Ted Stryk

On this day in 1975, Venera 9 returned the first images from another planet. Humanity saw the surface of Venus for the first time.

Congratulations to JAXA and the Martian Moon Explorer (MMX) team! Phobos, here we come!

THE EARTH AND MOON TODAY SEEN BY JUICE ON ITS FLYBY!!

The bitter oranges outside Millennium Manor. I don't know why they're called bitter oranges. "Really sour" is a much better description.

Mars from the Hope probe (EMM/Emirates Mars Mission) ~one year ago (September 2025). The first image shows giant volcanoes with a dust storm near Noctis Labyrinthus, and the second shows foggy Hellas Planitia with seasonal CO2/water frost. Credit: Emirates Mars Mission (EMM)/EXI/D. Machacek.

Who did this? Brice Turang's name was changed to "Expensive" for a little while in the MLB app #cubs #brewers #mlb #cubsbrewers #brewerscubs

There were a lot more clouds here than it looks like. The ones you can see are just the low ones. I was lucky to catch the moon at all, which peeked out briefly. There was something poetic about the red moon over the bridge, lit up for Dolly Parton over the Tennessee River in Knoxville.

The eclipsed moon with the Henley Street Bridge in Knoxville, Tennessee, which crosses the Tennessee River. It is lit up in honor of Dolly Parton and her coat of many colors.

Ontario Lacus is a hydrocarbon lake near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Titan. Measuring 235 kilometers long by 75 kilometers across, Ontario Lacus is slightly smaller than its terrestrial counterpart, Lake Ontario. Lakes on Titan are named after lakes on Earth that are roughly the same size.

The solar eclipse of 2017 was 9 years ago. I was involved in organizing the event at my home institution, where we watched the eclipse. In my lifetime, this will never happen again

Well, at least this clown looks the part.

Today in 1976, 50 years ago, the Viking 1 lander touched down on Chryse Planitia, Mars, and became humanity's first long term outpost on another world (the Venera Venus landers lasted an hour or two, Viking 1 lasted over 6 years).

Watching England-Argentina, not sure what England's coach was thinking. Messi and Argentina are going to score late in the game. Every time. Focusing on defense instead of scoring was not bright. In football, there is something called prevent defense, which doesn't work. This is is soccer's version.

Left: Venus, 1 March 1982 Centre: Titan, 14 January 2005 Right: Boston, 15 July 2026

Today in 2020, I photographed Comet Neowise from downtown Knoxville. With the pandemic raging, it was fascinating to see people all take pictures of it from around where they live instead of traveling to exotic locations.

This keeps happening. I'm actually in Alaska right now. It's also happening back home. Other than a flight layover in 2025, I haven't been to Texas in many years. I want to know what is wrong with Bluesky's location system, and why it is that the Texas legislature feels like it can bother people.

First proposal submitted where I am a Co PI. This is quite a challenge. I've been involved in proposals and projects where I am in charge and not in charge. Being in charge but with others is probably my weakest area, but this is a project that isn't going to work another way. Details if selected.

History repeats itself first by tragedy, second by farce. www.nbcnews.com/video/trump-...

Where Spain?

Dylan, on life in your 80’s, is incredible. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/o...

Pete is right. Don't be stupid.

Company, shmumpany. The oligarch Musk has the power.

The Surveyor 1 spacecraft touched down on the Moon #OTD in 1966. It was the first soft landing by a US spacecraft on an extraterrestrial body, an important early step towards future crewed missions to the Moon. 🧪 🔭 🚀 Images: NASA/JPL

Cloudy Mars: Olympus and Tharsis, ESA Mars Express HRSC Massive 220MP image on Flickr ➡️ flic.kr/p/2seL8ss 🔭🧪 Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY 2025-08-02 North is down HR242_0000 ND3+GR3+BL3 Notes: Cool cloud formation over the North Pole and a dust storm-like feature over Olympus Mons!

This is a composite of the Moon, Mars, and Earth I made. The Moon and Earth are from Artemis II, and Mars is from the Psyche mission. Each image was taken *in the last six weeks*

Here is a mosaic from the close approach images. flic.kr/p/2sdCjqp For location reference I marked the area in MUTED (a nice Mars map website) muted.uni-muenster.de?x=76.063&y=6...

Mars - Clouds over Terra Cimmeria - ESA Mars Express HRSC Full size 5k image: flic.kr/p/2sdpsHP 🔭🧪 Credit: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin/AndreaLuck CC BY 2025-07-24 South is up HR211_0000 ND3+GR3+BL3

This unassuming little crescent is actually something cool: It's a crescent Mars, seen by NASA's Psyche spacecraft as it approaches the Red Planet for a gravity assist flyby next week. Details: go.nasa.gov/4tsCLPQ

This is am amazing. Now if they could just get it close to Amalthea! Does anyone connected to Juno know if this might happen?

Detection of an atmosphere on a trans-Neptunian object beyond Pluto: www.nature.com/articles/s41... -> Outer Solar System Object Has an Atmosphere But Shouldn’t: www.nao.ac.jp/en/news/scie... -> A small object past Pluto may have a thin atmosphere: www.sciencenews.org/article/atmo...

HiPOD: A Mysterious Fractured Depression on Mars While we have learned so much about Mars after over 50 years of exploration with spacecraft, there are some features that continue to be mysteries. https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_071541_2200 NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona #Mars #NASA

6:32:06 PM on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, over the North Pacific Ocean.

Well, isn’t this a sight for sore eyes! 😍 Our beloved Hubble appears in this amazing image from one of Vantor's WorldView Legion satellites. It was 36 years ago today that Hubble was launched in the bay of the Space Shuttle Discovery from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: Vantor.

Absolutely incredible. NASA Astronaut Reid Wiseman, who commanded Artemis II, took this footage from the far side of the Moon with his iPhone. Watch with sound on.