#literature #books #astronomy #science #technology
Medieval monks reused an animal skin parchment and in the process removed the writing. However, not all the writing was removed and it has been identified that the writing was a map of the stars written by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus. Now x-rays from a particle accelerator are trying to recover the lost text. The original text dating to about 129 BCE is the earliest known map of the stars. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-monks-wrote-over-a-copy-of-an-ancient-star-catalog-now-a-particle-accelerator-is-revealing-the-long-lost-original-text-180988123/

#literature #books #astronomy #science #technology
Medieval monks reused an animal skin parchment and in the process removed the writing. However, not all the writing was removed and it has been identified that the writing was a map of the stars written by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus. Now x-rays from a particle accelerator are trying to recover the lost text. The original text dating to about 129 BCE is the earliest known map of the stars. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-monks-wrote-over-a-copy-of-an-ancient-star-catalog-now-a-particle-accelerator-is-revealing-the-long-lost-original-text-180988123/

Today in the #CosmicStories blog, we take a look at the #ScienceandSF of #Exoplanets through the lens of a case study: #StarTrek and its spin offs. Featuring #astronomy, #ScienceFiction, desert worlds, water planets, giants, and lots of Star Trek. Comments welcome!

https://www.warwick.ac.uk/cosmicstories/strange_new_worlds/

Announcing a new #Guix release with version 1.5.0.

https://guix.gnu.org/en/blog/2026/gnu-guix-1.5.0-released/

Guix is a rolling release meaning users receive the latest updates continuously.
This release updates all the installation media when setting up Guix on a new system.

It can be used as a package manager on top of an existing Linux distribution (e.g. #debian, #ubuntu, #suse, #fedora, #archlinux, etc). Or it can be used as a stand-alone #linux distribution installed as #desktop #server or in the #cloud.

Since the previous release Guix has added 12,525 new packages and 29,932 packages have been updated.

- #KDE Plasma and a #declarative configuration service

- There are around 40 new system services to choose from such as Forgejo Runner and RabbitMQ

- Full-source bootstraps of the #Zig and #Mono their compilers are now available

- Other major updates include GCC 15.2.0, Emacs 30.2, Icecat and Librewolf 140, LLVM 21.1.8 and Linux-libre 6.17.12.

- Contributing teams building packages for areas including #openscience, #hpc, #electronics, #python, #astronomy and #rust

Read all about it on the blog and try out Guix now!

Announcing a new #Guix release with version 1.5.0.

https://guix.gnu.org/en/blog/2026/gnu-guix-1.5.0-released/

Guix is a rolling release meaning users receive the latest updates continuously.
This release updates all the installation media when setting up Guix on a new system.

It can be used as a package manager on top of an existing Linux distribution (e.g. #debian, #ubuntu, #suse, #fedora, #archlinux, etc). Or it can be used as a stand-alone #linux distribution installed as #desktop #server or in the #cloud.

Since the previous release Guix has added 12,525 new packages and 29,932 packages have been updated.

- #KDE Plasma and a #declarative configuration service

- There are around 40 new system services to choose from such as Forgejo Runner and RabbitMQ

- Full-source bootstraps of the #Zig and #Mono their compilers are now available

- Other major updates include GCC 15.2.0, Emacs 30.2, Icecat and Librewolf 140, LLVM 21.1.8 and Linux-libre 6.17.12.

- Contributing teams building packages for areas including #openscience, #hpc, #electronics, #python, #astronomy and #rust

Read all about it on the blog and try out Guix now!

New astronomy #Python script, to start the new year:
Moon calendar.

#astronomy #science #education
Powered by the Skyfield ephemeris module.
Juste change the year at the beginning of script.
My script is available for download:
https://www.astrolabe-science.fr/calendrier-lunaire-annuel/

New astronomy #Python script, to start the new year:
Moon calendar.

#astronomy #science #education
Powered by the Skyfield ephemeris module.
Juste change the year at the beginning of script.
My script is available for download:
https://www.astrolabe-science.fr/calendrier-lunaire-annuel/

Still exploring OpenStreetMap data with this map of sundials in Europe.
#openstreetmap

There are in fact many more sundials. If you know one around you, please mark it on on https://www.openstreetmap.org/

Well... is it a map of sundials or a map of OSM contributors?🤔 Anyway, congratulations to northern Italy!

#astronomy #maps
#Python script available on my blog.

Still exploring OpenStreetMap data with this map of sundials in Europe.
#openstreetmap

There are in fact many more sundials. If you know one around you, please mark it on on https://www.openstreetmap.org/

Well... is it a map of sundials or a map of OSM contributors?🤔 Anyway, congratulations to northern Italy!

#astronomy #maps
#Python script available on my blog.

#Astronomy
This is the "Planétaire ou planisphère nouveau" by M. Flécheux (1780).
A paper (or cardboard) astronomical instrument, with which you can derive some astronomical parameters.
Background: a star chart and a calendar, a pivoting ruler carrying scales and a set of 3 rotating wheels.

Knowing the date, longitude and local time, you can find the time of passage of stars or Moon at the meridian. Inversely you can derive your longitude by the time of meridian passage. Flécheux claims that his instrument is a solution to the longitude problem at sea, if you carry a watch with the time of the home port... quite a bold statement, given the modest size of the hour wheel, but certainly a major question of his time. In 1780 only a few marine chronometers were available.

Otherwise a pretty instrument. To understand how it works, I couldn't help making a modern reproduction ( #TeXLaTeX and #python).
The original (perhaps unique extant copy?) is sold 20000 GBP in London...

#Astronomy
This is the "Planétaire ou planisphère nouveau" by M. Flécheux (1780).
A paper (or cardboard) astronomical instrument, with which you can derive some astronomical parameters.
Background: a star chart and a calendar, a pivoting ruler carrying scales and a set of 3 rotating wheels.

Knowing the date, longitude and local time, you can find the time of passage of stars or Moon at the meridian. Inversely you can derive your longitude by the time of meridian passage. Flécheux claims that his instrument is a solution to the longitude problem at sea, if you carry a watch with the time of the home port... quite a bold statement, given the modest size of the hour wheel, but certainly a major question of his time. In 1780 only a few marine chronometers were available.

Otherwise a pretty instrument. To understand how it works, I couldn't help making a modern reproduction ( #TeXLaTeX and #python).
The original (perhaps unique extant copy?) is sold 20000 GBP in London...

Solar captures for today!

#sun
#sunspots
#astronomy
#photography
#astrophotography
#smartphoneastronomy

Solar captures for today!

#sun
#sunspots
#astronomy
#photography
#astrophotography
#smartphoneastronomy

Microbes essential for human health can survive the stress of spaceflight. That's great news for astronauts. Via @spacedotcom #Health ❤️‍🩹 🧑‍⚕️ #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Microbes essential for human h...

Microbes essential for human health can survive the stress of spaceflight. That's great news for astronauts. Via @spacedotcom #Health ❤️‍🩹 🧑‍⚕️ #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️

Microbes essential for human h...

I made a GPS-enabled automatic moon phase clock out of sustainably-sourced wood 🪵, a US-made circuit board, and an LED strip.

It's perfect for any shelf or desktop.

It does NOT use/need:

🚫 WiFi connection
🚫 End-User License Agreement
🚫 Any personal information
🚫 Plastic packaging

Just give it power and a space not too far from a window so it can get signal from the GPS satellites.

Ask me anything! :)

https://DigitalHorology.com

#moon #Astronomy #clocks