Praline-making: the resuts, part 1 (with many thanks to my amazing friend, a hobby chocolatier who knows how to make this and to her partner - winks - who has to deal with the mess we left in the kitchen after 8 hours of work!) #ViciCooks #cooking #food #chocolate #praline #truffle

It's that time of the year - my first citation from 2026 has arrived! #astrodon #academia #ads #astrophysics #astronomy

I made notes on Robin Wall Kimmerer's "The Serviceberry - An Economy of Gifts and Abundance", which was one of the first #books this year. But somehow never came around to make posts - perhaps because it did not feel right in the middle of winter. Now, with the fall upon us, it seems the right time. A biologist's and Native American's thoughts on economy - and alternatives and gifts. Hugely relevant but in a quiet way, one that makes you make small changes in everyday life. 1/7 #VicisBooks

Timeline-cleanse: Fly through 3D map of stellar nurseries made by #ESA's #Gaia mission: ▶️ Especially from ~1 min on: just turn on the volume, put the video on full screen and enjoy. More info: ▶️

Fly through Gaia’s 3D map of stellar nurseries

Scientists created the most accurate three-dimensional map of star-formation regions in our Milky Way galaxy, based on data from the European Space...

#astrodon #nature #astronomy

Science takes time ... Hartle & Thorne, 2025: ▶️

arXiv.org

Slowly Rotating Relativistic Stars: VII. Gravitational Radiation from the Quasi-Radial Modes

When a relativistic star rotates slowly and rigidly, centrifugal forces flatten it slightly, thereby catalyzing a small admixture of quadrupolar vi...

"The research for this paper was completed in 1972, and Jim and I began writing it in that same year but then got distracted for several decades by other projects. In 2000, Jim completed a first draft and gave it to me with some public fanfare on the occasion of my 60th Birthday Symposium. I then let it languish until Jim‘s 80th Birthday Symposium in 2019 ..." (found via colleagues on LinkedIn) #astrodon #physics

#Leiden #Pride. Yep, that's an #ESA boat 🏳️‍🌈🛰️🚀 1/3

Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy. It is not a gift given, but a choice made, and the choice may be a hard one. -- Ursula K. #LeGuin, "The Tombs of Atuan", Book #2 of #Earthsea

Is there something you always wanted to ask an astrophysicist? Here is your chance. I will try to answer as many questions as I can today. And if I enjoy it, we may repeat this later. Some background: I'm a high energy astrophysicist working on black holes, neutron stars, accretion and massive stars with a pretty broad knowledge of the whole astro field (I did teach it at uni level), but little to no experience with hobby observing or astrophotography. #AskAnAstrophysicist #AMA #astrodon

All the books I've read and don't remember in detail, have been firmly pressed into the foundation of who I am. You can't tell the individual books apart under the weight of the later experience, but they are there, shaping who I am, planting the seeds of today's thoughts and decisions. Every hero rising against injustice. Every warning of old science fiction books. Every friendship. Every moment of forgiveness. Every sacrifice for a better world. They all are there, making me me.

I'm adding to my book wishlist at least five times as fast as I read - and to my unread pile at least twice as fast 😬