Marcus Lower
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astromelow.bsky.social
Marcus Lower
@astromelow.bsky.social
720 followers 63 following 120 posts
Astrophysicist | ARC DECRA Fellow at Swinburne | Timing pulsars & magnetars | Coffee enthusiast

Website: https://mlower.github.io
Posts Replies Media Videos
astromelow.bsky.social
What babysitting a telescope the size of Australia looks like #RadioAstronomy
Image of a computer screen filled with windows that show various telescope diagnostics and pictures of where they are pointed.
August 31, 2025 at 9:10 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Apparently it’s #NeutronStarWeek, i.e the things I study for my day (and sometimes night) job!

More accurately I look at pulsars, which are neutron stars that are doing interesting things. Like emitting beams of radio waves from above their magnetic poles.

#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
August 19, 2025 at 12:28 PM
astromelow.bsky.social
New repeating FRB found by ASKAP and confirmed with MeerKAT!
#RadioAstronomy #Astronomy

www.astronomerstelegram.org?read=17257
ATel #17257: ASKAP discovery of a high rotation measure repeating Fast Radio Burst source with |RM| > 7000 rad m^-2
ATel On
www.astronomerstelegram.org
July 1, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
ligo.org
Why are there two LIGO observatories?

LIGO has two detectors ~3000 km apart for three main reasons:
🎧 Noise discrimination
⏰ Signal timing
🗺️ Source localization

Find out more www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligo-de...

Graphic by Mayara Pacheco 🔭🧪
An infographic titled "Why are there two LIGO observatories?" features a map of the United States showing two LIGO locations separated by 3000 km. Three key reasons are illustrated on the right: Noise Discrimination: Each detector is sensitive to local ground vibrations. If both were close together, they’d pick up the same environmental noise, making it difficult to distinguish true gravitational waves. By comparing data from distant locations, LIGO can filter out local noise and isolate real gravitational wave signals. Signal Timing: Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, so any signal detected at both sites with a time difference of over 10 milliseconds can be ruled out as a real wave. This time-based filtering helps validate detections. Source Localization: With two detectors, LIGO can begin to narrow down the area in the sky where a wave originated. Adding more detectors (like Virgo in Italy) greatly improves localization. This was crucial during the 2017 detection of a neutron star collision, where combined data allowed astronomers to quickly identify the galaxy that emitted both gravitational and electromagnetic signals, leading to the most observed astronomical event in history.
June 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
taramurphy.bsky.social
Incredible showing from Australians past, present and future, at #SKAO2025 in Görlitz.

All very excited about getting the first data from the SKAO telescopes!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

#RadioAstronomy
Picture of a large group of Australian radio astronomers on the stage at the SKAO 2025 meeting.
June 20, 2025 at 9:14 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
One of the more interesting conference venues!
#SKAO2025 #RadioAstronomy
June 16, 2025 at 7:31 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Been a good couple of days in Germany so far
June 15, 2025 at 3:36 PM
astromelow.bsky.social
Sneak preview of what I’ll be talking about at the upcoming SKA Science Meeting in sunny Görlitz next week!!
#RadioAstronomy #DoublePulsarIsTheBestPulsar
Title slide for a presentation. Background shows two pulsars surrounded by donut-shaped magnetic fields with beams of light emanating from above their magnetic poles. A distorted grid with ripples radiating away from the pulsars is shown behind them. Title text says “Shining a light through a neutron star magnetosphere”.
June 12, 2025 at 12:53 PM
astromelow.bsky.social
Coffee days ☕️
A plain croissant sitting on a white ceramic plate, next to a cup of filter coffee A cup of filter coffee with a card explaining the kind of beans used to make it. Card says “Uganda Wine Process — Single origin, Ethiopia / Anaerobic natural guji, uraga, oromia — Winey, berry candied fruits, chocolate
May 24, 2025 at 3:31 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Not-so fun fact: we looked *really* hard for pulses from the alleged pulsar in the Snake, and didn’t find any…

BUT we did find a millisecond pulsar embedded in different filament right next door! ☄️🔭

iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
Image showing a brightly glowing filament of radio light. Next to it is a much fainter structure with a bright point of radio light embedded in it, labelled “PSR J1744-2946”.
May 17, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
astronerdika.bsky.social
So I know folks have heard the news about an exoplanet that might be “teeming with life”? 🌱

I created a series of infographics that aims to cover the key points of the research findings + some of the area where scientists are sceptical! 🧐

Meet K2-18b! 👋

#astronomy #exoplanet #scicomm
Infographic about the exoplanet K2-18b and its discovery with Kepler
April 23, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
aunz.theconversation.com
For the first time, astronomers have measured the plasma layers of a shock wave surrounding a pulsar.
Twinkling star reveals the shocking secrets of turbulent plasma in our cosmic neighbourhood
theconversation.com
April 21, 2025 at 9:59 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Go work at the most beautiful telescope in the world!

I’d seriously consider applying myself if I hadn’t just started a fellowship…
markcheung.bsky.social Mark Cheung @markcheung.bsky.social · Apr 17
#Radioastronomy #job alert. We’re looking to hire a Lead Scientist for Parkes Observatory. Murriyang, our 64m radio telescope, aka The Dish is currently getting an exciting upgrade with commissioning of the CryoPAF instrument. Check out this job at CSIRO: jobs.csiro.au/job/Parkes%2...
April 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Question to any stellar spectroscopy people on here: when you report that a star is of a particular spectral class based on a template bank, what did you actually do to figure that out??

Is it all just vibes and eyeballing things? Or is there a standard tool that nobody references? 🔭☄️
April 11, 2025 at 9:59 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Turns out the radio emission and spin-down rates of pulsars aren’t anywhere near as stable as we like to think! And it could even explain the “weirdness” seen in the apparent gravitational-wave background signal!!

Results from the Parkes Young Pulsar Timing programme: doi.org/10.1093/mnra...

🔭🧪☄️
Two panel plot. Upper diagram shows a squiggly line, representing how fast a pulsar is spinning down over time. Lower diagram shows changes in the observed radio emission as different colours. Plot of pulsar spin period and spin-down rate. The black dots represent the pulsars that were looked at in this study. Many squiggly black lines, representing the variable spin-down rates of many pulsars Plot of many points, demonstrating the correlation between pulsar spin-down rates, and how variable their spin-down is over time. Different coloured points come from different studies, with the dark blue of this study dominating the diagram. A pink trace and shaded region represents a power-law fit to the data
April 9, 2025 at 12:07 PM
astromelow.bsky.social
Serious question: why would an ECR apply for a two-year “embedded fellowship” over longer (3-4 year) programs elsewhere? Especially when a good chunk of that second year will be spent hunting for the next job opportunity?
arc-tracker.bsky.social ARC Tracker @arc-tracker.bsky.social · Mar 16
Here’s a report by John Ross in @timeshighered.bsky.social on ARC Board’s proposal to change grant schemes ▶️

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/arc-gra...
[Free login required]

Both @scienceau.bsky.social's & I am worried about opportunities & unintended consequences for early-career researchers👇
Excerpt from the article. Black text on white background with a few links in blue text. Excerpt as follows: “Under the ARC board’s proposals, most stand-alone fellowships would be replaced by “embedded fellowships” funded through other grant schemes and capped at two years. “Traditional four-year fellowships concentrate a significant amount of funds on a small number of individual researchers,” a discussion paper explains. Observers fear this could inadvertently deny many ECRs a toehold in academia because current fellowship schemes such as the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (Decra) and the mid-career Future Fellowships are available to researchers without positions at universities. This could change under the proposals. The discussion paper implies that recipients of embedded fellowships must already be in “the university workforce” – suggesting that ECRs must obtain employment in the sector before gaining eligibility for ARC grants. That is an “unrealistic” expectation, according to Sharath Sriram, president of Science and Technology Australia. “The assumption is all those who apply are already…in academic roles. That might have been true in the 1990s. It’s not the case anymore. “There’s no stability of employment for people until they are six, seven years out of their PhDs. Universities often use success in grants and fellowships to determine who to employ.” A researcher who monitors grant schemes, using the social media handle “ARC Tracker”, was unconvinced that the proposals would improve opportunities for ECRs. They said changes to fellowship schemes needed to avoid closing “pathways” for young researchers and leaving them “overshadowed by the established group leaders”. ARC Board chair Peter Shergold acknowledged the fellowship changes as one of the “stings in the tail” of his proposals, but said a primary goal of his reforms was “contributing to the development of the next generation of researchers”.
March 17, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
ozgrav.bsky.social
Join us as we celebrate Professor Matthew Bailes, recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science - The Role of Serendipity in Scientific Discovery!
Date: 3rd April | Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
Venue: AMDC301, Swinburne University
Register Now: www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-role-o...
The Role of Serendipity in Scientific Discovery
Join us for an engaging public lecture as we celebrate Professor Matthew Bailes, recipient of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science!
www.eventbrite.com.au
March 4, 2025 at 3:42 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
markcheung.bsky.social
We are looking for an Observatory Manager to lead the team at Parkes Observatory. Yes, come work at Murriyang, otherwise known as The Dish. #radioastronomy

jobs.csiro.au/job/Parkes%2...
Observatory Manager - Parkes Observatory
Observatory Manager - Parkes Observatory
jobs.csiro.au
February 22, 2025 at 2:35 PM
astromelow.bsky.social
And the pulsar astronomer becomes a radio-imaging astronomer!

First time running my own observation with ATCA and making an image from the data 😄

Can you spot the pulsar?

#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy
Photograph of a computer screen with many windows open, some of which show colourful squiggly lines indicating how well a radio telescope is performing. Colourful radio image containing an extended fuzzy blob near the bottom and a faint point near the upper-middle.
February 6, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
ozgrav.bsky.social
🌌 Ever wondered how tiny particles like neutrinos & neutron stars shape the universe? Join us on 21 Feb at 5:30 pm for Tiny yet impactful clues to unlocking cosmic mysteries with PhD students Pratyasha & Nimas. Free event! www.eventbrite.com.au/e/tiny-yet-i...
🔭 #SpaceScience #OzGrav
Tiny Yet Impactful Clues to Unlocking Cosmic Mysteries
Have you ever imagined that something tiny in the universe could significantly impact its evolution and reveal hidden cosmic phenomena?
www.eventbrite.com.au
January 29, 2025 at 1:09 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Comet C/2024 G3 ATLAS as seen on Jan 18 from Bacchus Marsh, Australia! Could easily be seen unaided as a point of light at the head of a pencil-like tail.

☄️🔭
Portrait photo of a comet setting near the dusky orange horizon, over a wind farm Wide-angle photo of a comet setting near the dusky orange horizon, over a wind farm. The lights of cars and houses can be seen in the foreground Zoomed in landscape photo of a comet setting near the dusky orange horizon, over a wind farm Gre scale image of a comet setting over a wind farm. The tail of the comet is quite long
January 19, 2025 at 3:36 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Very successful comet hunt this evening. C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is EASILY visible to the naked eye about 50 mins after sunset!!

Photos to come soon 🔭
January 18, 2025 at 11:36 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
Having been immersed in radio astronomy for so long, I’ve forgotten many of the limitations of optical telescopes.

“What do you mean you can’t observe this source in September? Oh right, the Sun…”

“What’s wrong with pointing the telescope this close to the horizon? Oh right, the atmosphere…”
January 15, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Reposted by Marcus Lower
cometguy.bsky.social
Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) still very obvious in binoculars at mag 1.5. This mornings view Jan 6 18:10 UT with a 318mm f5.8 lens and Olympus em1.2.
January 7, 2025 at 4:42 AM
astromelow.bsky.social
I am looking to hire a PhD student at Swinburne University to study the links between pulsars, magnetars and fast radio bursts!

If you or anyone you know may be interested, then please feel free to reach out to me via email.

#Astronomy #RadioAstronomy

astronomy.swin.edu.au/study/phdpro...
Artists impression of a magnetar: a compact spherical star surrounded by twisted magnetic field lines and glowing plasma.
January 7, 2025 at 6:05 AM