Astronomy for Equity, Blue Marble Space, DarkSky International Board, UCLA medical research (retired). Previous: Founder, Astronomers Without Borders.
California, USA
Joined January 2010
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This guy has the best amateur planet images EVER! Definitely worth a follow.
JUPITER'S MOON Io and Ganymede Occultation
October 3 2026. Alt 30 (Low) not bad! at 5:24AM Southern CA USA
Full Info
instagram.com/p/DeDf-RzlJio
Mike Simmons retweeted
About 80% of North Americans can no longer see the Milky Way from where they live.
Mike Simmons retweeted
Invitation to the Virtual community meeting of the AfNWA as we celebrate World Space week.
This conversation will focus on MSc and PhD students sharing their experiences, challenges and aspirations along their career journeys.
Register via us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…
Mike Simmons retweeted
Astronomers in Kyiv, Ukraine, detected the beginning of a new outburst of the cataclysmic variable Gaia20cnt (ASASSN-14fc) using a Unistellar eVscope provided through the Astronomy for Equity program. The detection triggered follow-up observations with the 70-cm AZT-8 telescope at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
The observations suggest that Gaia20cnt may be an SS Cyg-type dwarf nova (UGSS), a binary system in which material transferred onto a white dwarf periodically produces strong optical outbursts. Continued observations are now encouraged to better characterize the system.
What makes this particularly significant is where the observations were made. Ukrainian astronomers continue to conduct research from Kyiv despite the war and increasingly serious electricity constraints. The team told Mike Simmons that conventional observatory operations may become difficult this winter because of power availability, making small, autonomous telescopes such as the eVscope potentially important tools for keeping astronomical observations going.
This is a small but powerful example of how distributed, relatively inexpensive astronomical instruments can maintain scientific capability even under extremely difficult conditions. astronomerstelegram.org/?rea…
The podcast has been on vacay for a while. Dropping a new episode with Kelly Blumenthal, director of @IAU_Outreach, is a great way to get it going again!
Today's Big Impact Astronomy talk to Kelly Blumenthal about her views on the importance of science communication and education through @IAU_Outreach #365daysofastro cosmoquest.org/x/365daysofas…
Mike Simmons retweeted
Applications for the 20th Summer School in Astrophysics, “The Cosmic Legacy of Evolved Stars”, close 30 September 2026.
📅 30 May–25 June 2027
📍 Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo
Info: vaticanobservatory.va/en/vos…
Apply: indico.global/e/voss2027
#Astrophysics #SummerSchool
Mike Simmons retweeted
Astronomy for a Better World
Join Dr Charles Takalana & Dr Joyful Mdhluli (OAD) on 14 Sept, 16:00–17:00 SAST, as they introduce two new initiatives:
Astronomy-for-Development Research & InstituteOAD Innovation Hub
🔗 Register: nithecs-ac-za.zoom.us/webina…
Mike Simmons retweeted
🦢 There’s a swan flying through the September sky.
From 2–11 September, Globe at Night is inviting citizen scientists around the world to look up and help measure light pollution. Submit your data at globeatnight.org 🌎✨
Mike Simmons retweeted
The African Network for Women in Astronomy is calling on all women in astronomy to submit stories for the second edition of their book. The first issue was published at the IAUGA2024 in Cape Town. The deadline for submission is 30 September 2026.
#AfNWACall #AfricaAstronomy
Proud to be on the board of this educational observatory in Northern Tanzania.
Same here. On many visits starting in 1999. I’ve taken tours of Americans there. I’ll see friends in Yerevan at a conference next week. I was going to go to Iran but I’ve been advised against it. Everything every US government has done has done the opposite of what they wanted.
Mike Simmons retweeted
🦉 Find your night side.
🌃 Help map Earth's nighttime glow from space and track light pollution by locating images from astronauts on the International @Space_Station.
📍Pick your citizen science challenge on the app: lostatnight.org/
ALT Mosaic of Europe at night in colour created from over 7000 pictures taken by astronauts on the International Space Station in 2017.
Mike Simmons retweeted
Earth is constantly immersed in a stream of charged particles flowing outward from the Sun: the solar wind. When it encounters Earth’s magnetic field, it creates a massive shock wave in space that can be chaotic or calm. Help scientists understand why as part of NASA's new Shock Detectives citizen science project: go.nasa.gov/3RyRFqt
ALT Illustration showing the interaction between the Sun\u2019s solar wind and Earth\u2019s magnetic field. The Sun appears on the right side of the image, emitting streams of charged particles toward Earth at center-left. Earth is surrounded by layered blue magnetic field lines forming a protective bubble called the magnetosphere, which is compressed on the Sun-facing side and stretched into a long tail extending away from the Sun. A curved red region at the front edge of the magnetosphere represents the bow shock where the solar wind slows and changes as it encounters Earth\u2019s magnetic environment.
Mike Simmons retweeted
📌 New piece out today in Foreign Policy.
For 47 years, analysts and policymakers have been asking what the Islamic Republic wants. I argue that's the wrong frame entirely. Iran's strategic instincts — its obsession with deterrence, sovereignty, and global (not regional) projection — are five centuries old. They survived the Safavids, the Qajars, the Pahlavis. They will survive whatever comes next.
The 2026 war, Hormuz, the nuclear file — none of it makes sense unless you ask the right question.
Read here 👇
foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/19…
Mike Simmons retweeted
💡 We’re highlighting the 5 Principles for Responsible Lighting:
• Use light only when needed
• Target it
• Keep it low
• Control it (timers)
• Choose warm-colored lights
Small changes can reduce light pollution and protect the night sky. 🌙
📷Dark Sky International
This is exactly why I’ve been saying since my first of many visits to Iran in 1999. Same in Iraq in 2003. Sanctions weaken the people and strengthen the dictators’ stranglehold on power. Give the people back the economic power and western economic influence inside the country.
The BBC asked me if a US-Iran deal would betray the Iranian people. I pushed back hard: The question assumes that getting bombed helped the Iranian people. Nor has that been true in Ira, Afghanistan etc.
On the contrary, if sanctions are lifted, the Iranian people can breathe once more. Over time, Iranian society will grow stronger and enable the Iranian people to do what only they can do:
Change Iran in the right direction, from the inside, by themselves, for themselves.
Mike Simmons retweeted
Today is World Migratory Bird Day! Millions of birds travel incredible distances each year, connecting ecosystems across continents. These journeys are becoming more challenging due to habitat loss, light pollution & building collisions. You can help: cincinnatizoo.org/conservati…
Mike Simmons retweeted
It's Songbird Welcome Home Week and tonight is going to be a HUGE night for migration. Most birds migrate at night. City lights can disorient birds and interfere with navigation. Turn your non-essential lights off by 11pm to help your feathered friends along their way.
Thank you @CincinnatiZoo!
