Super excited for @balmer.bsky.social to be joining us this fall! Welcome to the @heisingsimonsfdn.bsky.social 51 peg b family!

CIERA@nuciera.bsky.social · 4mo ago

We are proud to announce that William Balmer has been named Northwestern University’s first Heising-Simons Foundation 51 Pegasi b Fellow and a member of the Tenth Class of 51 Pegasi b Fellows! Congratulations William! bit.ly/4e53ePl #Astrophysics #PlanetaryScience

Great paper summary from Dino on his recent paper that giant planets spin faster than brown dwarfs!

Dino Chih-Chun Hsu@chihchunhsu.bsky.social · 6mo ago

I am super excited to share our new paper on the spin of brown dwarfs and giant planets, accepted to AJ earlier this month. With the large spin survey, we found the first clear evidence that the spins of giant planets and brown dwarf companions (>5 au) are distinct. arxiv.org/abs/2601.05976

The application deadline for the 2026 Code/Astro workshop is in a couple of days. Open to anyone interested in learning how to develop open-source software for astronomy! Both in-person and virtual options available. Apply here: semaphorep.github.io/codeastro/

On the first day of Christmas, numpy gave to me, release of v2.4 that breaks my continuous integration builds.

The Fomalhaut system continues to deliver unexpected surprises!

CIERA@nuciera.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Hubble has imaged the aftermath of two rare collisions between rocky bodies in the nearby planetary system—events once thought to happen only every 100,000 years. CIERA member Jason Wang helped confirm the discovery. bit.ly/4s66Pl1 #Science #Astrophysics #CIERA

New orbit movie just dropped. This one is for the newly discovered circumbinary planet HD 143811 AB b. This 9-year timelapse was made through an international collaboration with me, Nathalie Jones (Northwestern graduate student), and Vito Squicciarini (Exeter postdoc)

CIERA@nuciera.bsky.social · 8mo ago

A discovery fit for Star Wars: CIERA astronomers have directly imaged a Tatooine-like planet orbiting two suns — and it’s closer to its stars than any other directly imaged planet in a binary system. 🌟🌟🪐https://bit.ly/4q8Dfto @thejason.wang #Exoplanets #Astronomy #Northwestern #CIERA

Beautiful image!

Matthew Kenworthy@mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Proud supervisor moment: #LeidenObservatory graduate student Richelle van Capelleveen led one of two papers on our discovery of WISPIT 2b, a 5 Jupiter mass exoplanet clearing a path in a circumstellar disk. Laird Close and his team saw it in H-alpha, indicating gas accretion #astrodon 🔭 🧪

Does anyone else see Van Leeuwen merchandise (from the ice cream brand) and think why there's merch for the Hipparcos astrometry catalog?

I'm apparently experiencing an adrenaline rush from a grad student in my group giving a talk at a conference I'm not even at?

Not at #HWO25 but had to watch the Youtube stream to see the coolest version of the HR 8799 orbit movie from @bmacastro.bsky.social

Every time I blink, Roman gets even closer to launch!

Sangeeta Malhotra@astrodame.bsky.social · last yr.

Nancy Grace Roman Soace telescope getting ready for launch (Left is the telescope + instrument carrier + spacecraft; the solar panel is on the right)

The 51 Peg b postdoctoral fellowship is out and Northwestern is one of the possible host institutions. Come join us! More information about the range of planetary astronomy research and other opportunities (like PI of Keck proposals) here: ciera.northwestern.edu/opportunitie....

51 Pegasi b Fellowship at Northwestern

Northwestern University is excited to be a host institution for the Heising-Simons Foundation’s 51 Pegasi b Fellowship. Fellows can collaborate on planetary astronomy research and can benefit from aff...

ciera.northwestern.edu

CIERA@nuciera.bsky.social · last yr.

PhD in planetary science, astro, or physics (2024–2026)? Launch your independent research career with the 51 Pegasi b Fellowship! Northwestern is a host—join top researchers, access elite telescopes, & receive up to $450K over 3 years. bit.ly/4nEmSnX #Astrophysics

Help us decide how to allocate ~2200 hours of Roman Space Telescope time! The Roman Coronagraph team is soliciting white papers to get community input on how to use our observing time (reminder, there is no GO call for the Coronagraph). If you need more details about the Roman Coronagraph.. (1/2)

We're looking to hire a director of operations for CIERA! Consider applying if you're interested in a position in astronomy where you enable others to do research.

CIERA@nuciera.bsky.social · last yr.

We're hiring! CIERA at Northwestern seeks a PhD-level Director of Operations to lead at the intersection of astronomy, data science & engineering. $100–118k, faculty title, great benefits. Apply by July 11! 🔗 bit.ly/4mVzEhv #AcademicJobs #Astrophysics #Leadership

Loading up webbpsf to get the inside scoop

Dr. William O. Balmer@balmer.bsky.social · last yr.

i will be releasing one (1) pixel of our coronagraphic image of this cool* planet each day, up until our AAS 246 press release on tuesday. you can get a sneak peek if you come see my talk on monday. i will not be stopped. *literally

Here's NASA astrophysics, if I read the president's proposed budget correctly. 🔭

James Tuttle Keane@jtuttlekeane.bsky.social · last yr.

The NASA planetary science fleet chart if the president’s budget is enacted.

*speechless horror* (Guys the NASA Exoplanet Archive is in this box. My job is in this box.)

Just coming down from the adrenaline rush of participating in the public comment period of my town's board meeting.

When schools on semesters are finishing up but you have 4 weeks left in the quarter.

squidward from spongebob squarepants looks out a window

ALT: squidward from spongebob squarepants looks out a window

media.tenor.com

Postdoc job Ad! Want to apply the latest technologies in laser combs and high-speed detector arrays for pushing heterodyne interferometry? Come to Ann Arbor to work with Prof Cundiff and me! Please repost this to help spread the word. Best to apply by Mar 31: apply.interfolio.com/162289

AAS has a helpful page for contacting your congresspeople on the status of astronomy funding in the US: aas.org/advocacy/get...

The 7th annual Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) Exoplanet Summer Program is now accepting applications for our 3-week workshop in late July 2025. We seek to foster collaborations in exoplanet science with this workshop on the UC Santa Cruz campus. Applications are due March 15: owl.ucsc.edu/summer/

Summer 2025

The Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) will soon be accepting applications for the seventh annual Exoplanet Summer Program (ESP), from July 14 – …

owl.ucsc.edu

Very excited to share that I was selected as a Sloan Research Fellow! Really thankful to all my mentors, colleagues, collaborators, and my amazing research group. Wouldn't have been possible with all of them!

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation@sloanfoundation.bsky.social · last yr.

🎉Congrats to the 126 early-career scientists who have been awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship this year! These exceptional scholars are drawn from 51 institutions across the US and Canada, and represent the next generation of groundbreaking researchers. sloan.org/fellowships/...

A cosmic love story? In a new study, CIERA graduate student Fulya Kıroğlu discovers that binary black holes formed in crowded star clusters align their spins - in a seemingly choreographed dance - before merging. Learn more: bit.ly/cieravalentine 📹: Jamie Lombardi / Allegheny College

Our second Picture an Astronomer public lecture -- in person (Chicago) and online Friday! Hear @astrokatie.com talk about the end of the Universe! More information + registration at pictureanastronomer.github.io/lectures/ 🔭🧪👩‍🔬

Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · last yr.

🏙️ Chicago friends! I will be in your city soon, talking about the end of the universe! Come join me and take your mind off your troubles by contemplating ultimate cosmic destruction instead! 🌌💥 astrophysics.uchicago.edu/events/event...

Final week to apply for the Code/Astro workshop! Come learn about open-source software development in Python.

Sarah Blunt, PhD 🇵🇸@blunt-comma-s.bsky.social · 2y ago

Hey bluesky! Do you want to develop your own open-source software in Python? Apply to attend Code/Astro! Website: semaphorep.github.io/codeastro/ Scroll all the way down for the application link. :) Apps are due Feb 1! (1/2)

Our Picture an Astronomer series starts in just over a week! Free to attend (in person in Chicago and online) and an incredible opportunity to engage directly with the scientists behind cutting edge astrophysics research. More info (including registration) at pictureanastronomer.github.io 🔭🧪👩‍🔬

The Roman Coronagraph team is soliciting input on what to do with 2200 hours on the highest contrast coronagraph ever flown! There is no open-time program, so fill out this survey on the technology demonstration and science that you think would be most interesting! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Roman Coronagraph Community Interest Survey

Context: The Coronagraph Instrument onboard the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (scheduled to launch no later than May 2027) will enable an in-space technology demonstration of a high-contrast coron...

docs.google.com

Excited to share our interdisciplinary work on developing new methods to subtract off the glare of the star to reveal fainter exoplanets. We show in simulation that we can build a full optical model of JWST/NIRCam and generate images of the star to subtract off and reveal faint planets (1/3)

Want to learn how to make your astronomy code open source? The Code/Astro workshop is happening this Aug 4-8th at Northwestern! We typically get a strong demand so we ask those interested to fill out an application by Feb 1st. See Sarah's post below for details.

Sarah Blunt, PhD 🇵🇸@blunt-comma-s.bsky.social · 2y ago

Hey bluesky! Do you want to develop your own open-source software in Python? Apply to attend Code/Astro! Website: semaphorep.github.io/codeastro/ Scroll all the way down for the application link. :) Apps are due Feb 1! (1/2)