Brandon Hensley
@bhensley.bsky.social
Astrophysicist trying to understand our dusty universe
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
Our Public Talk this month is all about the mystery of Cosmic Dust
From fragments of asteroids to cometary tails, the plumes of outer solar system moons and even debris from our own activities in space, the talk will have a bit of everything.
⏰ 6-7pm
📅 Tue 18 Nov
📍Burlington House, London
🎟️ FREE
From fragments of asteroids to cometary tails, the plumes of outer solar system moons and even debris from our own activities in space, the talk will have a bit of everything.
⏰ 6-7pm
📅 Tue 18 Nov
📍Burlington House, London
🎟️ FREE
November 6, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Our Public Talk this month is all about the mystery of Cosmic Dust
From fragments of asteroids to cometary tails, the plumes of outer solar system moons and even debris from our own activities in space, the talk will have a bit of everything.
⏰ 6-7pm
📅 Tue 18 Nov
📍Burlington House, London
🎟️ FREE
From fragments of asteroids to cometary tails, the plumes of outer solar system moons and even debris from our own activities in space, the talk will have a bit of everything.
⏰ 6-7pm
📅 Tue 18 Nov
📍Burlington House, London
🎟️ FREE
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
New #Euclid image drop from @esa.int and @ec-euclid.bsky.social! 😍
Meet LDN 1641, a ‘dark cloud’ about 1300 light-years from Earth, observed by Euclid back in 2023 to test its guiding systems. ⬛️☁️
Meet LDN 1641, a ‘dark cloud’ about 1300 light-years from Earth, observed by Euclid back in 2023 to test its guiding systems. ⬛️☁️
November 5, 2025 at 11:00 AM
New #Euclid image drop from @esa.int and @ec-euclid.bsky.social! 😍
Meet LDN 1641, a ‘dark cloud’ about 1300 light-years from Earth, observed by Euclid back in 2023 to test its guiding systems. ⬛️☁️
Meet LDN 1641, a ‘dark cloud’ about 1300 light-years from Earth, observed by Euclid back in 2023 to test its guiding systems. ⬛️☁️
The first SPHEREx data products have hit the archive!
July 3, 2025 at 11:34 AM
The first SPHEREx data products have hit the archive!
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
Let the science begin! 🥁
On May 1, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day.
Read more here: spherex.caltech.edu/news/nasa-s-...
On May 1, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day.
Read more here: spherex.caltech.edu/news/nasa-s-...
May 8, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Let the science begin! 🥁
On May 1, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day.
Read more here: spherex.caltech.edu/news/nasa-s-...
On May 1, NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory began regular science operations, which consist of taking about 3,600 images per day.
Read more here: spherex.caltech.edu/news/nasa-s-...
Some truly spectacular dust features in these spectra! Wondering if PAH absorption is starting to become important in that most reddened source. 🤔
New ✨QSOFEED✨paper out: "JWST MIRI reveals the diversity of nuclear mid-infrared spectra of nearby type-2 quasars" arxiv.org/abs/2504.01595 Here is a little thread with a summary of the results 👇🧵
April 3, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Some truly spectacular dust features in these spectra! Wondering if PAH absorption is starting to become important in that most reddened source. 🤔
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
We invite the future @prima-probe.bsky.social user community to a free, three-day hybrid working meeting hosted by IPAC on the Caltech campus. Spots are limited and registration and abstracts are due March 28. conference.ipac.caltech.edu/prima-pasade...
March 20, 2025 at 8:15 PM
We invite the future @prima-probe.bsky.social user community to a free, three-day hybrid working meeting hosted by IPAC on the Caltech campus. Spots are limited and registration and abstracts are due March 28. conference.ipac.caltech.edu/prima-pasade...
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
¡Excelentes noticias! El Telescopio de Gran Apertura del Observatorio Simons ya tuvo su primera luz. Con esto, la primera fase de SO, con tres SATs y un LAT, está completamente operativa.
www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/03/17/s...
www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/03/17/s...
Simons Observatory Large Aperture Telescope Achieves First Light Milestone
Simons Observatory Large Aperture Telescope Achieves First Light Milestone on Simons Foundation
www.simonsfoundation.org
March 17, 2025 at 6:50 PM
¡Excelentes noticias! El Telescopio de Gran Apertura del Observatorio Simons ya tuvo su primera luz. Con esto, la primera fase de SO, con tres SATs y un LAT, está completamente operativa.
www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/03/17/s...
www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/03/17/s...
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
🚨 BIG NEWS ALERT! 🚨
We’re just 24 HOURS AWAY from a MAJOR DESI release! 🌉🔭
Tomorrow at 3 PM PT, DESI is unveiling DR1, our first official Data Release—the largest dataset of its kind, packed with information on 18.7 million galaxies, quasars, and stars! But that’s not all…
We’re just 24 HOURS AWAY from a MAJOR DESI release! 🌉🔭
Tomorrow at 3 PM PT, DESI is unveiling DR1, our first official Data Release—the largest dataset of its kind, packed with information on 18.7 million galaxies, quasars, and stars! But that’s not all…
March 18, 2025 at 10:11 PM
🚨 BIG NEWS ALERT! 🚨
We’re just 24 HOURS AWAY from a MAJOR DESI release! 🌉🔭
Tomorrow at 3 PM PT, DESI is unveiling DR1, our first official Data Release—the largest dataset of its kind, packed with information on 18.7 million galaxies, quasars, and stars! But that’s not all…
We’re just 24 HOURS AWAY from a MAJOR DESI release! 🌉🔭
Tomorrow at 3 PM PT, DESI is unveiling DR1, our first official Data Release—the largest dataset of its kind, packed with information on 18.7 million galaxies, quasars, and stars! But that’s not all…
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
It's paper day! 🔭 Very excited to share that my latest paper, and the first to come from my PhD, is on
arXiv today: arxiv.org/abs/2502.21119
arXiv today: arxiv.org/abs/2502.21119
Detection of the 2175Å UV Bump at z>7: Evidence for Rapid Dust Evolution in a Merging Reionisation-Era Galaxy
Dust is a fundamental component of the interstellar medium (ISM) within galaxies, as dust grains are highly efficient absorbers of UV and optical photons. Accurately quantifying this obscuration is cr...
arxiv.org
March 3, 2025 at 10:38 AM
It's paper day! 🔭 Very excited to share that my latest paper, and the first to come from my PhD, is on
arXiv today: arxiv.org/abs/2502.21119
arXiv today: arxiv.org/abs/2502.21119
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
Paper (and press release) week! 🧪🔭
I'm so excited to share this awesome research result from @emmalieb.bsky.social and me, in a collaboration between @uofdenver.bsky.social and @noirlabastro.bsky.social. We made a JWST time lapse to watch the dust shells around WR140 expand!
I'm so excited to share this awesome research result from @emmalieb.bsky.social and me, in a collaboration between @uofdenver.bsky.social and @noirlabastro.bsky.social. We made a JWST time lapse to watch the dust shells around WR140 expand!
Astronomers using #NASAWebb identified two stars that generate carbon-rich dust in our Milky Way. When the stars in Wolf-Rayet 140 swing by one another on their elongated orbits, their winds collide and produce dust that expands outward: webbtelescope.pub/42bqgOP #AAS245 🔭 🧪
January 19, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Paper (and press release) week! 🧪🔭
I'm so excited to share this awesome research result from @emmalieb.bsky.social and me, in a collaboration between @uofdenver.bsky.social and @noirlabastro.bsky.social. We made a JWST time lapse to watch the dust shells around WR140 expand!
I'm so excited to share this awesome research result from @emmalieb.bsky.social and me, in a collaboration between @uofdenver.bsky.social and @noirlabastro.bsky.social. We made a JWST time lapse to watch the dust shells around WR140 expand!
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
It's on GitHub and is pip installable already, very very early alpha though so YMMV github.com/emilyhunt/SK...
GitHub - emilyhunt/SK8plotlib: Turn any matplotlib line chart into a line skateboarding game.
Turn any matplotlib line chart into a line skateboarding game. - emilyhunt/SK8plotlib
github.com
January 17, 2025 at 11:43 PM
It's on GitHub and is pip installable already, very very early alpha though so YMMV github.com/emilyhunt/SK...
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
#Astrochemistry webinar “From Stardust to Life: The Chemistry of Habitable Worlds” by Karin Öberg on January 22nd, www.acs.org/acs-webinars...
From Stardust to Life: The Chemistry of Habitable Worlds - American Chemical Society
Join Karin Öberg of the Department of Astronomy at Harvard University as she reviews our current understanding of this chemistry, as well as how this understanding has been achieved through a combinat...
www.acs.org
December 31, 2024 at 12:38 PM
#Astrochemistry webinar “From Stardust to Life: The Chemistry of Habitable Worlds” by Karin Öberg on January 22nd, www.acs.org/acs-webinars...
TIL that George Herbig of Herbig-Haro objects was from West Virginia! Home state astronomy pride. 🔭
George Herbig - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 14, 2024 at 5:54 PM
TIL that George Herbig of Herbig-Haro objects was from West Virginia! Home state astronomy pride. 🔭
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
Throughout my career I’ve collected a nice set of Strong Opinions about relatively unimportant things. Here’s one: Don’t end your talk with a slide that just says “Thanks!” or “Questions?” The slide that remains up during audience questions should be a summary of your main points
December 13, 2024 at 5:57 PM
Throughout my career I’ve collected a nice set of Strong Opinions about relatively unimportant things. Here’s one: Don’t end your talk with a slide that just says “Thanks!” or “Questions?” The slide that remains up during audience questions should be a summary of your main points
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
What has poked holes in the "Green Monster," the filamentary structure in front of Cassiopeia A? A new research article offers answers. aasnova.org/2024/12/02/n... 🔭🧪
New Details Revealed in the "Green Monster" - AAS Nova
What has poked holes in the Green Monster, the filamentary green structure in front of Cassiopeia A? A new research article offers answers.
aasnova.org
December 2, 2024 at 5:07 PM
What has poked holes in the "Green Monster," the filamentary structure in front of Cassiopeia A? A new research article offers answers. aasnova.org/2024/12/02/n... 🔭🧪
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
🔭🧪 Things that make me happy: This is the first image from Mars, taken July 1965. Why does it look like this? Because computers were slow and it was going to be hours before the computer processed it enough to make an image. The scientists and engineers were impatient. 1/5
November 29, 2024 at 11:18 PM
🔭🧪 Things that make me happy: This is the first image from Mars, taken July 1965. Why does it look like this? Because computers were slow and it was going to be hours before the computer processed it enough to make an image. The scientists and engineers were impatient. 1/5
Astronomer: I need to correct for dust extinction.
Me: Have you considered magnetic fields?
But seriously, they can matter! 🔭
Me: Have you considered magnetic fields?
But seriously, they can matter! 🔭
The Optical Extinction Law Depends on Magnetic Field Orientation: The $R_V$-$ψ$ Relation
For aspherical interstellar dust grains aligned with their short axes preferentially parallel to the local magnetic field, the amount of extinction per grain is larger when the magnetic field is along...
arxiv.org
November 27, 2024 at 3:10 AM
Astronomer: I need to correct for dust extinction.
Me: Have you considered magnetic fields?
But seriously, they can matter! 🔭
Me: Have you considered magnetic fields?
But seriously, they can matter! 🔭
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
Hard to overstate how cool it was to see this image from PHANGS back in July/August 2022. There are now nearly 75 galaxies with similarly awesome observations in the sample (all public!). 🤩
November 13, 2024 at 12:56 AM
Hard to overstate how cool it was to see this image from PHANGS back in July/August 2022. There are now nearly 75 galaxies with similarly awesome observations in the sample (all public!). 🤩
Hard-hitting in-flight science trivia.
October 1, 2023 at 1:35 AM
Hard-hitting in-flight science trivia.
Ready for a week of dust in Sweden!
September 25, 2023 at 8:40 AM
Ready for a week of dust in Sweden!
PAH features associated with attached H atoms have longer wavelength counterparts when deuterium is subbed for H. JWST just found one at 4.65um in what looks like a serendipitous detection in a molecular outflow spectrum. 1/2 arxiv.org/abs/2309.06486
September 14, 2023 at 3:51 AM
PAH features associated with attached H atoms have longer wavelength counterparts when deuterium is subbed for H. JWST just found one at 4.65um in what looks like a serendipitous detection in a molecular outflow spectrum. 1/2 arxiv.org/abs/2309.06486
Magnetic fields in a z=2.6 galaxy with ALMA polarimetry! arxiv.org/abs/2309.02034
September 6, 2023 at 4:03 AM
Magnetic fields in a z=2.6 galaxy with ALMA polarimetry! arxiv.org/abs/2309.02034
"Ylem" is way too cool of a word for us not to be using it in modern cosmology.
September 4, 2023 at 6:35 PM
"Ylem" is way too cool of a word for us not to be using it in modern cosmology.
An embarrassment of riches indeed! Gorgeous spectrum of the Orion Bar with prominent emission from hydrocarbon molecules as seen by JWST. Kudos to the PDRs4All team! 🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2308.16733
September 2, 2023 at 3:33 PM
An embarrassment of riches indeed! Gorgeous spectrum of the Orion Bar with prominent emission from hydrocarbon molecules as seen by JWST. Kudos to the PDRs4All team! 🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2308.16733
Reposted by Brandon Hensley
Check out this new mid-infrared image of the Ring Nebula, taking with the MIRI instrument on the JWST! Stunning details visible in the surrounding shells. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson
August 21, 2023 at 3:22 PM
Check out this new mid-infrared image of the Ring Nebula, taking with the MIRI instrument on the JWST! Stunning details visible in the surrounding shells. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson