Ben Lew
@astrobenlew.bsky.social
NASA Ames /BAERI postdoc, working on brown dwarf and exoplanet atmospheres
Reposted by Ben Lew
✨✨✨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 Ben Lew
Proud supervisor moment: #LeidenObservatory graduate student Richelle van Capelleveen led one of two papers on our discovery of WISPIT 2b, a 5 Jupiter mass exoplanet clearing a path in a circumstellar disk. Laird Close and his team saw it in H-alpha, indicating gas accretion #astrodon 🔭 🧪
August 26, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Proud supervisor moment: #LeidenObservatory graduate student Richelle van Capelleveen led one of two papers on our discovery of WISPIT 2b, a 5 Jupiter mass exoplanet clearing a path in a circumstellar disk. Laird Close and his team saw it in H-alpha, indicating gas accretion #astrodon 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Ben Lew
The application to join the LPL Planetary Sciences PhD program is now open! Visit lpl.arizona.edu/admissions for more information.
August 25, 2025 at 9:33 PM
The application to join the LPL Planetary Sciences PhD program is now open! Visit lpl.arizona.edu/admissions for more information.
Reposted by Ben Lew
I think that mass-loss is important for sub-Neptunes and the "radius valley," but I do not think that "core-powered" escape is significant. We find that "Boil-off," right when the disk dissipates, and then XUV driven escape, are major influences.
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ....
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ....
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
August 19, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I think that mass-loss is important for sub-Neptunes and the "radius valley," but I do not think that "core-powered" escape is significant. We find that "Boil-off," right when the disk dissipates, and then XUV driven escape, are major influences.
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ....
ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2024ApJ....
Reposted by Ben Lew
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 Ben Lew
Actually heartbreaking, the list of colleagues that have run the show behind the scenes for so many years who are saying their pre-emptive goodbyes and taking literally thousands of years of amassed knowledge and expertise with them.
Not to mention camaraderie and community.
Morale is ... bleak.
Not to mention camaraderie and community.
Morale is ... bleak.
4,000 NASA workers are leaving through deferred resignation. "The cuts amount to an estimated 20% of NASA's workforce" www.npr.org/2025/07/26/n...
Nearly 4,000 NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program
The employees who have chosen to leave the agency amount to about 20% of NASA's workforce.
www.npr.org
July 28, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Actually heartbreaking, the list of colleagues that have run the show behind the scenes for so many years who are saying their pre-emptive goodbyes and taking literally thousands of years of amassed knowledge and expertise with them.
Not to mention camaraderie and community.
Morale is ... bleak.
Not to mention camaraderie and community.
Morale is ... bleak.
Reposted by Ben Lew
Amidst all the horrific news for astronomy lately, I'm still excited to share a new work that I was a part of, led by Kielan Hoch at @stsci.edu ! Using @nasawebb.extwitter.link , we found a new circumplanetary disk and strong silicate absorption in the YSES 1 planets. www.tcd.ie/news_events/...
Silicate clouds discovered in atmosphere of distant exoplanet
Astrophysicists have gained precious new insights into how distant “exoplanets” form and what their atmospheres can look like, after using the James Webb Telescope to image two young exoplanets in ext...
www.tcd.ie
June 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Amidst all the horrific news for astronomy lately, I'm still excited to share a new work that I was a part of, led by Kielan Hoch at @stsci.edu ! Using @nasawebb.extwitter.link , we found a new circumplanetary disk and strong silicate absorption in the YSES 1 planets. www.tcd.ie/news_events/...
Reposted by Ben Lew
If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow.
The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
June 3, 2025 at 9:02 PM
If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow.
The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
Reposted by Ben Lew
Reposted by Ben Lew
Here's what we lose if we lose Roman (by my collaborator Mary Anne Limbach) 🔭🧪
spacenews.com/im-an-exopla...
spacenews.com/im-an-exopla...
I’m an exoplanet scientist. Here’s what we lose if we don’t launch Roman.
The president’s proposed budget includes major cuts to NASA — among them, the elimination of funding for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Set to launch in just two years, Roman is poised to t…
spacenews.com
May 13, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Here's what we lose if we lose Roman (by my collaborator Mary Anne Limbach) 🔭🧪
spacenews.com/im-an-exopla...
spacenews.com/im-an-exopla...
Reposted by Ben Lew
Next time anyone searches for auroras on #Jupiter, it's going to be this astonishing movie from JWST that shows up. Kudos to @jnic.bsky.social for leading this work, it was great to hear the gasps of amazement from across the office when these first landed. Another great #JWSTSolSys result.
The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed Jupiter’s aurora.
The observations help astronomers better understand how Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is heated & cooled, and may prove useful to our #ESAJuice mission, en route to the gas giant.
Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭 🧪
The observations help astronomers better understand how Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is heated & cooled, and may prove useful to our #ESAJuice mission, en route to the gas giant.
Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
🔭 🧪
May 12, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Next time anyone searches for auroras on #Jupiter, it's going to be this astonishing movie from JWST that shows up. Kudos to @jnic.bsky.social for leading this work, it was great to hear the gasps of amazement from across the office when these first landed. Another great #JWSTSolSys result.
Reposted by Ben Lew
Thank you for all your action today! Keep sharing how you are engaging in advocacy using #SaveScience and #WeekOfAction. We have many more advocacy actions to look forward to this week: aas.org/posts/news/2...
May 5, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Thank you for all your action today! Keep sharing how you are engaging in advocacy using #SaveScience and #WeekOfAction. We have many more advocacy actions to look forward to this week: aas.org/posts/news/2...
Reposted by Ben Lew
🧪 PRACTICAL tip for NSF PIs with terminated grants:
You're entitled to recover more closeout costs than a DOGE-fueled NSF may lead you to believe.
➡️ Do this NOW: Send fed reg 2 CFR 200.472 on allowable "termination costs" to your sponsored research office:
www.ecfr.gov/current/titl...
1/8 🧵
You're entitled to recover more closeout costs than a DOGE-fueled NSF may lead you to believe.
➡️ Do this NOW: Send fed reg 2 CFR 200.472 on allowable "termination costs" to your sponsored research office:
www.ecfr.gov/current/titl...
1/8 🧵
a man wearing glasses and a green and white shirt looks at the camera
Alt: A man wearing glasses and a green and white shirt looks at the camera
media.tenor.com
May 4, 2025 at 5:24 PM
🧪 PRACTICAL tip for NSF PIs with terminated grants:
You're entitled to recover more closeout costs than a DOGE-fueled NSF may lead you to believe.
➡️ Do this NOW: Send fed reg 2 CFR 200.472 on allowable "termination costs" to your sponsored research office:
www.ecfr.gov/current/titl...
1/8 🧵
You're entitled to recover more closeout costs than a DOGE-fueled NSF may lead you to believe.
➡️ Do this NOW: Send fed reg 2 CFR 200.472 on allowable "termination costs" to your sponsored research office:
www.ecfr.gov/current/titl...
1/8 🧵
Reposted by Ben Lew
Hey 🔭 friends... I'm trying to build a complete census of high res optical spectra for nearby stars (100pc). I've got summary tables for e.g. GaiaESO, HARPS, HIRES, KPF... what other archives/tables should I be looking at?
April 25, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Hey 🔭 friends... I'm trying to build a complete census of high res optical spectra for nearby stars (100pc). I've got summary tables for e.g. GaiaESO, HARPS, HIRES, KPF... what other archives/tables should I be looking at?
It hurts.
April 12, 2025 at 4:27 PM
It hurts.
Reposted by Ben Lew
First the rumour was a 20% budget cut. Then, 50%. Now the president's NASA budget is out and it's a 68% cut to astrophysics ($1.5B to $487M).
Even if this gets reversed in four years, we will *never* recover the missions, partners, people who will be gone.
www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Even if this gets reversed in four years, we will *never* recover the missions, partners, people who will be gone.
www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Massive cuts to NASA science proposed in early White House budget plan
The preliminary version of President Donald Trump’s budget proposal to Congress, known as a “passback,” would cut the agency’s science budget funding nearly in half.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 11, 2025 at 2:54 PM
First the rumour was a 20% budget cut. Then, 50%. Now the president's NASA budget is out and it's a 68% cut to astrophysics ($1.5B to $487M).
Even if this gets reversed in four years, we will *never* recover the missions, partners, people who will be gone.
www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Even if this gets reversed in four years, we will *never* recover the missions, partners, people who will be gone.
www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...
Reposted by Ben Lew
⚠️ Job alert ⚠️
Two faculty positions at the Institute of Astrophysics at UC Chile. All areas of #astronomy welcome!
aas.org/jobregister/...
Two faculty positions at the Institute of Astrophysics at UC Chile. All areas of #astronomy welcome!
aas.org/jobregister/...
Faculty Position(s) at the Institute of Astrophysics (IA), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) | American Astronomical Society
The Institute of Astrophysics (IA) at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (PUC) invites applications to fill at least two faculty positions at the assistant or associate professor level, dependin...
aas.org
April 9, 2025 at 8:06 PM
⚠️ Job alert ⚠️
Two faculty positions at the Institute of Astrophysics at UC Chile. All areas of #astronomy welcome!
aas.org/jobregister/...
Two faculty positions at the Institute of Astrophysics at UC Chile. All areas of #astronomy welcome!
aas.org/jobregister/...
Reposted by Ben Lew
Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunities in #astronomy at my new employer, UC Chile
aas.org/jobregister/...
If you are interested in writing a proposal to work on #exoplanets or planet formation with me, get in touch!
aas.org/jobregister/...
If you are interested in writing a proposal to work on #exoplanets or planet formation with me, get in touch!
Postdoctoral Fellowships in Astrophysics at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile | American Astronomical Society
The Institute of Astrophysics at Pontificia Universidad Católica (IA-PUC) and the Center of Astro-Engineering of the Universidad Católica (AIUC) invite applications for sponsoring postdoctoral researc...
aas.org
April 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunities in #astronomy at my new employer, UC Chile
aas.org/jobregister/...
If you are interested in writing a proposal to work on #exoplanets or planet formation with me, get in touch!
aas.org/jobregister/...
If you are interested in writing a proposal to work on #exoplanets or planet formation with me, get in touch!
SPHEREx first light images!
www.nasa.gov/missions/sph...
www.nasa.gov/missions/sph...
NASA’s SPHEREx Takes First Images, Preps to Study Millions of Galaxies - NASA
Processed with rainbow hues to represent a range of infrared wavelengths, the new pictures indicate the astrophysics space observatory is working as expected.
www.nasa.gov
April 1, 2025 at 7:48 PM
SPHEREx first light images!
www.nasa.gov/missions/sph...
www.nasa.gov/missions/sph...
Reposted by Ben Lew
March 20, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Reposted by Ben Lew
The atomic spectral lines in this app come from the NIST atomic spectroscopy group, which has provided the world with spectroscopic measurements for 120 years.
Today we got word that the federal government is laying off the entire group. 🔭🧪
Today we got word that the federal government is laying off the entire group. 🔭🧪
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...
March 19, 2025 at 5:26 PM
The atomic spectral lines in this app come from the NIST atomic spectroscopy group, which has provided the world with spectroscopic measurements for 120 years.
Today we got word that the federal government is laying off the entire group. 🔭🧪
Today we got word that the federal government is laying off the entire group. 🔭🧪
Reposted by Ben Lew
Very sad to hear of the death of my CfA colleague Bob Kurucz, pioneer of stellar atmosphere modelling, working here at Harvard/SAO since the 1960s.
March 4, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Very sad to hear of the death of my CfA colleague Bob Kurucz, pioneer of stellar atmosphere modelling, working here at Harvard/SAO since the 1960s.
Reposted by Ben Lew
The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.
February 26, 2025 at 7:36 PM
The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.
Reposted by Ben Lew
We have taken our Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS) into operations today to run side by side with our physics-based weather forecasts. The #AIFS outperforms traditional models for many measures, at a fraction of energy use. ➡️ www.ecmwf.int/en/about/med...
#AI #MachineLearning
#AI #MachineLearning
February 25, 2025 at 11:07 AM
We have taken our Artificial Intelligence Forecasting System (AIFS) into operations today to run side by side with our physics-based weather forecasts. The #AIFS outperforms traditional models for many measures, at a fraction of energy use. ➡️ www.ecmwf.int/en/about/med...
#AI #MachineLearning
#AI #MachineLearning
Reposted by Ben Lew
The Art of Planetary Science is in full swing at @uarizonalpl.bsky.social Come visit this weekend!
February 22, 2025 at 1:31 AM
The Art of Planetary Science is in full swing at @uarizonalpl.bsky.social Come visit this weekend!