Dr./Prof. Meredith MacGregor
@mmacgreg.bsky.social
Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins in the Department of Physics and Astronomy | astronomer, educator, ceramicist, runner, mom | Pronouns: she/her
James Rogers gave a fantastic talk about how young planets probe planet formation at #CoolStars23 and shouted out how EVE will dramatically change our understanding of this
Now seems like a great moment to share this awesome new paper explaining how the Early eVolution Explorer (EVE) - a NASA SMEX mission concept - will transform our understanding of young planets (<50 Myr old): arxiv.org/pdf/2606.04283
arxiv.org
Time to actually do this whole SMEX proposal thing! #PIDaily
Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope: Let's Do It Dance!
ALT: Amy Poehler as Leslie Knope: Let's Do It Dance!
static.klipy.com
The OMB's sweeping proposed changes to U.S. grant funding have racked up over 6,000 comments this week. 📃🛰️ In @skyandtelescope.bsky.social, astronomers weigh in on just how destructive these ideas would be for space science: skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-ne... #trump #omb #nasa
Proposed U.S. Grant Funding Rules Spark Worry, Backlash in Astronomy
The Office of Management and Budget envisions diminishing peer review and international collaborations.
skyandtelescope.org
Another crazy week - PRIMA student collaboration site visit on Tuesday. EVE STMC review today. Red eye flight tonight. Innovation for Astrophysics workshop in DC tomorrow. Sleep? Not so much 🫠#PIDaily
Lorelai Gilmore: I Need Coffee in an IV
ALT: Lorelai Gilmore: I Need Coffee in an IV
static.klipy.com
And this time it’s for real (and still very early) - Go PRIMA! 🌌🚀
Hello JPL! It’s 7am and I’m wearing a suit. Let’s do this 💪
Got an RSV vaccine! ✅ Always a good feeling when I can protect myself from getting dangerously sick from something preventable 💉
Wow thanks everyone who voted for me...! I'm honored to get to have a chance to contribute to the AAS elected leadership aas.org/posts/news/2...
Results of the 2026 AAS Election
The 2026 AAS Election closed on 20 April and the results are in!
aas.org
PRIMA Mock Site Visit ✅ EVE Baseline Commitment Review ✅ ALMA proposals submitted ✅ 6am flight back to BWI ✅ See you again in just a few weeks JPL! #PIDaily
Last piece of space pottery for the Physics Fair next weekend! I made these bowls to look like the interstellar medium - the space in between stars. Love how the glaze pops in the sunlight 🌌
In honor of the successful landing of Artemis II, here’s a moon bowl! I made the bowl and then cratered it to look like the surface of the moon #sciart
I started making ceramics last summer and it has become a big part of my life that I haven’t shared here yet. For our annual department outreach event, I agreed to make space inspired pottery for prizes and giveaways. I’ve started getting final pieces out of the kiln and it’s so fun I have to share!
We’ve never gone to the Moon since I’ve been alive - until now. There’s A LOT awful going on, but it was still so amazing to watch the Artemis II launch. What amazing things us humans are capable of 🚀🌔
Always a fun day when your research ends up on APOD! 🤩 apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropi... And, check out the original paper, too: iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
Astronomy Picture of the Day
A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation.
apod.nasa.gov
Our AAS Education Committee report on 'The Landscape of Undergraduate Astronomy and Astrophysics Degree Requirements' is now available on arXiv: www.arxiv.org/abs/2602.03959. Please give it a read!
The Landscape of Undergraduate Astronomy and Astrophysics Degree Requirements
In this document we summarize the results of a survey of undergraduate degree-granting programs conducted by the 2024-2025 American Astronomical Society Education Committee's Subcommittee on UndeRgrad...
arxiv.org
Some new recommendations from our AAS Working Group on Graduate Admission: aas.org/posts/news/2...
AAS Working Group Recommends New Best Practices for Graduate Admissions
The Working Group on Graduate Admissions wishes to highlight two recommendations for immediate adoption by the community to improve the current astronomy-wide graduate admissions process.
aas.org
So excited to see our EVE science highlighted in Evgenya Shkolnik’s fantastic plenary at #AAS247! I’m thrilled to be proposing this mission to NASA
It’s far-infrared day at #AAS247! Come learn about how cool this part of the spectrum is and why it is critical for a multi-wavelength understanding of the universe!
Our session for the AAS Task Force on Graduate Admissions is this morning at 10am in Room 226 B #AAS247
Come join us in the session discussing our report on the landscape of undergraduate degrees in astronomy and astrophysics at #AAS247 in room 226B!
What a great birthday present today - SMEX is back on! Let’s go EVE!
Pretty excited to be part of this awesome team doing super cool science! arxiv.org/abs/2512.07695
JWST TRAPPIST-1 e/b Program: Motivation and first observations
One of the forefront goals in the field of exoplanets is the detection of an atmosphere on a temperate terrestrial exoplanet, and among the best suited systems to do so is TRAPPIST-1. However, JWST tr...
arxiv.org
1/ It's press day!🔭🧪 We apply a grid of time-dependent physical models to explain TRAPPIST-1 flares, predicting the X-ray & UV flux driving escape and photochemistry in planetary atmospheres, and correcting flare contamination in transit spectroscopy down to ~60 ppm: www.colorado.edu/today/2025/1...
New research on flares from a hot-tempered star could inform search for habitable planets
A new study takes a close look at TRAPPIST-1, a little star roughly 40 light-years from our sun that hosts seven Earth-sized planets.
colorado.edu
Today is the ExoJamboree at @jhuartssciences.bsky.social and @stsci.edu - How cool is that we are such a powerhouse of exoplanet research here that we can have an awesome conference with just local people?!?!
