Dr. Alison Duck
@astroalison.bsky.social
Exoplaneteer - OSU Astronomy PhD
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
November 10, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Hey you. YES YOU. Super persnickety astronomer. You know who you are.
NASA Exoplanet Archive just updated our overview pages so the stars are closer to their actual colours, as per Harre & Heller (2021) and Cranmer (2021).
You're welcome. 😎
(You can thank @kevinkhu.bsky.social!)
NASA Exoplanet Archive just updated our overview pages so the stars are closer to their actual colours, as per Harre & Heller (2021) and Cranmer (2021).
You're welcome. 😎
(You can thank @kevinkhu.bsky.social!)
November 8, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Hey you. YES YOU. Super persnickety astronomer. You know who you are.
NASA Exoplanet Archive just updated our overview pages so the stars are closer to their actual colours, as per Harre & Heller (2021) and Cranmer (2021).
You're welcome. 😎
(You can thank @kevinkhu.bsky.social!)
NASA Exoplanet Archive just updated our overview pages so the stars are closer to their actual colours, as per Harre & Heller (2021) and Cranmer (2021).
You're welcome. 😎
(You can thank @kevinkhu.bsky.social!)
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Dear Physicists and Physics fans,
I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th.
Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬
I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th.
Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬
November 3, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Dear Physicists and Physics fans,
I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th.
Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬
I would like to encourage you to celebrate #WomenInPhysics Day this Friday, November 7th.
Why November 7th? Because it is the birthday of two of the most impactful women physicists of the 1900's: Marie Curie and Lise Meitner. 🎢 ⚛️ 🧪 👩🔬
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Already registered for #AAS247, but didn’t sign up for any workshops? Here’s how to sign up:
aas.org/meetings/aas...
1) Click “Register for AAS 247” from the conference webpage
2) Scroll to the table with the section labeled “1. Workshops”
3) Scroll to the workshop you want , click “Add”
(1/2)
aas.org/meetings/aas...
1) Click “Register for AAS 247” from the conference webpage
2) Scroll to the table with the section labeled “1. Workshops”
3) Scroll to the workshop you want , click “Add”
(1/2)
AAS 247: Workshops | American Astronomical Society
aas.org
November 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Already registered for #AAS247, but didn’t sign up for any workshops? Here’s how to sign up:
aas.org/meetings/aas...
1) Click “Register for AAS 247” from the conference webpage
2) Scroll to the table with the section labeled “1. Workshops”
3) Scroll to the workshop you want , click “Add”
(1/2)
aas.org/meetings/aas...
1) Click “Register for AAS 247” from the conference webpage
2) Scroll to the table with the section labeled “1. Workshops”
3) Scroll to the workshop you want , click “Add”
(1/2)
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
HiRISE 3D: Fine Layer Deformation Redux
Today’s HiPOD doubles as our 3D post because it was just too good to pass up! (See the HiPOD for details.)
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_089275_2270_ESP_088932_2270_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science
Today’s HiPOD doubles as our 3D post because it was just too good to pass up! (See the HiPOD for details.)
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_089275_2270_ESP_088932_2270_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science
October 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
HiRISE 3D: Fine Layer Deformation Redux
Today’s HiPOD doubles as our 3D post because it was just too good to pass up! (See the HiPOD for details.)
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_089275_2270_ESP_088932_2270_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science
Today’s HiPOD doubles as our 3D post because it was just too good to pass up! (See the HiPOD for details.)
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_089275_2270_ESP_088932_2270_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #NASA #science
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Making Lemmonade 🍋
Couldn’t pass up a chance to go after Comet Lemmon given last night’s combination of clear skies and a new moon. Good way to replenish the soul after that heartbreaking ALCS finale. 😅
🏷️: 📸🌿🐡🔭
Couldn’t pass up a chance to go after Comet Lemmon given last night’s combination of clear skies and a new moon. Good way to replenish the soul after that heartbreaking ALCS finale. 😅
🏷️: 📸🌿🐡🔭
October 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Making Lemmonade 🍋
Couldn’t pass up a chance to go after Comet Lemmon given last night’s combination of clear skies and a new moon. Good way to replenish the soul after that heartbreaking ALCS finale. 😅
🏷️: 📸🌿🐡🔭
Couldn’t pass up a chance to go after Comet Lemmon given last night’s combination of clear skies and a new moon. Good way to replenish the soul after that heartbreaking ALCS finale. 😅
🏷️: 📸🌿🐡🔭
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Growing list of astronomy PhD programs that are pausing admissions this year 🔭
aas.org/posts/news/2...
aas.org/posts/news/2...
AAS Working Group Shares Status of 2026 Astronomy Graduate Admissions | American Astronomical Society
The Working Group on Graduate Admissions has surveyed over 150 astronomy and physics graduate programs to understand how the current funding and policy environment has affected their admissions plans ...
aas.org
October 20, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Growing list of astronomy PhD programs that are pausing admissions this year 🔭
aas.org/posts/news/2...
aas.org/posts/news/2...
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
For this money, your tax dollars could have paid for a second TESS mission to find planets, but instead:
I know something about aircraft pricing, and when you "need" to get updated avionics, safety equipment etc.
This is grotesquely wasteful, unnecessary, and self-aggrandizing.
No Kings. Also, no cosplay Marie Antoinettes.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
This is grotesquely wasteful, unnecessary, and self-aggrandizing.
No Kings. Also, no cosplay Marie Antoinettes.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...
Coast Guard Buys Two Private Jets for Noem, Costing $172 Million
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 6:53 PM
For this money, your tax dollars could have paid for a second TESS mission to find planets, but instead:
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
So proud of Phoenix! She’s amazing, does cool research and has done so much at an early stage in her career. She’s applying to grad programs too! So 👀. Y’all would be lucky to have her! #BlackInAstro
October 16, 2025 at 8:53 PM
So proud of Phoenix! She’s amazing, does cool research and has done so much at an early stage in her career. She’s applying to grad programs too! So 👀. Y’all would be lucky to have her! #BlackInAstro
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
my last phd thesis paper is now accepted to ApJ and is on the arXiv today! arxiv.org/abs/2510.11021
We simulate the PDS 70 exoplanet system's future using hydrodynamic + n-body simulations involving the disk and the two planets to see how its orbital architecture evolves! 🪐🪐
We simulate the PDS 70 exoplanet system's future using hydrodynamic + n-body simulations involving the disk and the two planets to see how its orbital architecture evolves! 🪐🪐
On The Orbital Evolution of Multiple Wide Super-Jupiters: How Disk Migration and Dispersal Shape the Stability of The PDS 70 System
Direct imaging has revealed exoplanet systems hosting multiple wide-orbit Super-Jupiters, where planet-planet interactions can shape their long-term dynamical evolution. These strong perturbations may...
arxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 7:13 PM
my last phd thesis paper is now accepted to ApJ and is on the arXiv today! arxiv.org/abs/2510.11021
We simulate the PDS 70 exoplanet system's future using hydrodynamic + n-body simulations involving the disk and the two planets to see how its orbital architecture evolves! 🪐🪐
We simulate the PDS 70 exoplanet system's future using hydrodynamic + n-body simulations involving the disk and the two planets to see how its orbital architecture evolves! 🪐🪐
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Valuable info about the Physics Nobel Prize today from Prof. Joseph Barranco at SFSU on Martinis and Devoret being a grad student and postdoc in Clarke's lab at UC Berkeley & Clark and Devoret being immigrants. "California *public* education made this happen. Immigration made this happen." ⚛️
October 7, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Valuable info about the Physics Nobel Prize today from Prof. Joseph Barranco at SFSU on Martinis and Devoret being a grad student and postdoc in Clarke's lab at UC Berkeley & Clark and Devoret being immigrants. "California *public* education made this happen. Immigration made this happen." ⚛️
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Kylee Carden reports for @astrobites.bsky.social on how we might someday detect moons around planets outside our solar system by precisely tracking the positions of a star and a planet. aasnova.org/2025/10/06/f... 🔭
Finding Avatar’s Pandora: Exomoons with Astrometry
Astrobites reports on how we might someday detect moons around planets outside our solar system by precisely tracking the positions of a star and a planet.
aasnova.org
October 6, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Kylee Carden reports for @astrobites.bsky.social on how we might someday detect moons around planets outside our solar system by precisely tracking the positions of a star and a planet. aasnova.org/2025/10/06/f... 🔭
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
This week (!) is the 30th anniversary of the announcement of 51 Pegasi b, the first exoplanet found orbiting a star like our Sun - since then, we've found over 6,000!
To celebrate, @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com collected some astronomers' favourite planets:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
To celebrate, @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com collected some astronomers' favourite planets:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
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 8:55 PM
This week (!) is the 30th anniversary of the announcement of 51 Pegasi b, the first exoplanet found orbiting a star like our Sun - since then, we've found over 6,000!
To celebrate, @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com collected some astronomers' favourite planets:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
To celebrate, @alexwitze.bsky.social and @nature.com collected some astronomers' favourite planets:
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Outstanding new paper from Evert Nasedkin on the variable, isolated exoplanet analog, T dwarf, SIMP-0136! Time resolved atmospheric retrievals find temperature driving variability and potential auroral signatures (stratospheric temperature inversion)!
🔭 It's paper day! Today I'm sharing the latest in a series of papers looking at the weather on other worlds, in this case bringing you the weather report from a nearby T-dwarf, SIMP-0136. 🪐
🧵 to follow...
🧵 to follow...
September 26, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Outstanding new paper from Evert Nasedkin on the variable, isolated exoplanet analog, T dwarf, SIMP-0136! Time resolved atmospheric retrievals find temperature driving variability and potential auroral signatures (stratospheric temperature inversion)!
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
#NASAWebb has found the first direct evidence of potential moon formation around a giant exoplanet. The discovery is shedding light on how such systems evolve and why moons could be potentially habitable worlds: https://bit.ly/46xGodN 🔭 🧪
September 29, 2025 at 2:03 PM
#NASAWebb has found the first direct evidence of potential moon formation around a giant exoplanet. The discovery is shedding light on how such systems evolve and why moons could be potentially habitable worlds: https://bit.ly/46xGodN 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
STScI's Alyssa Pagan says that there is a methodology for dealing with the wider electromagnetic spectrum: “In terms of assigning color, we generally do some standard chromatic ordering because it has the most scientific value and meaning in it, and usually also gives you aesthetic images.” 🔭 🧪
Astro-color alchemists
Astronomers have a method for colorizing grayscale images from various space- and groundbased observatories.
spie.org
September 26, 2025 at 5:59 PM
STScI's Alyssa Pagan says that there is a methodology for dealing with the wider electromagnetic spectrum: “In terms of assigning color, we generally do some standard chromatic ordering because it has the most scientific value and meaning in it, and usually also gives you aesthetic images.” 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
From Kylee Carden: Though moons are ubiquitous in our Solar System, we have not yet found one elsewhere (an exomoon). Today’s paper investigates whether we could find moons by precisely tracking the positions of a star and planet. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/09/25/e...
astrobites.org/2025/09/25/e...
Finding Avatar’s Pandora: Exomoons with Astrometry
Though moons are ubiquitous in our Solar System, we have not yet found one elsewhere (an exomoon). Today’s paper investigates whether we could find moons by precisely tracking the positions of a star ...
astrobites.org
September 25, 2025 at 9:51 PM
From Kylee Carden: Though moons are ubiquitous in our Solar System, we have not yet found one elsewhere (an exomoon). Today’s paper investigates whether we could find moons by precisely tracking the positions of a star and planet. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/09/25/e...
astrobites.org/2025/09/25/e...
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
For those who may not know ... the magnetic field of Uranus is tilted ~60 deg relative to its spin axis.
So it looks like the aurorae are occurring near the equator, because, in fact, they are! Within ~ 30deg of the equator.
So it looks like the aurorae are occurring near the equator, because, in fact, they are! Within ~ 30deg of the equator.
#PPOD: This image of Uranus’ aurorae was taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on 10 October 2022. These observations were made by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and include both visible and ultraviolet data. 🧪 🔭
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Lamy, L. Sromovsky
Credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA, L. Lamy, L. Sromovsky
September 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
For those who may not know ... the magnetic field of Uranus is tilted ~60 deg relative to its spin axis.
So it looks like the aurorae are occurring near the equator, because, in fact, they are! Within ~ 30deg of the equator.
So it looks like the aurorae are occurring near the equator, because, in fact, they are! Within ~ 30deg of the equator.
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
We *absolutely* should celebrate it. Do your part by enjoying the 200+ page masterpiece in its entirety on ADS! ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1925PhDT... 🔭
Special shoutout to Figure 2, an incredible piece of art that I want on my wall (and suspect could even make an excellent tattoo if executed well?)
Special shoutout to Figure 2, an incredible piece of art that I want on my wall (and suspect could even make an excellent tattoo if executed well?)
September 23, 2025 at 8:03 PM
We *absolutely* should celebrate it. Do your part by enjoying the 200+ page masterpiece in its entirety on ADS! ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1925PhDT... 🔭
Special shoutout to Figure 2, an incredible piece of art that I want on my wall (and suspect could even make an excellent tattoo if executed well?)
Special shoutout to Figure 2, an incredible piece of art that I want on my wall (and suspect could even make an excellent tattoo if executed well?)
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Today is a special paper day for me: for the first time we can do chemistry in a circumplanetary disk around a planetary-mass companion! Gabriele Cugno and I used JWST to tease out the signal of CT Cha b, finding a rich carbon chemistry (7 molecules + 1 isotopolog detected)! arxiv.org/abs/2509.15209
September 19, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Today is a special paper day for me: for the first time we can do chemistry in a circumplanetary disk around a planetary-mass companion! Gabriele Cugno and I used JWST to tease out the signal of CT Cha b, finding a rich carbon chemistry (7 molecules + 1 isotopolog detected)! arxiv.org/abs/2509.15209
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Some tidbits about the most recent 1,000 exoplanets:
- Nearly half (~490) were discovered with NASA's TESS mission
- As a result, their host stars are nearly *10 times brighter on average* than previous stars!
- We have found a lot more cool giant planets (Jupiter analogs), with RV and imaging
- Nearly half (~490) were discovered with NASA's TESS mission
- As a result, their host stars are nearly *10 times brighter on average* than previous stars!
- We have found a lot more cool giant planets (Jupiter analogs), with RV and imaging
Sometimes 2025 just feels like a lot, and you need an excuse to celebrate your fabulous team (and the whole exoplanet community!) reaching a new milestone…
Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!!
(You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣)
www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...
Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!!
(You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣)
www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...
September 17, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Some tidbits about the most recent 1,000 exoplanets:
- Nearly half (~490) were discovered with NASA's TESS mission
- As a result, their host stars are nearly *10 times brighter on average* than previous stars!
- We have found a lot more cool giant planets (Jupiter analogs), with RV and imaging
- Nearly half (~490) were discovered with NASA's TESS mission
- As a result, their host stars are nearly *10 times brighter on average* than previous stars!
- We have found a lot more cool giant planets (Jupiter analogs), with RV and imaging
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Sometimes 2025 just feels like a lot, and you need an excuse to celebrate your fabulous team (and the whole exoplanet community!) reaching a new milestone…
Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!!
(You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣)
www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...
Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!!
(You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣)
www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...
September 17, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Sometimes 2025 just feels like a lot, and you need an excuse to celebrate your fabulous team (and the whole exoplanet community!) reaching a new milestone…
Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!!
(You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣)
www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...
Happy 6,000 Confirmed Exoplanets Day, everybody!!!!
(You may recognize the narrator of the video at the link! 🫣)
www.nasa.gov/universe/exo...
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoc Fellowship apps are OPEN! 🔭 However, app only appears on research.gov if your role "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"! Click "Proposals", "Prepare and Submit Proposals", then "Prepare New". If you do not see NSF 22-621, change role to "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"!
September 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM
NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoc Fellowship apps are OPEN! 🔭 However, app only appears on research.gov if your role "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"! Click "Proposals", "Prepare and Submit Proposals", then "Prepare New". If you do not see NSF 22-621, change role to "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"!
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
We observed the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1e with JWST to search for an atmosphere.
You've seen the headlines, now let's dive into the science! 🧪
THREAD (1/N)
#Exoplanets 🔭
You've seen the headlines, now let's dive into the science! 🧪
THREAD (1/N)
#Exoplanets 🔭
A rocky planet in its star’s ‘habitable zone’ could be the first known to have an atmosphere – here’s what we found
The largest telescope in space has been trained on a rocky exoplanet.
theconversation.com
September 9, 2025 at 11:14 PM
We observed the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1e with JWST to search for an atmosphere.
You've seen the headlines, now let's dive into the science! 🧪
THREAD (1/N)
#Exoplanets 🔭
You've seen the headlines, now let's dive into the science! 🧪
THREAD (1/N)
#Exoplanets 🔭
Reposted by Dr. Alison Duck
Okay, now that I can stop talking with all caps, why is this important?
So, we're looking for planets like Earth, right? It's the only place we've found with life so far.
What makes it "Earth"? Well, some things include being a rocky planet, and being the right temperature for liquid water. (1/N)
So, we're looking for planets like Earth, right? It's the only place we've found with life so far.
What makes it "Earth"? Well, some things include being a rocky planet, and being the right temperature for liquid water. (1/N)
After nearly a decade of saying which JWST result I was most excited about, it's here:
JWST SPECTRA OF THE HABITABLE TRAPPIST-1 PLANETS!
TRAPPIST-1 E!!!
IT'S ... A FLAT LINE!
BUT NOT AS FLAT AS IT COULD BE!?
IS THERE AN ATMOSPHERE?!?!?
WE STILL DON'T KNOWWWWW.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...
JWST SPECTRA OF THE HABITABLE TRAPPIST-1 PLANETS!
TRAPPIST-1 E!!!
IT'S ... A FLAT LINE!
BUT NOT AS FLAT AS IT COULD BE!?
IS THERE AN ATMOSPHERE?!?!?
WE STILL DON'T KNOWWWWW.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/s...
Hopeful Hint of an Earthlike Atmosphere on a Distant Planet
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Okay, now that I can stop talking with all caps, why is this important?
So, we're looking for planets like Earth, right? It's the only place we've found with life so far.
What makes it "Earth"? Well, some things include being a rocky planet, and being the right temperature for liquid water. (1/N)
So, we're looking for planets like Earth, right? It's the only place we've found with life so far.
What makes it "Earth"? Well, some things include being a rocky planet, and being the right temperature for liquid water. (1/N)