Anthony Horton

Does astronomical instrumentation (e.,g. https://mavis-ao.org) at AAO in Sydney.
Interested in all things space-related, hobby electronics, & lizards.
A lot of my posts will be photos of lizards.

he/him

#fedi22 #astronomy #science #software #space #reptiles #lizards #making

Public Key

npub1c2uyhe56wlk09hnqymlrhrjlkpay7lpj0rf4xkddt55u07u009rqnujy8q

NIP-05 Address

spacelizard_at_aus.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsv9wztu6d80m8jmeszdl3m3e0mq7j00se8356ntxk462w8lw8hj3spz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9thwden5te0v35hgar09ec82c30wfjkcctevhzfcs

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

ditto.pub/relay

Author Public Key

npub1c2uyhe56wlk09hnqymlrhrjlkpay7lpj0rf4xkddt55u07u009rqnujy8q

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Last Notes

2024-08-06 04:22:11

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@npub1tpj…fmcs Needs moar lasers!
(For MAVIS we will install diffractive optics to split each of the four lasers into two, so that we will have 8 laser guide stars instead of 4)

2024-08-02 08:08:05

EV aspect ratios: 16:9 (left) and 4:3 (right)
#ElectricCar #EV
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/891/385/508/016/269/original/986436e2709347b6.jpg

2024-08-02 03:45:23

Instead of the magpies or kookaburra trying to share my lunch today I was timidly approached by a currawong. They have such amazing eyes.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/890/353/273/595/794/original/2b3d70dfc7d87fd6.jpg

2024-07-30 04:06:23

Mild amusement at the Australian astronomy Decadal Plan town hall that the extra-galactic astronomers and cosmologists now consider anything below a redshift of 1 to be "local".
That means anything within a (co-moving) distance of 3.3 Gpc, 11 Gly or 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 km.
The "local Universe" also includes most of Time. At a redshift of 1 you're looking 7.7 Gyr back in time, about 5.8 Gyr after the Big Bang.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/873/399/889/119/464/original/562f9e6380f3eef3.png

2024-07-18 07:36:09

Ironic.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/806/333/446/299/594/original/67231218d6ff23e4.png

2024-07-08 01:45:25

It took my brain an embarrassingly long moment to twig that this was about solar *power* systems and not, say, installing a new ring system or adding a few moons in fancy retrograde orbits.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/748/324/902/900/679/original/dbc01dddc7ac4dc1.png

2024-07-01 07:35:00

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@npub1gqn…kjud The rocket in question does have extremely strong knockoff Falcon 9 vibes to it.

2024-07-01 06:49:47

Some space companies find it very difficult to get a rocket off the ground. This one did it by accident: https://spacenews.com/chinese-rocket-static-fire-test-results-in-unintended-launch-and-huge-explosion/

2024-06-11 05:22:46

A convincing argument that LLMs like ChatGPT don't "hallucinate", they bullshit, and why this distinction matters: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5

2024-06-09 02:47:37

This DeHavilland Vampire appears to have been staked through the heart.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/584/370/517/704/134/original/b057fe942897b66e.jpg
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/584/370/692/510/308/original/0e1d14af270db49a.jpg
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https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/584/371/070/222/201/original/3d5e7ea998d3e268.jpg

2024-06-03 00:41:50

Australian Astronomical Optics (AAO) at Macquarie University is looking for a new director, details in the links below.
https://page.mq.edu.au/STF-Director-AAO-Macquarie.html
https://mq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/CareersatMQ/details/Director--Australian-Astronomical-Optics---Macquarie_R000015720-1
Please share with anyone you think might be interested.
#Astrodon #Astronomy #AstroJobs

2024-05-29 06:44:59

It's also worth remembering that the US is not representative of the global market for EVs. The biggest manufacturer in the world, BYD, is completely absent from the US, along with other big Chinese car companies such as SIAC & Geely.
https://mastodon.social/@mhoye/112521995675929287

2024-05-27 01:22:48

ABC news have decided to take on the "electric cars aren't really better for the environment" misinfo.
The analysis seems to be fairly thorough, and has been tailored to the Australian situation.
Their conclusion is the lifetime CO₂ emissions for a mid-sized electric SUV are at least 2-3 times lower (depending on state) than a comparable petrol SUV, with the difference becoming larger if the owner has solar power at home.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-27/comparing-electric-cars-and-petrol-cars/103746132
#EV #ElectricCars

2024-05-21 03:15:22

Long, detailed critique of the Artemis program: https://idlewords.com/2024/5/the_lunacy_of_artemis.htm
It's possible to quibble with some of the details, but it's depressingly hard to disagree with any of the main points.

2024-05-12 23:47:30

It's the snake's ute now.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-13/snake-in-a-ute-lisa-kournelis-living-nightmare/103836544

2024-04-23 01:18:49

World champions of "We'll fix it in software."
Working around a memory fault on a 47 year old spacecraft at a distance of 24 billion kilometres: https://blogs.nasa.gov/voyager/2024/04/22/nasas-voyager-1-resumes-sending-engineering-updates-to-earth/

2024-03-18 08:24:46

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@npub1tpj…fmcs It's great, isn't it?
I also like the original drawings like this one. When you think about how it was done, with a pencil at a drawing board, it's a real work of art.
#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/115/711/860/895/990/original/404a17fe40526d4e.png

2024-03-18 07:41:50

I want a big poster print of this. Fortunately we do already have a high quality digital copy of it so it would be easy to do.
#Astronomy #Astrodon #Telescope
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/115/535/441/110/842/original/1a8a432597b6d792.jpg

2024-03-18 07:32:08

I saw a Noisy Miner (the bird, not a rowdy extractive industry worker) fail to grab something from the road, stopped to look, and saw this splendid stick insect marching towards me. I picked her up, took some photos, then deposited her on a nearby tree.
#StickInsect #StickBug #Insect #GetStickBugged
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/115/511/608/268/241/original/8f1299ca1987ff62.jpg
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/115/511/930/991/929/original/65633ffbcf189bdb.jpg
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2024-03-09 03:44:15

Ah, yes, Jupmer. My favourite planet.
#Astrodon
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/063/658/702/933/013/original/9790ca51892d4e4e.jpg

2024-03-04 11:49:00

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 Racing drones are an extension of the same hobby but more common are freestyle drones, which exist purely for the joy of (acrobatic) flight as experienced through the view from the on-board camera, transmitted live into your goggles. I'm very much a beginner, but still have fun flying loops, rolls, and zipping through small gaps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWngomoq3eM

2024-03-04 11:34:34

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@npub1zdp…vqv8 Purpose built FPV (first person view) quadcopters and goggles to go with them are very much a thing, though more of a niche hobby than the camera drones from DJI and the like. They are built tough with the expectation of crashing regularly, so significant damage is fairly rare. The very smallest ones (like mine here) are so light weight that even a high speed crash involves a small amount of kinetic energy, so they can be crashed (almost) with impunity.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/037/186/852/497/688/original/afdd2765a87041a0.jpg

2024-02-01 03:50:56

Very impressive images of the International Space Station taken from the ground with a 0.8 metre telescope and a fast off-the-shelf CMOS camera.
Credit: Damien Peach & E. Enzmann
https://www.damianpeach.com/iss/iss_2024_01_29rgbeedp.jpg
H/T https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161917230360934&set=a.483374755933
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/111/854/191/794/740/572/original/9c251d6047a1b205.jpg

2024-01-19 07:43:11

A fairly extreme example of the "we noticed you bought an <obviously one-off purchase> recently, would you like to buy another?" marketing approach.
No BYD, I bought a car from you last month. I don't want another one just yet.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/111/781/476/827/627/105/original/ec88df7c26f1e1c2.png

2024-01-03 00:09:30

The rise of AI image generators is proving to be a useful filter for YouTube recommendations. If the video presents itself as being factual information about <thing>, but the thumbnail is obviously an AI hallucination on a theme of <thing> instead of an actual image of <thing> then I can, with fairly high confidence, assume that the creator is either a lazy hack or a bullshit artist and ignore the recommendation.