a> for a good description of what these are).<br/><br/>This map shows the Gaia completeness value near the galactic plane for these red clump stars, overlaid on a model of the Milky Way.<br/><br/>#astronomy #astrodon #GaiaMission<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/242/367/816/038/413/original/2adb13f5f749309c.png"> <br/> 2024-10-03T07:44:25Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsqqnrn3y0e0ng7lywgh2tyfpjmek5qqv33shhtjy29jsvucxr293szyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2a0suky In reply to <a href='/nevent1qqs85wpvvnvx8dvjsc9lvg24zs8rrcj5ucdxx6gwskfkuntym0t944svpdr30'>nevent1q…dr30</a><br/>_________________________<br/><br/>Think of them as teaser trailers for the papers that will arrive in a few months! 2024-10-03T07:34:08Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs85wpvvnvx8dvjsc9lvg24zs8rrcj5ucdxx6gwskfkuntym0t944szyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2e386hj A teaser ...<br/><br/>Gaia Unlimited is an interesting research project of the Gaia Mission astronomers. While the main Gaia releases focus on *what* Gaia sees (parallax, photometry, magnitude), Gaia Unlimited focuses on *where* Gaia sees and seeks to develop an algorithm to determine the odds that a star with a given position and characteristics will appear in the Gaia catalog.<br/><br/>There are several Gaia Unlimited papers in the pipeline and I&#39;ve been given permission to release maps I did for them now.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/242/294/532/948/973/original/09667448730086d9.png"> <br/> 2024-10-03T07:33:13Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqsq4wk27g75e93flatdtahpxnne56gk95wvuf4ptn3tgdqlc4aku0qzyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2x9xsr4 Had another play test group this afternoon. This time people who were more casual gamers and knew very little about astronomy. Was a little apprehensive. But they had no problem following the rules and said that they really enjoyed the game. And even found the star info on the cards interesting!<br/><br/>Maybe time to write up the rules.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/177/210/616/126/044/original/c8540c33187f75f5.jpg"> <br/> 2024-09-21T19:33:35Z https://yabu.me/nevent1qqs0xkn43qvufd3jdyp64ezeu485xn49ck0pqp7wkdxldkmtaxjr24szyqan7fz5ddsu7g9jjlxfk5v4e4ahhyphezmzpgk950uxzkhgv5eh2wt9vec I&#39;ll be speaking at the Gaia Unlimited meeting in Leiden on Monday afternoon. Looking forward to quickly going over the highlights of the outreach work I&#39;ve been doing using galactic cartography including posters, animations, board games and, of course, the Virtual Starship.<br/> <img src="https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/090/736/368/823/839/original/619071307488af5f.jpeg"> <br/> 2024-09-06T13:01:34Z