Hannah Wakeford
@stellarplanet.bsky.social
Exoplanet scientist. Science communicator. Author. Podcaster. Miniature painter. Wife. Cat mum.
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
Given news of recent days and the way the entire landscape of broadcasting and production is going in the UK right now, we are even more excited to tell about what we've been up to. All will be revealed Dec 18 one night one of Nine Lessons. cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons
November 11, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Given news of recent days and the way the entire landscape of broadcasting and production is going in the UK right now, we are even more excited to tell about what we've been up to. All will be revealed Dec 18 one night one of Nine Lessons. cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons
Got my foundation tutorial group this morning (we’re onto Mechanic and angular momentum) then down to the coach station to head to T4 for a flight to Abu Dhabi to give a talk @nyuad-oaa.bsky.social and chat about #exoplanet science for a few days!
Exhausted thinking about it but excited as well 😎🤓
Exhausted thinking about it but excited as well 😎🤓
November 11, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Got my foundation tutorial group this morning (we’re onto Mechanic and angular momentum) then down to the coach station to head to T4 for a flight to Abu Dhabi to give a talk @nyuad-oaa.bsky.social and chat about #exoplanet science for a few days!
Exhausted thinking about it but excited as well 😎🤓
Exhausted thinking about it but excited as well 😎🤓
What the US government is doing to Goddard Space Flight Center is devastating. GSFC is the largest science center at NASAs disposal. It is home of Hubble operations, I was lucky enough to see JWST, Osiris-Rex &Roman built there. This destruction will gut US &global space science for decades to come
Goddard spacecraft engineer: "I think it just kind of speaks to the atmosphere of the agency and the nation, where people are like, 'Well, laws don't matter for the people at the top anymore.'"
NASA is sinking its flagship science center during the government shutdown — and may be breaking the law in the process, critics say
"There is just a general acknowledgement that a lot of what is happening is illegal…"
www.space.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:16 PM
What the US government is doing to Goddard Space Flight Center is devastating. GSFC is the largest science center at NASAs disposal. It is home of Hubble operations, I was lucky enough to see JWST, Osiris-Rex &Roman built there. This destruction will gut US &global space science for decades to come
Very sad that I will not be able to perform for nine lessons this year in Cardiff. @cosmicshambles.com do this for the love of sharing science, art, & stories & make no money personally. If you like things like that buy tickets to support local events and help maintain the joy of spreading stories.
Sad to say - we have had to cancel 9 Lessons in Cardiff - Cardiff just wasn’t very interested and we still had very low sales at the beginning of the week - we never make money on the shows , but we can’t afford to lose £1000s - sorry to those of you who were looking forward to it
We always try to get Nine Lessons shows beyond London - it is never profitable but we hope it makes it accessible for others - This year is CARDIFF - but no one seems to want to come - so we will pull it next week if we see that it is going to lose us too much money
www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
November 6, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Very sad that I will not be able to perform for nine lessons this year in Cardiff. @cosmicshambles.com do this for the love of sharing science, art, & stories & make no money personally. If you like things like that buy tickets to support local events and help maintain the joy of spreading stories.
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
On a bus back to Oxford after a great time talking at Wantage Literary Festival. Anyone want to #askanastronomer anything? 🔭
November 1, 2025 at 7:38 PM
On a bus back to Oxford after a great time talking at Wantage Literary Festival. Anyone want to #askanastronomer anything? 🔭
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
Are you a grad student interested in writing for Astrobites, or do you know one? We're recruiting! Apply by November 26 :)
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
Apply to Write for Astrobites 2025!
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th.
astrobites.org
October 31, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Are you a grad student interested in writing for Astrobites, or do you know one? We're recruiting! Apply by November 26 :)
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
Super excited to be joining the @cosmicshambles.com crew again for their Nine Lessons show. This year, by popular demand, in Cardiff!
Get your tickets now 🎫 for December 9th
www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
Get your tickets now 🎫 for December 9th
www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
October 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Super excited to be joining the @cosmicshambles.com crew again for their Nine Lessons show. This year, by popular demand, in Cardiff!
Get your tickets now 🎫 for December 9th
www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
Get your tickets now 🎫 for December 9th
www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
People have asked us for ages to bring Nine Lessons to Cardiff so we're slated to be there on Dec 9th this year! That is, if all of you who begged us to bring the show there buy tickets coz it's not looking great right now... @robinince.bsky.social @garwboy.bsky.social www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People - The Glee Club
The iconic Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People season extravaganza is headed to Cardiff for the first time
www.glee.co.uk
October 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
People have asked us for ages to bring Nine Lessons to Cardiff so we're slated to be there on Dec 9th this year! That is, if all of you who begged us to bring the show there buy tickets coz it's not looking great right now... @robinince.bsky.social @garwboy.bsky.social www.glee.co.uk/performer/ni...
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
For #JWST Cycle 5, proposals should be submitted even if observations appear non-schedulable in APT due to guide star availability in bright crowded fields. Get the details: ow.ly/qlTG50X8LK8
October 8, 2025 at 8:24 PM
For #JWST Cycle 5, proposals should be submitted even if observations appear non-schedulable in APT due to guide star availability in bright crowded fields. Get the details: ow.ly/qlTG50X8LK8
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
London! Next Friday! The Universe WILL end in the company of @astrokatie.com, Steve Pretty, many musicians and myself. Do please come join us wegottickets.com/event/676292
The End of the Universe
After a magnificent* 13.8 billion years** astronomer Chris Lintott (Sky at Night) and Steve Pretty (Hackney Colliery Band) lead a funeral and wake for the universe, as it sadly heads into heat death.
...
wegottickets.com
October 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
London! Next Friday! The Universe WILL end in the company of @astrokatie.com, Steve Pretty, many musicians and myself. Do please come join us wegottickets.com/event/676292
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
October 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
As a theoretical cosmologist, I'm frequently asked "what is the benefit of the work you're doing for people's lives?" Nothing I work on makes money or cures disease.
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
There are a few different answers one can give, at various levels of "convincing" / "actually relevant to why the work is done."
1/🧵
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
Thirty years ago Monday, astronomers announced the first planet around a Sunlike star. Since then they have cataloged more than 6,000 alien worlds.
I asked a bunch of astronomers what their favorite exoplanet is, and wrote about it for @nature.com. What's yours?
🧪 #astronomy
I asked a bunch of astronomers what their favorite exoplanet is, and wrote about it for @nature.com. What's yours?
🧪 #astronomy
These alien planets are astronomers’ favourites: here’s why
Space scientists look back on 30 years of exoplanet discoveries — from rows of massive ‘super-Earths‘ to worlds with perfectly synchronized orbits.
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Thirty years ago Monday, astronomers announced the first planet around a Sunlike star. Since then they have cataloged more than 6,000 alien worlds.
I asked a bunch of astronomers what their favorite exoplanet is, and wrote about it for @nature.com. What's yours?
🧪 #astronomy
I asked a bunch of astronomers what their favorite exoplanet is, and wrote about it for @nature.com. What's yours?
🧪 #astronomy
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
UT Austin Astro is hiring! It's an open call, but definitely interested in getting another exoplanet person! Feel free to reach out with any questions about the department or living in Austin! aas.org/jobregister/...
Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Position in Astronomy | American Astronomical Society
The Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the Assistant Professor level to begin in August 2026. We welcome applicati...
aas.org
October 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
UT Austin Astro is hiring! It's an open call, but definitely interested in getting another exoplanet person! Feel free to reach out with any questions about the department or living in Austin! aas.org/jobregister/...
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
Today feels like a good time to announce ten new special guests for this year's Nine Lessons shows including @particleclara.bsky.social, @mariaviolaris.bsky.social, @mrsamsee.bsky.social, @stellarplanet.bsky.social, @akshatrathi.bsky.social, John Hegly and more! Tix cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons
September 29, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Today feels like a good time to announce ten new special guests for this year's Nine Lessons shows including @particleclara.bsky.social, @mariaviolaris.bsky.social, @mrsamsee.bsky.social, @stellarplanet.bsky.social, @akshatrathi.bsky.social, John Hegly and more! Tix cosmicshambles.com/ninelessons
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
This year we've been really swinging for the fences.
Our latest video is our biggest one yet, nearly an hour long and involving half a dozen experts.
Asking "Should lying about climate change be illegal?" and, if so, how do we make it so?
youtu.be/FKtCuwfUCJg
Our latest video is our biggest one yet, nearly an hour long and involving half a dozen experts.
Asking "Should lying about climate change be illegal?" and, if so, how do we make it so?
youtu.be/FKtCuwfUCJg
Should lying about climate change be illegal?
YouTube video by Simon Clark
youtu.be
September 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
This year we've been really swinging for the fences.
Our latest video is our biggest one yet, nearly an hour long and involving half a dozen experts.
Asking "Should lying about climate change be illegal?" and, if so, how do we make it so?
youtu.be/FKtCuwfUCJg
Our latest video is our biggest one yet, nearly an hour long and involving half a dozen experts.
Asking "Should lying about climate change be illegal?" and, if so, how do we make it so?
youtu.be/FKtCuwfUCJg
A proud part of the ~12% even though schools not that long ago tried to force it out of me. Data always requires careful and measured interpretation.
I think about this plot all the time, and especially with respect to things like autism. If you’d lived in 1940 and had access to this data, would it feel like an “epidemic” of left-handedness?
September 25, 2025 at 1:41 PM
A proud part of the ~12% even though schools not that long ago tried to force it out of me. Data always requires careful and measured interpretation.
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
Did you miss last week's Deep Space Dialogues with STScI's Nestor Espinoza, as he chatted about atmospheres of distant exoplanets? Watch it now and learn about how #NASAWebb is dramatically changing our understanding of planetary systems in the cosmos. 🔭 🧪
Alien Skies: Exploring Distant Exoplanet Atmospheres with Webb
YouTube video by Space Telescope Science Institute
www.youtube.com
September 22, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Did you miss last week's Deep Space Dialogues with STScI's Nestor Espinoza, as he chatted about atmospheres of distant exoplanets? Watch it now and learn about how #NASAWebb is dramatically changing our understanding of planetary systems in the cosmos. 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
I'm looking for a part-time research assistant to help research and fact-check long form YouTube videos, with an emphasis on climate misinformation campaigns.
If you or someone you know would be a good fit, please check out this form! Applications close on 26/9.
forms.gle/mpyzcdjwv63C...
If you or someone you know would be a good fit, please check out this form! Applications close on 26/9.
forms.gle/mpyzcdjwv63C...
forms.gle
September 16, 2025 at 2:48 PM
I'm looking for a part-time research assistant to help research and fact-check long form YouTube videos, with an emphasis on climate misinformation campaigns.
If you or someone you know would be a good fit, please check out this form! Applications close on 26/9.
forms.gle/mpyzcdjwv63C...
If you or someone you know would be a good fit, please check out this form! Applications close on 26/9.
forms.gle/mpyzcdjwv63C...
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
✨✨✨Another Virga advert✨✨✨
Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.
Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).
arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.
Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).
arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Fractal Aggregate Aerosols in the Virga Cloud Code I: Model Description and Application to a Benchmark Cloudy Exoplanet
We introduce new functionality to treat fractal aggregate aerosol particles within the Virga cloud modeling framework. Previously, the open source cloud modeling code Virga (Batalha et al. 2025), the ...
arxiv.org
September 9, 2025 at 11:27 AM
✨✨✨Another Virga advert✨✨✨
Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.
Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).
arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.
Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).
arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
Happy Publication Day to The Whispers of Rock! A journey that started with the Nan Shepherd Prize to this epic work that reframes our relationship with rock.
Link to buy: anjanakhatwa.com/writing
#rockwhisperer #WhispersOfRock #naturwriting
Link to buy: anjanakhatwa.com/writing
#rockwhisperer #WhispersOfRock #naturwriting
September 4, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Happy Publication Day to The Whispers of Rock! A journey that started with the Nan Shepherd Prize to this epic work that reframes our relationship with rock.
Link to buy: anjanakhatwa.com/writing
#rockwhisperer #WhispersOfRock #naturwriting
Link to buy: anjanakhatwa.com/writing
#rockwhisperer #WhispersOfRock #naturwriting
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
There's a decent chance of seeing the aurora tonight - it may be visible as far south as the Midlands (perhaps even further south) 🌃
September 1, 2025 at 5:00 PM
There's a decent chance of seeing the aurora tonight - it may be visible as far south as the Midlands (perhaps even further south) 🌃
A beautiful depiction of planet formation
August 26, 2025 at 5:42 PM
A beautiful depiction of planet formation
It has been ten years since my PhD now officially marked with a new passport 🛂 taking it for a test drive to the US of A. See you in a week.
August 16, 2025 at 6:59 AM
It has been ten years since my PhD now officially marked with a new passport 🛂 taking it for a test drive to the US of A. See you in a week.
Reposted by Hannah Wakeford
I'm very excited to be able to share Yayaati Chachan's Hubble/WFC3 transit spectrum of ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-20b.
Using *all* of WFC3's grisms, we get a 0.2-1.7 micron spectrum showing absorption by metals at in the UV and only weak absorption by water in the IR. 🔭🪐
Using *all* of WFC3's grisms, we get a 0.2-1.7 micron spectrum showing absorption by metals at in the UV and only weak absorption by water in the IR. 🔭🪐
August 15, 2025 at 1:24 PM
I'm very excited to be able to share Yayaati Chachan's Hubble/WFC3 transit spectrum of ultra-hot Jupiter KELT-20b.
Using *all* of WFC3's grisms, we get a 0.2-1.7 micron spectrum showing absorption by metals at in the UV and only weak absorption by water in the IR. 🔭🪐
Using *all* of WFC3's grisms, we get a 0.2-1.7 micron spectrum showing absorption by metals at in the UV and only weak absorption by water in the IR. 🔭🪐