Stopped by the Smithonian Air and Space museum this weekend to say hi to the Hubble model.
I also got to see the backup mirror (that was not ground to the wrong curvature) and the actual Hubble WFPC2 instrument that astronauts returned from space.
Remote
Kelly Lepo
@KellyLepo@scicomm.xyz
mastodon 4.7.3Astronomer | Science communicator | Adult Lisa Simpson
Freelance writer and editor. Former Education and Outreach Scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute supporting JWST.
Formerly @kellylepo@astrodon.social
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Joined June 09, 2025
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Hubble released a new image of the Crab Nebula
🤩🦀
The Crab is the remnant of a supernova record by Chinese astronomers in 1054.
Ugh. This is happening at the worst possible time. I have two days to finish all of my grading and set up three sections of summer class, and Canvas gets hacked 🫠
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/05/07/hackers-target-canvas-again
One of the last things I worked on at STScI is finally out.
Learn what JWST has taught us about how stars form, and get excited about what we will learn in the future. We're just getting started!
Narrated by yours truly.
Webb: Transforming Our Understanding of Star Formation
Happy launch anniversary JWST!
The telescope launched on December 25, 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana.
Thanks to the hard work of the people at ESA, JWST had a fantastic start to its trip out to its parking spot 1.5 million km away at L2.
Replying to
They asked me to do a video themed on the Winter Olympics. It turns out that there are not a lot of movies that involve winter sports, so it was either figure skating or Cool Runnings.
Did I think that most people would get the references to an almost 10 year old movie (I, Tonya) or an almost 20 year old movie (Blades of Glory)? No. Did I care? Also no.
My latest video for Astronomy on Tap Baltimore: Heated Rivalry
In a world where there are no out gay observatories, NASA Astrophysics and NASA Earth Science begin a romance. Can they keep their love a secret?
Replying to
If you like my content on here, and you want to support me as I figure things out, you can buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/kellylepo
Replying to
A visualization of the Apep system, showing the nested shells of carbon-rich dust produced by the colliding winds of a Wolf-Rayet binary.
https://youtu.be/fITdexBNfkQ?si=mdEixVAcvkUpFI3W
Wolf-Rayet Apep Visualization — James Webb Space Telescope
Replying to
@MedeaVanamonde I haven't seen any claims a detection of planets or a debris disk around the Crab pulsar. This thing has been so well studied, I think we would know if any were there.
But that's a good question since the first exoplanets were found around a pulsar!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar_planet
Replying to
@cosmos4u This release was one of many that was delayed by the shutdown. I don't know any of the details on ApJ's side of things.