Chris Lee

This is doing the rounds “elsewhere”. #space #spaceexploration For me the cartoon captures a critical distinction in #spacepolicy: the difference between wanting to explore (and assuming the reason is obvious) vs the need for clearer metrics to underpin the journey in the first place.

Last night's sky was very calm so I visited #Andromeda'sParachute - a gravitationally lensed #quasar that appears as 4 lobes in the shape of a parachute around the unseen massive distorting galaxy. A nice capture across the hour. 11 billion years into the past... #astronomy #EAA #astrophotography

Finally posting recent captures! This week's <60mins #astro exposures. #astronomy #astrophotography #eaa

#Beagle2 plaque unveiling @openuniversity.bsky.social #OUSpace demonstrating how they have built on the mission’s legacy. Impressive. Missions are as much about the journey as well as the destination. @ukspaceagency.bsky.social Julie Black and Colin’s son Nick took centre stage. #space #mars

Lovely day celebrating another #Beagle2 @ukspaceagency.bsky.social red plaque unveiling - today at the #Bristol #MShed with Colin Pillinger's daughter Shu and his sister Doreen. The plaque is now in the Bristol People Gallery - very fitting. Later we described the day on #BBCPointsWest

Good to be back looking at planets after a break - #Saturn is nicely placed around midnight and its rings are beginning to open out once more. #EAA #astronomy #planets #astrophotography

Sometimes I am caught by surprise with #astrophotography. I took an image last year of #vdB1 - a reflection nebula. When processing it yesterday I noticed an area to the rhs. On closer inspection I find this to be 2 young #protostars that have not yet started their nuclear journey. Remarkable! 🔭

Come and explore the Royal Astronomical Society! 💫🚀🪐 Today we've thrown open our doors as part of Open House festival, offering self-guided tours for members of the public to find out more about what we do and how we began. Join us any time between now and 1pm, or from 2-5pm (last entry 4.30pm) 👋

What does the Open House tour of the RAS include? 🪐🚀 Learn more about what we do with a film in the lecture theatre exploring our history 🎥 📺️ Browse fascinating artefacts on display in our library 📚️🔭 And on the top floor, meet astronomers from a bygone era Caroline Herschel and her nephew John ☄️🎭️

A comparison of my image of #NGC7331 #Caldwell30 showing this year's #supernova alongside the one I caught last year. Meanwhile, we've been waiting over 400 years for a supernova in our own galaxy! #eaa #astrophotography #astronomy

Well, since I had already imaged NGC 7331 to check out the recent supernova (posted yesterday), I decided to nudge the scope just a little further to capture Stephan's Quintet #HCG92 which was just out of shot. A fabulous (tiny!) area of our night sky #astrophotography #space #eaa #astronomy

Finally had a chance to seek out #supernova #SN2026aaiv in #Caldwell30 #NGC7331 (a galaxy that had another one of these last year!) and the #Nova in Sagitta, #V488 - now fading back to its original 20th mag - around 10th at the moment from a high of 7. #astrophotography 🔭 #eaa #space

thebristolmag.co.uk/space-expert...

Entered my first Village Summer Fete competition- no, not the “nobbly carrot” but slipped thru an #astro image into “art of the natural world”. Don’t think they minded. Not a win but i’m working on them! 🔭🤣😉 #astrophotography

I see “the other place” is losing its rag in support of Trump pressure on US firms to ignore the #Macron #SpaceSummit - Well European markets and regulators will hopefully take note… #space

Missed our media briefing on BepiColombo? Watch the replay here 👇 and learn more details about the Mercury Transfer Module separation – the mission's first critical step towards arriving at its final destination, planet Mercury. 🔭 🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXXQ...

A bit of Sunday fun. Finally got around to processing my own short scope exposures of #NGC4411 and #RSCG55 with that taken by @vrubinobs.bsky.social #astronomy #EAA #space #astrophotography

So sad to see this.

A surprise addition to my barista-created coffee this morning 🤣🤣🤣

From birth to death: two ring images that bookend a Sun-like star’s lifecycle. The 1st is #V1331Cyg - a pre-fusion protostar lighting up its birth ring. The 2nd (nearby) is #M57 - a dying core inside a planetary nebula. To be able to witness this! Space truly gives me goosebumps. #astronomy 🔭

Yay! I came first in my age category at my local @parkrunuk.bsky.social today! Woo hoo!! OK so maybe i was the only one IN my age category but a win is a win people!! 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️🥇

An hour's worth of night sky pollution, also known as satellites. 😬🙄 #Space #Astronomy

I couldn’t resist! #solar #eclipse #perseids #astronomy 🔭 #astrophotography

Love the tree shadows! I was in Rioja

#perseids - well no 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣 - just lots of satellites crossing my patch while i was watching - using #iphone15 on a table.

Managed to catch the #partialsolareclipse from a car park near our family holiday site in Wales… even did a bit of outreach on the street - amazed people did not know it was happening!! But it was the tree shadows that impressed me… Note: Iphone attached to 20x80 binos are a pain to set up!! 🔭

The #MilkyWay in constellation #Cygnus as seen last night from the Black Forest. Most prominent is the North America nebula, but for example also the faint Veil Nebula can be seen. Panasonic S5 mod on SA GTi, 200 x 30 sec, ISO 640, rather simple lens with f = 60 mm, F5.6, no filters. 🔭 #astrophoto

Yet another brilliant episode in #bbc #evolution series. #chrispackham is an excellent presenter and the underlying narrative and graphics are top-notch. Last night’s episode on “intelligence” really got me thinking!! (😜). Well done to all concerned. TV at its best…

Thank you to everyone who joined us for last night's NAM2026 Conference Dinner & RAS Awards Ceremony in the University of Birmingham's stunning Great Hall. Congratulations again to all of this year's award winners 🏆️🏅