Jen Willis ✨🐈‍⬛🪷

Writer. Editor. @SkyandTelescope columnist.
Chronic illness/pain/optimism. ND. Astronerd. Fangirl of trees, otters, & more. Legacy verified.
She/her.

[Jen Willis ✨🐈‍⬛🪷 @jenwillis]

You know what all the cool kids* are doing? Checking their voter registration on a regular basis, and/or registering for the first time.

https://t.co/at4z4J3jEH

(*I mean, maybe? I am not cool. But voting is super important.)

[Jen Willis ✨🐈‍⬛🪷 @jenwillis]

Hooray! I put together my 2024 awards eligibility post before 2025! (in case anyone's in a nominating mood)

Bonus: you can look at my amateur astrophotography of M42, the Orion Nebula. :)

https://t.co/jyZuVVCZoM

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

You can contribute to Seuk Kim's funeral expenses here:
https://t.co/fTQkGUGMtf

And you can donate to the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley here:
https://t.co/qrFXVAjyo8

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

Two shelter dogs miraculously survived a plane crash that claimed the lives of a volunteer animal rescue pilot and one other dog ❤

[NASA Webb Telescope @NASAWebb]

In visible light, the arms of NGC 2090 are not easily traceable because of its dust and gas and its patchy dusty disk - as seen in this recent @nasahubble view. This type of galaxy is called a flocculent spiral. https://t.co/HrkdsqIhXV

[NASA Webb Telescope @NASAWebb]

Pardon our dust!

Webb’s near and mid-infrared view of spiral galaxy NGC 2090 highlights its two winding arms as well as the beautiful details of its swirls of dust and gas. https://t.co/5GHzbWezoX

[Gabino Iglesias @Gabino_Iglesias]

One short message from a reader is all it takes to turn a bad day around. Want to drop an author a line? Please do so. Trust me, it means the world to us.

[Angry Staffer @Angry_Staffer]

Jesus Christ.

Dangerous doesn’t even begin to cover it - this is a security nightmare and should receive bipartisan condemnation.

[Katie Phang @KatiePhang]

Getting his cases dismissed does NOT exonerate Trump from his criminal culpability for January 6th.

[NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day @apod]

One of the most identifiable nebulas in the sky, the Horsehead Nebula in Orion, is part of a large, dark, molecular cloud. Also known as Barnard 33, the unusual shape was first discovered on a photographic plate in the late 1800s. The red glow originates from hydrogen gas predominantly behind the nebula, ionized by the nearby bright star Sigma Orionis. The darkness of the Horsehead is caused mostly by thick dust, although the lower part of the Horsehead's neck casts a shadow to the left. Streams of gas leaving the nebula are funneled by a strong magnetic field. Bright spots in the Horsehead Nebula's base are young stars just in the process of forming. Light takes about 1,500 years to reach us from the Horsehead Nebula. The featured image was taken from the Chilescope Observatory in the mountains of Chile.

Image Credit & Copyright: Alex Lin (Chilescope)

[Hubble @NASAHubble]

Hats off to you, @NASAWebb! 🎩

Now, both Hubble and Webb have observed M104 – nicknamed the Sombrero Galaxy.

Webb's new mid-infrared view shows the smooth inner disk of the galaxy, and highlights how the clumpy gas in the outer ring is distributed: https://t.co/T9hWEVPokn

[NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day @apod]

In an interplanetary first, on July 19, 2013 Earth was photographed on the same day from two other worlds of the Solar System, innermost planet Mercury and ringed gas giant Saturn. Pictured on the left, Earth is the pale blue dot just below the rings of Saturn, as captured by the robotic Cassini spacecraft then orbiting the outermost gas giant. On that same day people across planet Earth snapped many of their own pictures of Saturn. On the right, the Earth-Moon system is seen against the dark background of space as captured by the sunward MESSENGER spacecraft, then in Mercury orbit. MESSENGER took its image as part of a search for small natural satellites of Mercury, moons that would be expected to be quite dim. In the MESSENGER image, the brighter Earth and Moon are both overexposed and shine brightly with reflected sunlight. Destined not to return to their home world, both Cassini and MESSENGER have since retired from their missions of Solar System exploration.

Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA & NASA / JHU Applied Physics Lab / Carnegie Inst. Washington

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

Here are the Top 5 Dogs of the week!

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

This is Zelda. She’s in her new forever home after being rescued from a hoarding situation. Got a tiger onesie to help her feel brave. 12/10

[Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 @cmclymer]

Meanwhile, in the alternate universe of Brazil…

[Jen Willis ✨🐈‍⬛🪷 @jenwillis]

@danfalk Yep. Waited for it all summer and into the fall.

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

Starting now through December 2, every order of "tell your dog i said hi" merch comes with a free sticker AND if you buy a hoodie or crewneck you'll also get a free shirt of your choice. Find it all through the link below!

https://t.co/NGakTpna4W

[Angry Staffer @Angry_Staffer]

Fine. I’ll play ball.

Russia is the bad guy because:

1. They crack down on political dissent with violence and even assassinations - you don’t really think all these people are just falling out of windows, right?

- they criminalize both protests and NGOs that attempt to circumvent the regime’s censorship

2. They brutally suppress media that is critical of the regime.

3. They shot down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.

4. They invaded Georgia in 2008.

5. They invaded Ukraine in 2014 and in 2022.

6. They indiscriminately bombed hospitals and targeted civilians during the Syrian civil war.

7. They’ve been caught meddling in US and EU elections.

8. They’ve been responsible for some of the most devastating cyber attacks in history:

- Estonia in 2007, Russia shut down the entire Estonian internet, banking, government websites, etc.

- NotPetya in 2017, caused billions of dollars in damage globally - this is the hack that shut down Merck, Maersk, FedEx, etc.

- SolarWinds in 2020 - impacted tens of thousands of organizations globally, including a large chunk of the US government

9. Russia frequently threatens the world with nuclear armageddon, even though they’re normally the aggressor.

10. Russia has used chemical weapons multiple times, including in foreign assassination attempts

- Alexander Litvinenko (2006)
- Sergei Skripal (2018)
- Alexei Navalny (2020)

11. Their paramilitary groups sow discord globally - Wagner has been active in Syria, Africa, and Ukraine

- in Africa, Russia is almost exclusively responsible for the explosion of illicit weapons

12. They frequently use energy production to blackmail entire countries into ignoring their criminal actions

I could keep going, but if you haven’t figured it out by now, you don’t want to.

[WeRateDogs @dog_rates]

This is Lucas. He has never worked a day in his life, but is taking a much needed vacation. 14/10

[Tammy Duckworth @SenDuckworth]

On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, we honor the trans and non-binary lives lost to violence simply for being who they are.

Every American deserves to live their truth and feel safe doing so.

Hate has no place here.

[Secretary Deb Haaland @SecDebHaaland]

On Red Shawl Day, we honor our relatives lost to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples, an emergency which impacts Native people across our country. I'm proud of our work with Tribes and survivors to build the solutions we need.