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nixonmatthew.bsky.social
Matt Nixon
@nixonmatthew.bsky.social
120 followers 95 following 29 posts
51 Pegasi b Fellow at Arizona State University and jazz enthusiast
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nixonmatthew.bsky.social
It was a pleasure advising Bodie for this project, now published in ApJ Letters! Thanks to @seseasu.bsky.social and ASU news for writing about it: news.asu.edu/20251105-sci...
New study revises our picture of the most common types of planets in the galaxy | ASU News
Thanks to better telescopes, like the James Webb Space Telescope, we now know our solar system isn’t unique — there are millions of other planets in our galaxy.But we’re still teasing out clues about ...
news.asu.edu
November 6, 2025 at 12:03 AM
nixonmatthew.bsky.social
Thanks to Ben Cassese and @aasnova.org for this lovely summary of our paper!
November 5, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Matt Nixon
aot-valleyofthesun.bsky.social
AoT Valley of the Sun is back for the next event in our monthly series! This October, we’re thrilled to hear from ASU Professor Jim Bell and PhD student Hailey Nelson about an ASU-led mission to the asteroid Psyche. (1/2)
October 3, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Matt Nixon
astropeter.bsky.social
I'm hiring an intern for a 6-month research position related to the NASA Pandora SmallSat Mission, project and start date flexible. Must be a current astro PhD student :) www.llnl.gov/join-our-tea...
Pandora Research Graduate Intern
<p><strong>Join us and make YOUR mark on the World!</strong></p><p>Are you interested in joining some of the brightest talent in the world to strengthen the United States’ security? Come join Lawrence...
www.llnl.gov
October 2, 2025 at 11:40 PM
nixonmatthew.bsky.social
September 30, 2025 at 8:06 PM
nixonmatthew.bsky.social
I had a wonderful time speaking with @startswithabang.bsky.social and @luiswel.bsky.social about biosignatures, exciting sub-Neptune science, and why we should care about studying exoplanets!

Check out our podcast episode here:
startswithabang.bsky.social Ethan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · Aug 9
Starts With A Bang podcast #120 – Exoplanet biosignatures

Remember exoplanet K2-18b?

Dr. Luis Welbanks and Dr. Matt Nixon did, and have a lot to say about what a positive detection of an inhabited world beyond Earth will actually look like.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#space #astrobiology #astro
Starts With A Bang podcast #120 - Exoplanet biosignatures
In the search for life in the Universe, the ultimate goal is to find an inhabited planet beyond Earth. How will we know when we've made it?
bigthink.com
August 13, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Reposted by Matt Nixon
vrubinobs.bsky.social
Introducing...your sneak peek at the cosmos captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory!

Can you guess these regions of sky?

This is just a small peek...join us at 11am US EDT for your full First Look at how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos! 🔭🧪

#RubinFirstLook
ls.st/rubin-first-look-livestream
A sprawling, textured field of galaxies scattered across the deep black of space. It is filled with the delicate smudges and glowing cores of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. The image focuses on a collection of interacting galaxies connected by delicate streams of stars. At top center lies a large elliptical galaxy that is dense and smooth, like a polished stone glowing with golden light. Like delicate spider silk or stretched taffy, these stellar bridges link the large elliptical to the few larger galaxies beneath, evidence of past collisions. All throughout the image, thousands of galaxies gather in clusters or are spread throughout, like glittering gems strewn on a table. Some are sharp-edged and spiral, like coiled ribbons; others round and diffuse, like polished pebbles. Still others are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. The background is peppered with pinpoint stars in reds, yellows, and blues, crisp against the velvet black. A cosmic tapestry of glowing tan and pink gas clouds with dark dust lanes. In the upper right, the Trifid Nebula resembles a small flower in space. Its soft, pinkish gas petals are surrounded by blue gas, and streaked with dark, finger-like veins of dust that divide it into three parts. It radiates a gentle, misty glow, diffuse and soft like the warmth of breath on a cold hand. To the lower left, the much larger Lagoon Nebula stretches wide like a churning sea of magenta gas, with bright blue, knotted clumps sprinkled throughout where new stars are born. Both nebulae are embedded in a soft tan backdrop of gas that is brighter on the left than on the right, etched with dark tendrils of dust and sprinkled with the pinpricks of millions of stars. A sprawling, textured field of galaxies scattered across the deep black of space. It is filled with the delicate smudges and glowing cores of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. To the lower left is a region filled with the hundreds of golden glittering gems of a distant galaxy cluster. In the foreground, below and right of center, two blue spiral galaxies look like eyes beneath the entangled mass of a triple galaxy merger in the upper right. A few bright blue points of foreground stars pierce the glittering tapestry. All throughout the image, thousands of galaxies gather in clusters or are spread throughout, like glittering gems strewn on a table. Some are sharp-edged and spiral, like coiled ribbons; others round and diffuse, like polished pebbles. Still others are just smudges of various colors against the black of space. The background is peppered with pinpoint stars in reds, yellows, and blues, crisp against the velvet black.
June 23, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Matt Nixon
luiswel.bsky.social
Good to see Pica-Ciamarra, Madhu+ engage with our work and correct claims from last month. Following our recommendation to expand the model space, they now find: ‘No molecule reaches 2σ significance when allowing for an offset…’ 𝐍𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥! Sec. 4.4 arxiv.org/abs/2505.10539 🔭 #exoplanets
A Systematic Search for Trace Molecules in Exoplanet K2-18 b
The first transmission spectrum of the habitable-zone sub-Neptune K2-18 b with JWST has opened a new avenue for atmospheric characterisation of temperate low-mass exoplanets. The observations led to i...
arxiv.org
May 16, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Reposted by Matt Nixon
timlichtenberg.bsky.social
Within the context of the interdisciplinary PRELIFE consortium me and Wim van Westrenen are advertising a joint PhD position on the surface water levels and atmospheric composition of the earliest Earth: www.formingworlds.space/phdposition2.... Deadline: 10th June. Please share! 🌋🌏🧬
Image credit: Mark Garlick
May 14, 2025 at 3:51 PM
nixonmatthew.bsky.social
A real pleasure to chat about our latest work and all things exoplanet atmospheres!
eventhorizonshow.bsky.social Event Horizon with John Michael Godier @eventhorizonshow.bsky.social · May 1
In today’s video, @luiswel.bsky.social and @nixonmatthew.bsky.social give an update on exoplanet K2-18b. Their new paper, "The Challenges of Detecting Gases in Exoplanet Atmospheres", addresses issues in accurately identifying atmospheric components in exoplanets using the JWST.
youtu.be/PvH-GU2FkEw
How Do We Know What We’re Seeing on K2-18b? | Dr. Luis Welbanks and Dr. Matt Nixon
YouTube video by Event Horizon
youtu.be
May 2, 2025 at 1:31 AM
nixonmatthew.bsky.social
Just shared a new paper on the arXiv, led my @luiswel.bsky.social and me, on the challenges associated with detecting gases in exoplanet atmospheres. As the field pushes towards new and exciting opportunities, we thought it was time to talk about what it really means to “detect” something!
May 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
nixonmatthew.bsky.social
So excited to hang out in the desert and do cool science with @luiswel.bsky.social and @sagnickastro.bsky.social!
luiswel.bsky.social Luis Welbanks @luiswel.bsky.social · Mar 28
Thrilled to welcome Matt Nixon and @sagnickastro.bsky.social to ASU!

A core part of the 51 Peg Fellowship is community—and I’m excited to build one alongside them. We’re ready to push boundaries, think creatively, and make the most of this moment. 🪐🚀

🔗 bit.ly/41WLH48
Matt Nixon and Sagnick Mukherjee, incoming 51 Pegasi b Fellows at ASU, standing side by side and smiling in front of a bright yellow background. Text reads: ‘Welcome to the team Matt & Sagnick. See you this Fall at ASU.
March 28, 2025 at 3:46 AM