Interstellar Objects: Could They Bring Life?
A recent paper explores the hypothesis that life on Earth originated from extraterrestrial sources brought by interstellar objects (ISOs), such as the asteroid…
Planetesimals and Nebulae Throw Debris
New research reveals that headwinds made of gas and particles in the protosolar disk can strike planetesimals, throwing rocky debris out into space and…
The Pacman Nebula
NGC 281 is more fondly known as the Pacman Nebula. In normal wavelengths this image resembles(ish) the ghost-gobbling Pacman, but here I'm using narrowband SHO…
The Iris Nebula
The Iris Nebula is a reflection nebula 1,300 light years away, illuminated by a partially embedded star (SAO 19158) which is 10X the size of our Sun. The…
Creating Creatures with AI
I've been enjoying learning Tensorflow, and this awesome Colab lets us invent new creatures and crossbreeds from nothing but code.
Sky Silhouette: Barnard 7
The night sky is full of thousands of silhouettes of all many shapes and sizes. In 1919 an astronomer called Edward Barnard created a catalogue of more than 300 of these dark nebula.
Some of the Milky Way in Cygnus
[](https://orbitingfrog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/deneb-sadr.jpg) Deneb-Sadr and (some of) the Milky Way in Cygnus. Taken from Provence, France.…
A New Paper All About #yellowballs
Another paper for the Milky Way Project. The Yellowballs began on the very first day of the Milky Way Project when a user asked me 'what is this?' and I wasn't…
Going the Distance: Philae and Taliesin
This was an amazing week. On Wednesday the Rosetta spacecraft launched the tiny Philae lander on a 10km journey to the surface of a comet: a mountain-sized…
Combining Your Clicks with Milkman
Really pleased to make my Milkman app available for all MWP users :)
The Zooniverse (and Me!) in Wired UK this Month
[](https://orbitingfrog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/screenshot-2014-09-04-10-33-03.png) This Month's edition of Wired (UK) includes a feature…
Become a Sunspotter and play Solar 'Hot-or-Not'
New Zooniverse project goes live today and I warn you: it is highly addictive!
Timelapse of the Earth's Seasons Seen from Space
[wpvideo jZEU7OC9] This video is a time-lapse of images taken from a geostationary satellite. It shows a whole year of the Earth's orbit around the Sun from…
Moving a Giant Telescope for Space Warps
This was just too awesome!
The Rabbit Has Landed: China is on the Moon
[](https://orbitingfrog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20131214-233542.jpg) Congratulations China! You just became the third country to land on, and…
Male and female brains: the REAL differences
> Observational studies have shown that the male brain is hardwired to be paid more, occupy more powerful roles and positions, and be more inclined to kill…
Comet ISON Dives In
Comet ISON is a ball of rock and ice a few miles across that was first spotted over a year ago beyond the orbit of Jupiter. It was thought that it would be a…
So... I'm a TED Fellow
[](http://www.ted.com/) I’m happy to announce that I am one of the 2014 TED Fellows. It’s a fantastic opportunity and an awesome group to be a part of - you…
Zooniverse Jobs - Come Work with Us in Oxford
[](https://orbitingfrog.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/zooniverse-icon-web-black.png) We're expanding the Zooniverse team in Oxford and we're looking…
The Real Orbiting Frogs
Don't worry I'm not about to start a reality show. You might have seen the picture that's been circulating of a frog being catapulted from the launchpad of…
Staring Deep Into a Forming Star with ALMA
[](https://media.orbitingfrog.com/uploads/2026/02/1771788062956-htd96o.jpg) ALMA's view of Herbig-Haro object HH 46/47. This image interweaves optical data…
Large Magellanic Cloud as seen by Herschel and Spitzer
The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy orbiting around our own Milky Way. You can see it from the Southern Hemisphere but not like this! This image…
Why I'm fed up with digital projects (and why I'm not): a rant
In a word: this. A great blog post that totally sums up my annoyance with a growing number of websites and apps, and the 'digital' movement in general.
Cassini's Photo of the Earth, Seen from Saturn
[](https://media.orbitingfrog.com/uploads/2026/02/1771788072510-yz6163.jpg) NASA have released the raw version of Friday's #WaveAtSaturn photograph of the…
Turgidity Timelapse: Tomato Plant Drinking Water
Plants aren't something I know very much about, but I remember the concept of turgor pressure from my GCSEs. Plant cells absorb water a different way to the…
Astronomy and Computing: A New Journal
A new journal begins today, Astronomy and Computing, covering the intersection of astronomy, computer science and information technology. This journal is…
Explore Planck Data in Chromoscope
ESA’s Planck mission reported results today showing the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB, see below) in greater detail than ever before. Planck achieves this…
ZooTeach: Using the Zooniverse in the Classroom
[](http://www.zooteach.org) I was at RAL today, as part of a teacher training event run by the National Space Academy, to talk about the Zooniverse and how our…
Our Stargazing Oxford mini-lectures are online for all to see
During our Stargazing Oxford event on January 12th we had three sets of mini-lectures. These are short, concise talks about astrophysics that anyone should get…
All Hail Sir Patrick Moore
New Recycled Electrons episode up now: All Hail Sir Patrick Moore . All Hail Sir Patrick Moore
Amazingly immersive panorama from Mars Curiosity images
Mars Panorama - Curiosity rover in New Mexico You really have to go fullscreen!
Neil Armstrong has Died, Aged 82
I always feel very strange when the death of a person I never met deeply affects me. The times this has happened are few, and the people in question are often…
.Astronomy 4 in Heidelberg
Sigh. The fourth .Astronomy conference has been and gone. This time last week I was in Heidelberg at the 50-person event that, I’m not afraid to say, is the…
Transit of Venus 2012
[](http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap040623.html) In June 2012 people all over the world will watch the planet Venus transit across the Sun. Venus will pass directly…
GLOBE at Night
I will never forget trekking up Mount Sinai, in Egypt, to watch the sunrise. I did this back in 2002 and will never forget the sight of the stars surrounding…
The Great British Fireball
[](http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs/) On Saturday night (March 3rd) one of the most spectacular fireballs ever was seen over the UK. Hundreds of people…
Oxford Solar System Walk
If you live here in Oxford you can now explore the Solar System amongst the spires! Originally created for Tal’s Good Feet, this walk turns Oxford into a scale…
Stargazing Oxford!
On Saturday 21st January, we’re having a massive #BBCStargazing event in the department. There will be telescopes, talks, crafts and even modern art. It will…
Are there rings around Pluto?
An arXiv posting discussing the notion that Pluto could have rings. I suppose we’ll find out in 2015 when New Horizons finally gives us a closeup of the…
Altitude Sickness
For those of you following my adventures around the globe via Twitter, Flickr and the like, you may be aware that I recently suffered quite a blow. During my…