Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics

@leilabelkora

Science writer. Roots in US (NE/CO), Morocco, Switzerland. She/her. Current project: poet Robert Frost as amateur astronomer, to come from Clemson @cupress.bsky.social Agent Henry Thayer at Brandt & Hochman.

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Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· 16d

A comment on the “infinite monkey theorem” (monkeys typing Shakespeare, eventually)—only it’s the 19th C astronomy writer Garrett P. Serviss relating Kepler’s account of the improbability of a random well-dressed salad. I love this story and Kepler’s wife’s wit. #histsci 🧪🔭

The reader will observe a little circle in the map, and near it the figures 1604. This indicates the spot where one of the most famous temporary stars on record appeared in the year 1604. At first it was far brighter than any other star in the heavens; but it quickly faded, and in a little over a year disappeared. It is particularly interesting, because Kepler—the quaintest, and not far from the greatest, figure in astronomical history—wrote a curious book about it. Some of the philosophers of the day argued that the sudden outburst of the wonderful star was caused by the chance meeting of atoms. Kepler’s reply was characteristic, as well as amusing:

I will tell those disputants, my opponents, not my own opinion, but my wife’s. Yesterday, when I was weary with writing, my mind being quite dusty with considering these atoms, I was called to supper, and a salad I had asked for was set before me. “It seems, then, said I, aloud, “that if pewter dishes, leaves of lettuce, grains of salt, drops of water, vinegar, and oil, and slices of egg, had been flying about in the air from all eternity, it might happen at last by chance that there would come a salad.” “Yes,” says my wife, “but not so nice and well-dressed as this of mine is.”

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· 17d

I glance up as my husband is channel surfing and see a rather special view. 😢 🔭 📡

Two men on a metal white-painted catwalk, with the tops of green hills in the distance.

Myself and a fellow summer student on the catwalk of the Arecibo radio telescope in the late 1980s. Photo of a slide.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· 20d

This just arrived, and I can’t wait to listen. I heard an excerpt on Classical California radio when they were playing music associated with World Cup countries. 🇲🇦

Cover of CD album “Details” showing Driss El Maloumi playing an oud.

Back cover of CD showing five players of stringer instruments and a list of track titles.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· 21d

Portrait of a writer waiting for her editor to get back to her.

Person in blue apron painting an area of a wall white, next to areas painted in shades of light green, brown, and blue green. About half the wall height is tiled.

More swatches of color above the tiled wall, in various shades of sage green.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· 26d

A fine (slender) moon, on a fine (clear) night; Venus not yet visible. Have a good weekend, friends.

At the very top of the photo, a small crescent moon. Below, blue sky with one small cloud and some silhouettes of trees.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· 27d

Smh

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jul 14

Venus, still there.

Trees and a bit of roofline against a dusky and hazy blue sky. Venus is a point of light on the left, just above some trees.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jul 13

Happy Rock Day! Our family has a heart-shaped rock that I think was collected by a friend of my daughter’s, possibly in Greece. Would love to know what geological story it tells.

Heart shaped rock about 4 centimeters wide. White and greenish-gray with dark red veins and some small pits all over. Photograph with a bit of a ruler showing.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jul 5

My recipe is pretty easy, only a little time-consuming when brushing the layers with butter. I make the spinach filling the night before.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jul 4

Happy 4th! It’s that time of year when I, half-Moroccan half-American who grew up in Switzerland, confuse everyone by bringing a delicious Greek spanakopita to the community potluck.

White ceramic baking dish with spanakopita and a plastic fork inside. Spanakopita consists of a layer of spinach and herb and feta cheese mixture between multiple sheets of buttered filo dough above and below. The filo gets crackly and crumbly when cooked while the feta cheese melts deliciously into the spinach and herb mixture. In the photo, from 2024, one row of squares has been eaten prior to bringing to the potluck, for quality control reasons. This year’s cooking is about to begin.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jul 2

Came across this gem today: a replica of Isaac Newton’s telescope, placed on a pedestal below the 200-inch Palomar telescope, for comparison. (Look closely!) 🔭 1958 photo from the Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science collection at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

A minuscule-looking telescope dwarfed by one end of the Palomar telescope. The inside of the Palomar dome is visible in the background.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 29

Happy Monday. This week, may all your enemies and nemeses meet the same fate as the mosquito I just dispatched in the bedroom.

Two coral-colored roses among dark green leaves.

Small yellow flower in a blue pot with green leaves.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 25

Wow, this is serious.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 22

I caught Venus and Jupiter from a different location tonight. I stood such as to block a light pole with a tree trunk and got the planets on either side of the tree. We are lucky—we are outside the bad air region from the warehouse fire in Boyle Heights. The sky is pretty clear.

Dusky Sky with tree in foreground and more trees in the distance. Venus is brighter and higher in the sky and to the left of the tree.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 19

Marine layer of clouds trying to obscure my view, and not yet fully succeeding.

Crescent moon at upper left, with Venus and Jupiter on a diagonal line to lower right, all framed by trees.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 17

Nice entrance to the scene, Moon.

Crescent moon at lower right, lined up more or less with Jupiter and then Venus at upper left. Some trees branches in the frame.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 12

Still pretty, Jupiter and Venus.

Venus lined up vertically above Jupiter in a dusky sky with pink clouds.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 11

Tonight’s view of Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter is sinking slowly, while Venus is rising more quickly, for now. Should be a nice view with the thin crescent moon on the 16th and 17th, too. I finished shortening and editing one chapter, yay.

Venus above and a little to the right of Jupiter, framed by trees and a roofline. A couple of stars can faintly be seen.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 10

It’s not optimally dark for this photo of Venus and Jupiter, but I’m going to be busy later.

A Zoom-in of this picture shows Venus and Jupiter around the time of sunset.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 9

Same!

Two points of light in the sky, barely visible amid clouds.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 9

Tonight it was a race between the darkening sky and the encroaching clouds. I did get a view of Venus and Jupiter.

Venus to the right and Jupiter to the left, close together, in a darkening sky framed by trees and roof.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 7

Tonight it’s too cloudy here to see Venus and Jupiter. Let me tell you instead about one such conjunction on February 6, 1892. From S. Hemisphere locations, the two planets could not be separated by the naked eye, and in fact looked like an elongated star, or comet. (Continued) 🔭

First page of article by John Tebbutt about observations from Australia.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 6

Jupiter and Venus look even better in a darker sky, but my iPhone photo doesn’t come out as well.

Two points of light in a darkening sky, framed by trees and roof.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 5

Clouds 😕

Jupiter and Venus are difficult to see and are circled in this image.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 4

It’s becoming a nightly ritual:

Jupiter and Venus seen as two bright lights, framed by trees and a roof in the darkening sky.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 3

The drawing-together continues.

Two points of light in a darkening sky, framed by trees and a roofline. The light on the lower right side, Venus, is a little brighter.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 3

Late afternoon rest in the shady garden.

A mourning dove peeks out from the branches of a carrot wood tree.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· Jun 1

Anticipation (Venus and Jupiter about 8 days before conjunction).

Two points of light, framed by trees, in a darkening sky.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· May 30

Freakonomics Radio is airing a series on Richard Feynman. In my undergrad days I was in awe of him. (My stance is more complicated now.) When he visited Cornell, mid-1980s, I got him to sign a copy of his book. He chatted with me for a minute while my professors waited their turn, no doubt annoyed!

Title page of “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” with Feynman’s signature below.

Leila Belkora PhD, astrophysics@leilabelkora· May 26

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, about 1.5 hours south of Albuquerque, is a popular place to view migrating sandhill cranes in fall and winter. Went there for a quick visit today and saw all kinds of birds, including blue grosbeaks, western tanagers, vermilion flycatchers, and more.