Robert Lea @RobertLea@qoto.org

Astronomers have identified several stars that are the missing links in the evolution of systems with colliding neutron stars the create #kilonova explosions that forged the gold in the ring on your finger. #Space #astronomers #science https://www.space.com/stripped-stars-missing-link-kilonova-explosions

This one is particularly exciting! Using the #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope astronomers have traced one of the brightest Gamma Ray bursts back to the colliding neutron stars that launched it. #space #astronomy #kilonova #neutronstar https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-kilonova-neutron-stars

The #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope failed to detect a thick atmosphere around the 2nd #exoplanet of the #Trappist system, but is that such a bad thing? Astronomer Sebastian Zieba from the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy explained to me & @AdvSciNews why he isn’t disappointed. #space #astronomy #scicomm https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/lack-of-thick-atmosphere-for-trappist-1c-shows-jwst-is-ready-to-hunt-for-signs-of-life/

By now you’ve heard about the @NANOGrav discovery of background #gravitationalwaves you might be wondering why this is an exciting breakthrough. I spoke to Scott Ransom & Thomas Hertog for @SPACEdotcom to hear through the noise. #space #astronomy #physics https://www.space.com/gravitational-waves-astronomers-why-so-excited

A new way to test #Einstein… and it’s about time. Time distortion could be used to test general relativity. #space #physics #astronomy #scicomm #science https://www.livescience.com/physics-mathematics/quantum-physics/distortions-in-space-time-could-put-einsteins-theory-of-relativity-to-the-ultimate-test

Talk about close escapes! A newly discovered giant #exoplanet avoided become a meal for its red giant star! #space #astronomy #scicomm https://www.space.com/forbidden-planet-escapes-dying-star

Nature says you can have your cake but you can’t eat it. Chad Orzel the writer of the incredible How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog spoke to me about #physics most startling elements the #HeisenbergUncertainty Principle. #science #quantumphysics https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a43942695/heisenberg-uncertainty-principle-explained/

Astronomers have directly imaged a supermassive black hole emitting a powerful jet for the first time. The image of the black hole in M87 could help better understand this powerful and violent phenomenon. W/@SPACEdotcom #Space #astronomy #blackhole https://www.space.com/black-hole-jet-first-direct-image-m87

By now you’ve no doubt read about the #jameswebbspacetelescope observing #galaxies that are the most distant and earliest ever seen, but how can astronomers be sure these aren’t more recent and closer? #Space #astronomy #scicomm https://www.space.com/how-do-we-tell-age-of-galaxies

Looking sharp M87*! The historic first image taken of a black hole has been sharpened by machine learning. #space #astronomy #BlackHoles https://www.space.com/first-ever-black-hole-image-ai-makeover

Ready for the launch of the ESA #JUICE mission to #Jupiter and it’s moons tomorrow? Here’s what you need to know. #Space #scicomm #SpaceExploration https://www.space.com/europe-juice-jupiter-mission-lauch-april-13-highlights

Scientists are having a blast with the #jameswebbspacetelescope & this picture of the aftermath of a supernova completely blew me away. SPACEdotcom are awesome for letting me write about this! What an incredible time to be a science journalist! #Space #astronomy #SciComm https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-cas-a-supernova-remnant

I spoke to Xavier Calmet about how he and his colleagues put Steven Hawking’s information paradox to rest, discovering how information could be rescued from #BlackHoles #space #astronomy #scicomm https://www.livescience.com/stephen-hawkings-famous-black-hole-paradox-may-finally-have-a-solution

While you enjoy a cold one on #StPatrickDay spare a thought for the #NASA Parker Solar Probe spacecraft which will brave blistering temperatures to make its 15th close pass of the sun today! Cheers! #Space #parkersolarprobe #Science #scicomm https://www.space.com/parker-solar-probe-sun-flyby-perihelion-15

Typical. You wait ages to see two #blackholes in #dwarfgalaxies collide them two come along at once. Astronomers caught this type of merger for the first time with NASA’s Chandra X-ray observatory #space telescope. #astronomy #scicomm https://www.space.com/black-holes-two-pairs-collision-courses-chandra

Writing SpacedotCom’s explainer on the ESA’s CHEOPS spacecraft was a special thrill for me. I covered the launch announcement in Bern in person back in 2019 & now here I am explaining this remarkable #exoplanet hunting mission over 3 years later. What a ride! #space https://www.space.com/36144-cheops-exoplanet-satellite.html

I spoke to @BTRadford about a current #TikTok trend that suggests the phases of the moon can help select a “soulmate.” I also looked at some simple numbers that suggest the #TikTokMoontrend is pseudoscience. #astronomy #astrologydebunked #Space #moonphases https://www.space.com/moon-phase-find-soulmate-tiktok

The ASTRID simulation of the universe revealed a rare triple quasar system collided to birth a black hole with the mass equal to every star in the Milky Way combined. I spoke to Harvard researcher Yueying Ni about the observation. #Space #astronomy #spacenews #science #sciencenews https://www.livescience.com/rare-galaxy-with-three-black-holes-leads-astronomers-to-the-most-massive-objects-in-the-universe

Located at the edge of the solar system the #KuiperBelt is home to a fascinating host of icy objects from dwarf planets to #space “snowmen.” I spoke to @CampionUR astronomer Samatha Lawler about this fascinating region of #space #astronomy #comets
https://www.space.com/16144-kuiper-belt-objects.html

Not all black holes are cosmic monsters consuming anything that comes their way. Scientists have long theorised about tiny atom-sized #blackholes born just after the #BIGBANG and new research suggests how we could find them! #Space #astronomy #SciComm https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a43234387/how-astronomers-are-looking-for-primordial-black-holes/