Michael Porter @MichaelPorter@qoto.org

*pops head out of the public bathroom* can I wash my hands or is everyone still paying their immunity debt

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased and proud to announce the publication of my annual guide, 2023: An Astronomical Year.

It includes data on the Moon and planets throughout the year, including conjunctions, eclipses and meteor showers. There's also charts, summaries and a daily breakdown of events.

It's available now on Amazon in paperback and hardback across the globe.

You can also download a free PDF copy at the link below. I hope you find it useful!

https://tinyurl.com/AY23Free

Moments in time captured in fired clay: Some 1,900 years ago a #child trod on a #Roman tile that was laid out in the open air ahead of firing.

Found in Nijmegen, on display at Museum Het Valkhof.

#FindsFriday #RomanArchaeology #archaeology

I ❤️ drowned glacial valleys.

This is the north arm of səl̓ilw̓ət, the heart of səl̓ilwətaɬ territory.

#FjordFriday #hiking #fjords #geography #landscape

https://gofund.me/f5c04236

Hi, I'd really appreciate it if you would share or donate to this GoFundMe, https://gofund.me/5d735a53

Every time it snows where I live

If you had any doubt about gut bacteria being responsible for everything, well look here:
It's the #gut #microbiome that leads to 💩 floating or sinking
(yeah yeah in mice)

Why some feces float and others sink
https://phys.org/news/2022-11-feces.html

#Science

If you're like me, then you were really happy to learn about Mastodon's enthusiastic support for image descriptions, and you were really eager to join in.

Then you went to actually write something and realized you have no idea how to present visual information in a way that is helpful/enjoyable to those who are #VisuallyImpaired or #Blind.

I found this guide really informative: https://uxdesign.cc/how-to-write-an-image-description-2f30d3bf5546

Of course, I'd also love to hear any additional tips y'all might have!

#Accessibility

Finally, somewhere I can take my Croissant Bernard.

This past year, I got two accomplishments achieved in the fight against #lightpollution.

One was straightforward: Replacing the poor fixture on my house. My local home improvement stores didn't have much, but they did have a few good options.

The other was to get all of the streetlights (such as they are) in my little community changed from the awful globes first installed in the 70's to some dark sky friendly ones. Worked with the local HOA and got it done in less than a year.

Happy Friday!

Fridays in December feel different. They feel nicer.

Here's a random moon picture that I took 10 years ago! Single Frame.

#Friday #astronomy #astrophotography #astrodon #Moon

Bumblebee at work #ArtAdventCalendar #Photography #WildLife

#Downsview, #Toronto will be #Canada's '#15MinuteCity'

The site is slated to hold 50,000 #housing units and 80,000 #residents, will be tied together by the #airport’s old, mile-long #runway.

https://www.thecooldown.com/green-business/downsview-toronto-airport-15-minute-city/

I'm experimenting with a default starting sky for the virtual starship (before you travel anywhere else in the Milky Way).

This has all the naked eye stars from the Bright Star Catalogue with exaggerated brightness, along with a Gaia flux background combined with Douglas Finkbeiner's hydrogen-alpha sky. All at visible frequencies but like you had supersharp eyes. #WebXR #VR.

Carefully rebuilding the social network connections like...

Today is my last astro 101 lecture of the semester! I will point out that it is only slightly colder on Mars today https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/weather/ than it is here in Regina (where the current weather is actually, no joke, listed as "ice crystals." WHAT.)

I'll also point out the Mars occultation next week: https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20221208_16_100

And of course, the Pale Blue Dot! If you've never listened to the best speech ever written about astronomy, please listen right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5FwsblpT8

I will never understand far right Conservatives who claim to be fans of #StarTrek but who then complain about current Trek being “too woke”

From Day 1 the entire premise of the Federation is that it’s a post-scarcity socialist utopia whose mission is scientific discovery and the peaceful exploration of space and discovery of new cultures.

The shows have always pushed the social boundaries of the times they aired in. Trek isn’t “turning woke”, Star Trek has always been woke. How’d you not know?