Prof. Erika Hamden
@erikahamden.bsky.social
Astronomy Professor at University of Arizona. Making UV detectors better, building telescopes. Intense about a lot of things! 2019 @TEDFellow
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
How heavy is a teaspoon of neutron star? 🥄💥🧪
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social explains how this stellar core remnant weighs more than a mountain because it’s packed with neutrons under crushing gravity.
Watch the video here:
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social explains how this stellar core remnant weighs more than a mountain because it’s packed with neutrons under crushing gravity.
Watch the video here:
How Heavy Is a Teaspoon of Neutron Star?
YouTube video by Museum of Science
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:10 PM
How heavy is a teaspoon of neutron star? 🥄💥🧪
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social explains how this stellar core remnant weighs more than a mountain because it’s packed with neutrons under crushing gravity.
Watch the video here:
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social explains how this stellar core remnant weighs more than a mountain because it’s packed with neutrons under crushing gravity.
Watch the video here:
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
i’m excited to announce that i am hiring (again)!
i am looking for a postdoc in computational astrophysics that’s excited about models of stellar transients and multi-messenger astronomy to join my group (star stuff @ steward) at @uarizona.bsky.social!
apply here ✨💥: aas.org/jobregister/...
i am looking for a postdoc in computational astrophysics that’s excited about models of stellar transients and multi-messenger astronomy to join my group (star stuff @ steward) at @uarizona.bsky.social!
apply here ✨💥: aas.org/jobregister/...
Postdoctoral Research Associate I Computational Stellar Astrophysics (Steward Observatory) | American Astronomical Society
The University of Arizona (U of A) Department of Astronomy and Steward Observatory (SO) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate. The successful candidate will work with Professor Ca...
aas.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:25 PM
i’m excited to announce that i am hiring (again)!
i am looking for a postdoc in computational astrophysics that’s excited about models of stellar transients and multi-messenger astronomy to join my group (star stuff @ steward) at @uarizona.bsky.social!
apply here ✨💥: aas.org/jobregister/...
i am looking for a postdoc in computational astrophysics that’s excited about models of stellar transients and multi-messenger astronomy to join my group (star stuff @ steward) at @uarizona.bsky.social!
apply here ✨💥: aas.org/jobregister/...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
This weekend I read that the entire Breaking Bad franchise is estimated to have had $385M in economic impact for the state of NM and this is celebrated by a statue at the ABQ convention center. Meanwhile University of Arizona space science has an economic impact of $560M on our state every year.
November 10, 2025 at 11:45 PM
This weekend I read that the entire Breaking Bad franchise is estimated to have had $385M in economic impact for the state of NM and this is celebrated by a statue at the ABQ convention center. Meanwhile University of Arizona space science has an economic impact of $560M on our state every year.
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Some stars don’t just shine, they steal. 🧛⭐️🧪
@erikahamden.bsky.social dives into how, in close binary star systems, one star nearing the end of its life can expand so much that its outer layers are pulled in by the gravity of its companion.
@erikahamden.bsky.social dives into how, in close binary star systems, one star nearing the end of its life can expand so much that its outer layers are pulled in by the gravity of its companion.
October 30, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Some stars don’t just shine, they steal. 🧛⭐️🧪
@erikahamden.bsky.social dives into how, in close binary star systems, one star nearing the end of its life can expand so much that its outer layers are pulled in by the gravity of its companion.
@erikahamden.bsky.social dives into how, in close binary star systems, one star nearing the end of its life can expand so much that its outer layers are pulled in by the gravity of its companion.
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
You might’ve heard the news: SpaceX just passed 10,000 Starlink satellites launched. And that number is already old news, as there’s now a new Starlink batch launched every other day. Here’s what that looks like in a short animation of Comet A6 Lemmon courtesy of Michael Jaeger:
October 28, 2025 at 5:44 PM
You might’ve heard the news: SpaceX just passed 10,000 Starlink satellites launched. And that number is already old news, as there’s now a new Starlink batch launched every other day. Here’s what that looks like in a short animation of Comet A6 Lemmon courtesy of Michael Jaeger:
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
A part of you has existed since almost the moment of creation. 🌌💥🧪
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down how the hydrogen in your body was formed within the first 20 minutes after the Big Bang.
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down how the hydrogen in your body was formed within the first 20 minutes after the Big Bang.
October 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
A part of you has existed since almost the moment of creation. 🌌💥🧪
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down how the hydrogen in your body was formed within the first 20 minutes after the Big Bang.
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down how the hydrogen in your body was formed within the first 20 minutes after the Big Bang.
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
#NASAWebb provides high-resolution details of Herbig-Haro 49/50—an outflow from a nearby still-forming star and background galaxies. Webb reveals the fuzzy object at the tip of the outflow in the Spitzer image is actually a distant spiral galaxy: https://bit.ly/4mXuQHW 🔭 🧪
September 26, 2025 at 3:01 PM
#NASAWebb provides high-resolution details of Herbig-Haro 49/50—an outflow from a nearby still-forming star and background galaxies. Webb reveals the fuzzy object at the tip of the outflow in the Spitzer image is actually a distant spiral galaxy: https://bit.ly/4mXuQHW 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
How did the Moon form? 🌕💥🧪
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down the giant impact theory, which suggests an object the size of Mars collided with early Earth, liquefying the surface and launching debris that formed ...
Watch the full interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Zl...
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down the giant impact theory, which suggests an object the size of Mars collided with early Earth, liquefying the surface and launching debris that formed ...
Watch the full interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Zl...
How the Moon Formed in a Day
YouTube video by Museum of Science
www.youtube.com
September 12, 2025 at 9:13 PM
How did the Moon form? 🌕💥🧪
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down the giant impact theory, which suggests an object the size of Mars collided with early Earth, liquefying the surface and launching debris that formed ...
Watch the full interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Zl...
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks down the giant impact theory, which suggests an object the size of Mars collided with early Earth, liquefying the surface and launching debris that formed ...
Watch the full interview here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2Zl...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Juno is an AMAZING mission. The camera onboard was never supposed to last this long (the radiation around Big J should've zapped it a while back) but it just keeps on ticking. Killing this mission while it's still working and producing great science is a crime.
NEW: The White House wants to kill off Juno, NASA's mission to uncover Jupiter's secrets. Fortunately, its legacy is clear.
Juno's a scientist, but also an artist: it revealed Jupiter as a living van Gogh painting hanging in the sky.
Me @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
Juno's a scientist, but also an artist: it revealed Jupiter as a living van Gogh painting hanging in the sky.
Me @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...
Say Goodbye to Juno, NASA’s Groundbreaking Mission to Jupiter
The Juno spacecraft has rewritten the story on Jupiter, the solar system’s undisputed heavyweight
www.scientificamerican.com
August 20, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Juno is an AMAZING mission. The camera onboard was never supposed to last this long (the radiation around Big J should've zapped it a while back) but it just keeps on ticking. Killing this mission while it's still working and producing great science is a crime.
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Which would you choose: 5 pounds of diamonds or 5 pounds of gold? 💎🪙
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks it down: Diamonds are made of carbon, one of the most common elements in the universe. Gold is forged in incredibly rare events like neutron star collisions.
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks it down: Diamonds are made of carbon, one of the most common elements in the universe. Gold is forged in incredibly rare events like neutron star collisions.
August 18, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Which would you choose: 5 pounds of diamonds or 5 pounds of gold? 💎🪙
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks it down: Diamonds are made of carbon, one of the most common elements in the universe. Gold is forged in incredibly rare events like neutron star collisions.
Astrophysicist @erikahamden.bsky.social breaks it down: Diamonds are made of carbon, one of the most common elements in the universe. Gold is forged in incredibly rare events like neutron star collisions.
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
My latest paper on interstellar sulfur was highlighted recently in a NASA press release 🥳
science.nasa.gov/centers-and-...
science.nasa.gov/centers-and-...
NASA, JAXA XRISM Satellite X-rays Milky Way’s Sulfur - NASA Science
An international team of scientists have provided an unprecedented tally of elemental sulfur spread between the stars using data from the Japan-led XRISM
science.nasa.gov
August 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
My latest paper on interstellar sulfur was highlighted recently in a NASA press release 🥳
science.nasa.gov/centers-and-...
science.nasa.gov/centers-and-...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Hubble observations of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS show that it looks like a comet. It has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off a solid icy nucleus. The nucleus is roughly no wider than 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers): go.nasa.gov/3UenJhD 🔭 🧪
August 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Hubble observations of interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS show that it looks like a comet. It has a teardrop-shaped cocoon of dust coming off a solid icy nucleus. The nucleus is roughly no wider than 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers): go.nasa.gov/3UenJhD 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Hey, wanna see a weird Mars rock?
Here you go
Here you go
August 6, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Hey, wanna see a weird Mars rock?
Here you go
Here you go
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
A reminder that LPL, along with Steward Observatory, is a host for 51 Peg b Fellowships. Whether it's exoplanet or legacy planetary science you are interested in, be sure to contact me or our faculty!
August 5, 2025 at 3:56 PM
A reminder that LPL, along with Steward Observatory, is a host for 51 Peg b Fellowships. Whether it's exoplanet or legacy planetary science you are interested in, be sure to contact me or our faculty!
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
On Venus, every day is your birthday, thanks to some wild planetary physics. 🪐🎉
As @erikahamden.bsky.social explains, the planet spins backward, and so slowly that one day lasts 243 Earth days. But a year on Venus? Just 225 Earth days. So its year finishes before a single day ends.
🧪
As @erikahamden.bsky.social explains, the planet spins backward, and so slowly that one day lasts 243 Earth days. But a year on Venus? Just 225 Earth days. So its year finishes before a single day ends.
🧪
July 30, 2025 at 1:12 PM
On Venus, every day is your birthday, thanks to some wild planetary physics. 🪐🎉
As @erikahamden.bsky.social explains, the planet spins backward, and so slowly that one day lasts 243 Earth days. But a year on Venus? Just 225 Earth days. So its year finishes before a single day ends.
🧪
As @erikahamden.bsky.social explains, the planet spins backward, and so slowly that one day lasts 243 Earth days. But a year on Venus? Just 225 Earth days. So its year finishes before a single day ends.
🧪
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Okay I finished the @erikahamden.bsky.social book Weird Universe. I’m not sure I understood it all, especially the part about dark energy, but I definitely learned a ton. Get a copy. Read it. And then let’s go outside and stare at the wonder that is our universe.
July 28, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Okay I finished the @erikahamden.bsky.social book Weird Universe. I’m not sure I understood it all, especially the part about dark energy, but I definitely learned a ton. Get a copy. Read it. And then let’s go outside and stare at the wonder that is our universe.
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Congratulations on the book! 🥳 This article was so fun to read. Time to pick up a copy of Weird Universe! And I might have to bring it to the next SPIE conference you attend so that you can sign it, of course! 🪐 -Emily
July 11, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Congratulations on the book! 🥳 This article was so fun to read. Time to pick up a copy of Weird Universe! And I might have to bring it to the next SPIE conference you attend so that you can sign it, of course! 🪐 -Emily
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Chuan Luo, PhD candidate at the University of Arizona, has been awarded the 2025 Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship in Optical Design. 🎊
The $7,500 award honors Kidger’s legacy + supports excellence in lens, illumination, and computational optical design.
spie.org/membership/...
The $7,500 award honors Kidger’s legacy + supports excellence in lens, illumination, and computational optical design.
spie.org/membership/...
July 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Chuan Luo, PhD candidate at the University of Arizona, has been awarded the 2025 Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship in Optical Design. 🎊
The $7,500 award honors Kidger’s legacy + supports excellence in lens, illumination, and computational optical design.
spie.org/membership/...
The $7,500 award honors Kidger’s legacy + supports excellence in lens, illumination, and computational optical design.
spie.org/membership/...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
A recently discovered extraterrestrial "visitor" is hurtling toward the inner solar system at 130,000 miles per hour and has quickly captured the attention of astronomers and space enthusiasts around the world, including here at LPL. news.arizona.edu/news/emissar...
An emissary from interstellar space
Discovered only a week ago, comet 3I/ATLAS is only the third known visitor from outside the solar system. U of A astronomer Carson Fuls explains what makes the comet special – and why we can only gues...
news.arizona.edu
July 10, 2025 at 5:26 PM
A recently discovered extraterrestrial "visitor" is hurtling toward the inner solar system at 130,000 miles per hour and has quickly captured the attention of astronomers and space enthusiasts around the world, including here at LPL. news.arizona.edu/news/emissar...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
What’s really at stake if NASA’s science budget gets slashed and entire science missions are canceled?
We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose.
Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...
We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose.
Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...
Scientists behind threatened NASA missions explain what’s at stake
Here is what they have to say, in their own words.
www.planetary.org
July 8, 2025 at 4:09 PM
What’s really at stake if NASA’s science budget gets slashed and entire science missions are canceled?
We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose.
Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...
We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose.
Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
LPL’s Dani DellaGiustina explains the impact of the proposed APEX cancellation.
What’s really at stake if NASA’s science budget gets slashed and entire science missions are canceled?
We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose.
Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...
We asked the scientists leading those missions, and their stories reveal what we all stand to lose.
Here’s what they told us: www.planetary.org/articles/sci...
Scientists behind threatened NASA missions explain what’s at stake
Here is what they have to say, in their own words.
www.planetary.org
July 8, 2025 at 5:17 PM
LPL’s Dani DellaGiustina explains the impact of the proposed APEX cancellation.
A lovely article about "Weird Universe" on Tucson Daily Star!! tucson.com/news/local/e...
'Weird Universe' awaits for fans of internet-famous U of A astrophysicist
University of Arizona astrophysicist Erika Hamden takes readers on a romp through a "Weird Universe" in her debut popular science book.
tucson.com
July 6, 2025 at 2:15 AM
A lovely article about "Weird Universe" on Tucson Daily Star!! tucson.com/news/local/e...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
@spacelawshitpost.me taught me the basics of space law on the latest Pale Blue Pod! Listen to find out if a billionaire could buy the moon 🌙
art19.com/shows/pale-b...
art19.com/shows/pale-b...
Space Law with AJ Link
Moiya asks AJ to explain how law works in space. Like, who owns it? Who can send things there? Can you get away with draining your wife's bank account if you're above the atmosphere? Listen here for h...
art19.com
July 3, 2025 at 7:11 PM
@spacelawshitpost.me taught me the basics of space law on the latest Pale Blue Pod! Listen to find out if a billionaire could buy the moon 🌙
art19.com/shows/pale-b...
art19.com/shows/pale-b...
Reposted by Prof. Erika Hamden
Please join us in congratulating Samuel Myers, who today successfully defended his Ph.D. Dissertation, Understanding the Limits of Simple Thermal Models for Characterizing Near-Earth Asteroids.
Congratulations, Sam!
📸: Sam is pictured with his Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Ellen Howell
Congratulations, Sam!
📸: Sam is pictured with his Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Ellen Howell
June 26, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Please join us in congratulating Samuel Myers, who today successfully defended his Ph.D. Dissertation, Understanding the Limits of Simple Thermal Models for Characterizing Near-Earth Asteroids.
Congratulations, Sam!
📸: Sam is pictured with his Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Ellen Howell
Congratulations, Sam!
📸: Sam is pictured with his Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Ellen Howell
I got to appear on the fabulous "Talk Nerdy" with Cara Santa Maria, talking about space and my new book, "Weird Universe"!- listen for a fun and wide ranging discussion! www.carasantamaria.com/podcast/erik...
Weird Universe w/ Erika Hamden
In this episode of Talk Nerdy, Cara is joined by astrophysicist, University of Arizona Associate Professor, and Director of the Arizona Space Institute, Erika Hamden. We discuss her new book, “Weird U...
www.carasantamaria.com
June 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
I got to appear on the fabulous "Talk Nerdy" with Cara Santa Maria, talking about space and my new book, "Weird Universe"!- listen for a fun and wide ranging discussion! www.carasantamaria.com/podcast/erik...