zoe hackshaw
@theastrozo.bsky.social
space cowgirl (UTAustin Astronomy grad student) & investigator of Galactic origins🔎💫🔭🧘♀️🤠🪩 UF alum🫶🏼 zoehackshaw.github.io
Pinned
zoe hackshaw
@theastrozo.bsky.social
· Feb 5
Have you ever wondered what it looks like when an astronomer starts up a 2.7m telescope for the night? Wonder no more 🔭
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
November 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
It's Friday, and apparently bluesky is ready for this fun revelation:
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Dinosaurs lived on the other side the Galaxy.
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
a NEW PAPER led the incomparable Dr. Elizabeth Iles (accepted by PASA) quantifies how astronomers might be biased in how they judge galactic bars
Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length
arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908
#astro
Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length
arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908
#astro
November 14, 2025 at 7:14 AM
a NEW PAPER led the incomparable Dr. Elizabeth Iles (accepted by PASA) quantifies how astronomers might be biased in how they judge galactic bars
Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length
arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908
#astro
Turns out that male astronomers are consistently more optimistic than their peers when it comes to measuring length
arxiv.org/abs/2511.09908
#astro
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Proud of the work I published with @djphysicswebb.bsky.social . Gender Gap in intro physics is eliminated when employing retake exams because women do better on the FIRST try - suggesting exam STAKES (not differences in preparation/understanding) explain gender gap. 🧪 link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...
High-stakes exams inflate a gender gap and contribute to systematic grading errors in one introductory physics series
A study in introductory physics suggests high-stakes exams are causing a gender gap, rather than measuring it.
link.aps.org
October 21, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Proud of the work I published with @djphysicswebb.bsky.social . Gender Gap in intro physics is eliminated when employing retake exams because women do better on the FIRST try - suggesting exam STAKES (not differences in preparation/understanding) explain gender gap. 🧪 link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/...
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.
The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.
interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.
interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes
A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.
interestingengineering.com
September 30, 2025 at 10:35 PM
This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning:
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Completely shattered.’ Changes to NSF’s graduate student fellowship spur outcry
The announcement comes months later than usual, leaving many would-be applicants stranded
www.science.org
September 27, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Science news article about 2nd year grad students being unceremoniously dropped from the GRFP eligibility with no explanation or warning:
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
September 24, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin ✨ figured out what stars are made of ✨ when she was just 25. 🔭🧪
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Her PhD thesis basically established the Harvard astro department — at a time when Harvard didn't officially allow woman students.
I wrote this little profile to mark the 100th anniversary of her thesis:
Funding science is very important for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that you get papers like this
September 2, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Funding science is very important for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that you get papers like this
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
the semester is starting! here are some of my teaching resources online:
intro astronomy animations: zingale.github.io/astro_animat...
my computational astrophysics class: zingale.github.io/computationa...
my computational hydro text: open-astrophysics-bookshelf.github.io/numerical_ex...
#astro
intro astronomy animations: zingale.github.io/astro_animat...
my computational astrophysics class: zingale.github.io/computationa...
my computational hydro text: open-astrophysics-bookshelf.github.io/numerical_ex...
#astro
Simple Astronomy Animations — astro_animations documentation
zingale.github.io
August 20, 2025 at 5:01 PM
the semester is starting! here are some of my teaching resources online:
intro astronomy animations: zingale.github.io/astro_animat...
my computational astrophysics class: zingale.github.io/computationa...
my computational hydro text: open-astrophysics-bookshelf.github.io/numerical_ex...
#astro
intro astronomy animations: zingale.github.io/astro_animat...
my computational astrophysics class: zingale.github.io/computationa...
my computational hydro text: open-astrophysics-bookshelf.github.io/numerical_ex...
#astro
finished project hail mary by andy weir! i loved it! &as someone that doesn’t consume astrophysical fiction ✨
“Do you believe in God? […] I think He was pretty awesome to make relativity a thing […] The faster you go, the less time you experience. It’s like He’s inviting us to explore the universe”
“Do you believe in God? […] I think He was pretty awesome to make relativity a thing […] The faster you go, the less time you experience. It’s like He’s inviting us to explore the universe”
July 29, 2025 at 2:24 PM
finished project hail mary by andy weir! i loved it! &as someone that doesn’t consume astrophysical fiction ✨
“Do you believe in God? […] I think He was pretty awesome to make relativity a thing […] The faster you go, the less time you experience. It’s like He’s inviting us to explore the universe”
“Do you believe in God? […] I think He was pretty awesome to make relativity a thing […] The faster you go, the less time you experience. It’s like He’s inviting us to explore the universe”
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Heard the latest news from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration? We detected the collision of the most massive pair of black holes so far: #GW231123 weighing in at ~137 + ~103 times the mass of the Sun!
So to celebrate, here’s a handy chart ✨
Just how chonky are these black holes? 🤔
So to celebrate, here’s a handy chart ✨
Just how chonky are these black holes? 🤔
July 26, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Heard the latest news from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration? We detected the collision of the most massive pair of black holes so far: #GW231123 weighing in at ~137 + ~103 times the mass of the Sun!
So to celebrate, here’s a handy chart ✨
Just how chonky are these black holes? 🤔
So to celebrate, here’s a handy chart ✨
Just how chonky are these black holes? 🤔
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
From Mckenzie Ferrari: Follow along as we zoom through the stars with these hypervelocity stellar survivors and uncover their explosive origins. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/07/22/h...
astrobites.org/2025/07/22/h...
Kickin’ It Into Overdrive With Stellar Escapees
Follow along as we zoom through the stars with these hypervelocity stellar survivors and uncover their explosive origins.
astrobites.org
July 22, 2025 at 11:21 PM
From Mckenzie Ferrari: Follow along as we zoom through the stars with these hypervelocity stellar survivors and uncover their explosive origins. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/07/22/h...
astrobites.org/2025/07/22/h...
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Today is a big day for us: it's DATA RELEASE DAY!!! And to celebrate our nineteenth data release, we have not one, but two papers for you to read all about our data: we have a DR19 paper (arxiv.org/abs/2507.07093) and an SDSS-V Overview paper (arxiv.org/abs/2507.06989) #DR19
Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V: Pioneering Panoptic Spectroscopy
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-V (SDSS-V) is pioneering panoptic spectroscopy: it is the first all-sky, multi-epoch, optical-to-infrared spectroscopic survey. SDSS-V is mapping the sky with multi-object...
arxiv.org
July 10, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Today is a big day for us: it's DATA RELEASE DAY!!! And to celebrate our nineteenth data release, we have not one, but two papers for you to read all about our data: we have a DR19 paper (arxiv.org/abs/2507.07093) and an SDSS-V Overview paper (arxiv.org/abs/2507.06989) #DR19
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
From Caroline von Raesfeld: Today’s bite explores if we’ll be able to find a star that has formed from the gas enriched by only one stellar predecessor, an interesting way to probe what’s actually happening in stellar nucleosynthesis. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/07/08/l...
astrobites.org/2025/07/08/l...
Looking for a single stellar ancestor: Mono-enriched stars in zoom-in simulations
Today's bite explores if we'll be able to find a star that has formed from the gas enriched by only one stellar predecessor, an interesting way to probe what's actually happening in stellar nucleosynt...
astrobites.org
July 9, 2025 at 1:19 AM
From Caroline von Raesfeld: Today’s bite explores if we’ll be able to find a star that has formed from the gas enriched by only one stellar predecessor, an interesting way to probe what’s actually happening in stellar nucleosynthesis. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/07/08/l...
astrobites.org/2025/07/08/l...
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
NASA is erasing much of its progress towards inclusivity — a shameful change that goes against everything astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride worked for. My review of the new biopic SALLY, for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪🚀👩🚀🏳️🌈
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪🚀👩🚀🏳️🌈
‘One of the true final frontiers’ — Sally Ride biopic highlights the struggle of gay astronauts
The first US woman to fly in space said little about her personal life in public. A candid film discloses the pressures she endured.
www.nature.com
June 22, 2025 at 3:55 PM
NASA is erasing much of its progress towards inclusivity — a shameful change that goes against everything astronaut and astrophysicist Sally Ride worked for. My review of the new biopic SALLY, for @nature.com:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪🚀👩🚀🏳️🌈
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
🧪🚀👩🚀🏳️🌈
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Today for @blackinastro.bsky.social's theme of #ShareTheUniverse for 🪐 Black in Space Week 🔭, we have two very special interview articles with black astronomers Logan White and Phoenix-Avery Sarian! Summaries for each article and links in the thread below ⬇️!
June 18, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Today for @blackinastro.bsky.social's theme of #ShareTheUniverse for 🪐 Black in Space Week 🔭, we have two very special interview articles with black astronomers Logan White and Phoenix-Avery Sarian! Summaries for each article and links in the thread below ⬇️!
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
How do astronomers decide that objects to observe? You and your students can now map the cosmos with our new card game.
We've distributed copies of to several SDSS institutions and anyone can download and print their own copy from the link below
voyages.sdss.org/hands-on-act...
We've distributed copies of to several SDSS institutions and anyone can download and print their own copy from the link below
voyages.sdss.org/hands-on-act...
June 6, 2025 at 12:14 PM
How do astronomers decide that objects to observe? You and your students can now map the cosmos with our new card game.
We've distributed copies of to several SDSS institutions and anyone can download and print their own copy from the link below
voyages.sdss.org/hands-on-act...
We've distributed copies of to several SDSS institutions and anyone can download and print their own copy from the link below
voyages.sdss.org/hands-on-act...
in appreciation and solidarity of our national parks, some pictures of my January big bend trip🏜️the beauty, knowledge, and community the parks bring truly cannot be stated enough.
and half the park is after dark!🔭
and half the park is after dark!🔭
February 26, 2025 at 12:54 AM
in appreciation and solidarity of our national parks, some pictures of my January big bend trip🏜️the beauty, knowledge, and community the parks bring truly cannot be stated enough.
and half the park is after dark!🔭
and half the park is after dark!🔭
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Tired of wondering which atomic lines are in your spectra? You need:
*whose line is it anyway?* An interactive tool for identifying atomic spectral lines. 🧪🔭 #stars
install:
pip install whoseline
source:
github.com/bmorris3/who...
*whose line is it anyway?* An interactive tool for identifying atomic spectral lines. 🧪🔭 #stars
install:
pip install whoseline
source:
github.com/bmorris3/who...
February 24, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Tired of wondering which atomic lines are in your spectra? You need:
*whose line is it anyway?* An interactive tool for identifying atomic spectral lines. 🧪🔭 #stars
install:
pip install whoseline
source:
github.com/bmorris3/who...
*whose line is it anyway?* An interactive tool for identifying atomic spectral lines. 🧪🔭 #stars
install:
pip install whoseline
source:
github.com/bmorris3/who...
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
MUTUAL AID ALERT:
Stand with our community in Astro+ adjacent fields impacted by the attack on DEIA, support our community by giving aid through our GoFundMe. See links in thread!
- choir collab, @blackinastro.bsky.social, Astro Poverty Survey Team, MVMT Consulting @dranicole.bsky.social)
Stand with our community in Astro+ adjacent fields impacted by the attack on DEIA, support our community by giving aid through our GoFundMe. See links in thread!
- choir collab, @blackinastro.bsky.social, Astro Poverty Survey Team, MVMT Consulting @dranicole.bsky.social)
February 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
MUTUAL AID ALERT:
Stand with our community in Astro+ adjacent fields impacted by the attack on DEIA, support our community by giving aid through our GoFundMe. See links in thread!
- choir collab, @blackinastro.bsky.social, Astro Poverty Survey Team, MVMT Consulting @dranicole.bsky.social)
Stand with our community in Astro+ adjacent fields impacted by the attack on DEIA, support our community by giving aid through our GoFundMe. See links in thread!
- choir collab, @blackinastro.bsky.social, Astro Poverty Survey Team, MVMT Consulting @dranicole.bsky.social)
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
So glad I decided to get out of my comfort zone to try one of the feeds (Science by @bossett.social). Immediately shown cool stuff like this paper that introduced me to the coolest job ever of "Galactic archaeology". How much do I understand? Maybe 10%. Am I fascinated? 100%.
hi bluesky! interrupting to show you my first first-author paper that has just been published 🤸♀️
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
This work is titled [X/Fe] Marks the Spot: Mapping Chemical Azimuthal Variations in the Galactic Disk
with APOGEE ( @sdssurveys.bsky.social ) 🗺️
Let's get into it 🧵
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
This work is titled [X/Fe] Marks the Spot: Mapping Chemical Azimuthal Variations in the Galactic Disk
with APOGEE ( @sdssurveys.bsky.social ) 🗺️
Let's get into it 🧵
iopscience.iop.org
February 6, 2025 at 8:28 AM
So glad I decided to get out of my comfort zone to try one of the feeds (Science by @bossett.social). Immediately shown cool stuff like this paper that introduced me to the coolest job ever of "Galactic archaeology". How much do I understand? Maybe 10%. Am I fascinated? 100%.
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
Although NOAA's page on atmospheric CO2 levels has vanished, you can still get this vital information from Ralph Keeling's team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego keelingcurve.ucsd.edu
Please follow bsky.app/profile/keel... for updates and share
Don't let science be hidden
Please follow bsky.app/profile/keel... for updates and share
Don't let science be hidden
February 5, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Although NOAA's page on atmospheric CO2 levels has vanished, you can still get this vital information from Ralph Keeling's team at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego keelingcurve.ucsd.edu
Please follow bsky.app/profile/keel... for updates and share
Don't let science be hidden
Please follow bsky.app/profile/keel... for updates and share
Don't let science be hidden
Have you ever wondered what it looks like when an astronomer starts up a 2.7m telescope for the night? Wonder no more 🔭
February 5, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Have you ever wondered what it looks like when an astronomer starts up a 2.7m telescope for the night? Wonder no more 🔭
Reposted by zoe hackshaw
🔭 Our Gaia telescope has revealed two mysterious objects: a huge exoplanet & a brown dwarf, both orbiting low-mass stars, a scenario thought to be extremely rare.
This is the first time a planet has been discovered by Gaia’s ability to sense wobbling stars 👉 esa.int/Science_Expl...
This is the first time a planet has been discovered by Gaia’s ability to sense wobbling stars 👉 esa.int/Science_Expl...
Wobbling stars reveal hidden companions in Gaia data
esa.int
February 4, 2025 at 2:09 PM
🔭 Our Gaia telescope has revealed two mysterious objects: a huge exoplanet & a brown dwarf, both orbiting low-mass stars, a scenario thought to be extremely rare.
This is the first time a planet has been discovered by Gaia’s ability to sense wobbling stars 👉 esa.int/Science_Expl...
This is the first time a planet has been discovered by Gaia’s ability to sense wobbling stars 👉 esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭 don't miss out on our investigation on the Galactic disk, mapping chemical azimuthal variations🗺️
hi bluesky! interrupting to show you my first first-author paper that has just been published 🤸♀️
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
This work is titled [X/Fe] Marks the Spot: Mapping Chemical Azimuthal Variations in the Galactic Disk
with APOGEE ( @sdssurveys.bsky.social ) 🗺️
Let's get into it 🧵
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
This work is titled [X/Fe] Marks the Spot: Mapping Chemical Azimuthal Variations in the Galactic Disk
with APOGEE ( @sdssurveys.bsky.social ) 🗺️
Let's get into it 🧵
iopscience.iop.org
January 28, 2025 at 10:26 PM
🔭 don't miss out on our investigation on the Galactic disk, mapping chemical azimuthal variations🗺️