New paper on arXiv today! On the efficacy of using novel Bayesian machine learning to dispatch 'expensive' forward models of planetary evolution. This connects with #PLATO ageing and can help solve degeneracies in current static-retrieval approaches which treat #exoplanets as snapshots.

Constraining the lives and times of exoplanets through evolutionary Bayesian retrievals

Static retrieval frameworks are leading tools for interpreting exoplanet observations, yet time-independent modelling leaves them prone to degeneracy and unable to resolve exoplanets' histories. The c...

arxiv.org

Congratulations to Dr Jake Taylor (@astrojake.bsky.social) on the publication of his paper "A parameterised approach to disequilibrium retrievals in the JWST era: Application to NIRCam observations of HD 189733b" You can read it here: arxiv.org/abs/2607.06491

A parameterised approach to disequilibrium retrievals in the JWST era: Application to NIRCam observations of HD 189733b

Atmospheric retrievals are a widely used technique for inferring the physical and chemical properties of exoplanetary atmospheres from observed spectra. A common simplifying assumption in such analyse...

arxiv.org

Congratulations to Dr Mei Ting (Martha) Mak on the publication of her paper, "Flow-Driven Limb-Asymmetry of Haze Distribution Part I: An Analytical Framework for Predicting the Size Distribution of Photochemical Hazes Across the Two Limbs of hot-Jupiters" Read it here: arxiv.org/abs/2607.14845

Flow-Driven Limb-Asymmetry of Haze Distribution Part I: An Analytical Framework for Predicting the Size Distribution of Photochemical Hazes Across the Two Limbs of hot-Jupiters

Photochemical haze, a common aerosol type expected to form in the atmospheres of hot-Jupiters, can become concentrated to different extents between the morning and evening limbs depending on the balan...

arxiv.org

Hide-and-seek champion award goes to the newly discovered beta Pic d! 🏆 Please welcome the newest member of the exoplanet zoo, and be kind, it’s a little shy, it’s been hiding in direct imaging data for over a decade!

ESO@eso.org · 3w ago

Ten years of hide-and-seek! 🫣 Astronomers used our VLT to find a new #exoplanet orbiting the famous star Beta Pictoris — hiding in archival ESO observations spanning over a decade! And it's shyer than any exoplanet we've imaged before. 🔭 🧪 1/3 📷 ESO/B. Sutlieff, M. Bonse et al.

Nice write up from @oxfordphysics.bsky.social on our contributions from Oxford to the beta Pic d discovery. Shout out to DPhil @luke-parker.bsky.social for some super VLT observations and Breakthrough Listen pre-doc Leyla Iskandarli for some deep data analysis! www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/planet-...

Planet found after ten-year game of hide-and-seek

A planet that hid from astronomers for ten years has been found by a team including researchers from Oxford.

physics.ox.ac.uk

Delighted to share that I've been awarded two and complementary prizes for my PhD on magma ocean evolution and climate modelling. Firstly, Second Prize for computational physics by the Institute of Physics; secondly, part of the Early Career Medal by the UK Planetary Forum. Explainer below...

Our last Oxoplanets talk of #HoRS3S is by finishing DPhil student and incoming Schmidt AI in Science Fellow Luke Parker (advised by @jaynebirkby.bsky.social) on tracing cloud condensation and formation histories across the giant planet population with observations of silicon chemistry!

Today's Oxoplanets highlight at #HoRS3S is Breakthrough Listen DPhil Student Mitchell Yzer (advised by @jaynebirkby.bsky.social and @climatebook.bsky.social), with a poster on detecting technosignature greenhouse gases on nearby Earth-like exoplanets using high-resolution spectroscopy with METIS/ELT

Our first Oxoplanets talk at #HoRS3S was by Prof. @jaynebirkby.bsky.social on pre-ELT characterisation of small exoplanets at high spectral resolution!

Many of us Oxoplaneteers have now made the journey from Porto to Granada for #3HoRSES! Our first shoutout of the week is Dr. Mei Ting (Martha) Mak (Croucher Fellow @oxfordphysics.bsky.social), presenting a poster on the impact of photochemical haze on the chemistry of hot Jupiter atmospheres.

Good luck to all the Oxoplaneteers heading to Granada for #HoRS3S, special mention to Prof Jayne Birkby who will be giving a completely different talk compared to her #Exo6 talk! Watch this space for some updates.

Jayne Birkby@jaynebirkby.bsky.social · last mo.

It's been a fantastic week at #Exoplanets6, much excitement, the field has kicked up to an even higher gear since #Exoplanets5, some very cool results landing soon on the arXiv! Next up, exoplanets in high resolution at #HoRS3S. Giddy up y'all! 🐎🤠

It's been a fantastic week at #Exoplanets6, much excitement, the field has kicked up to an even higher gear since #Exoplanets5, some very cool results landing soon on the arXiv! Next up, exoplanets in high resolution at #HoRS3S. Giddy up y'all! 🐎🤠

Officially finished my pre-doctoral fellowship at the CCA in New York investigating supergranulation in the wavelength domain! Thanks so much to everyone who made this such a wonderful experience, in particular my supervisors! Next, back to Oxford to write a thesis!

Congratulations to Niamh O’Sullivan (@niamhk12.bsky.social) on her talk "The Search for Supergranulation across Spectral Types" at #Exo6!

Congratulations to former Oxoplanets member Dr Joost Wardenier on his talk “Results from two ultra-hot Jupiter programs with JWST/NIRSpec: the phase curve of WASP-76b and the secondary eclipse of KELT-20b” at #Exo6!

Oxoplanets past and present at #Exo6!

Congratulations to former Oxoplanets member Dr Ryan Boukrouche on his talk “Infrared heating hampers habitability around M stars” at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Leyla Iskandarli on her poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Dr Jake Taylor (@astrojake.bsky.social) on his poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to John Allen on his poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Dr Erik Meier (@erikmeier.bsky.social) on his poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Alex McGinty (@alexmcginty.bsky.social) on his poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Mitchell Yzer on his poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Dr Martha Mak on her poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Prof Tad Komacek (@tadkomacek.bsky.social) on his poster presentation at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Prof Jayne Birkby (@jaynebirkby.bsky.social) on her talk “FROM GAS GIANTS TO ROCKY WORLDS: ADVANCES FROM HIGH RESOLUTION SPECTROSCOPY OF EXOPLANET ATMOSPHERES” at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Luke Parker (@luke-parker.bsky.social) on his talk “Tracing cloud condensation and formation histories across the giant planet population with observations of silicon chemistry” at #Exo6!

Congratulations to Dr Ben Sutlieff (@bensutlieff.bsky.social), Luke Parker (@luke-parker.bsky.social), Prof. Jayne Birkby (@jaynebirkby.bsky.social), and Leyla Iskandarli on the discovery of beta Pic d! You can read more about their discovery here: arxiv.org/abs/2606.23801

Direct Imaging Discovery of Giant Exoplanet $β$ Pictoris d: A Decade-Long Game of Hide-and-Seek

We report the direct imaging discovery of a third exoplanet in the $β$ Pictoris system. We detect $β$ Pictoris d in non-coronagraphic observations obtained with VLT/ERIS as well as multi-epoch archiva...

arxiv.org

Today, we had a seminar given by PhD student Jared Splinter from McGill University. He talked about his work studying the atmosphere of WASP-121b using JWST. Both with NIRISS/SOSS and NIRSpec/G395H. The unpublished work he showed has made me very excited, looking forward to the paper!

Today’s SPIMAX seminar was given by PhD student Maddy Scott from the University of Birmingham. She talked about her work studying cold transiting exoplanets; and her push to increase this population! Very exciting things to come from her work!