ClimateBook
@climatebook.bsky.social
This is the BlueSky feed of Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, Professor of Planetary Physics at the University of Oxford. Tune in for news about Principles of Planetary Climate, and diverse science and political commentary. (Also folk music news)
Congratulations to Dr. Richard Chatterjee, my DPhil student who passed his viva on atmospheric escape today and is off to a position at Leeds. (Me on the left, his examiners Garcia-Muñoz and Tad Komacek on the right -- Tad and Richard are in the traditional subfusc, except should be white tie)
October 28, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Congratulations to Dr. Richard Chatterjee, my DPhil student who passed his viva on atmospheric escape today and is off to a position at Leeds. (Me on the left, his examiners Garcia-Muñoz and Tad Komacek on the right -- Tad and Richard are in the traditional subfusc, except should be white tie)
Yikes, this last one takes the cake for getting it in just under the wire, practically to the millisecond! And so to bed. (Time zone Oxford, 1AM = 8PM EDT)
October 16, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Yikes, this last one takes the cake for getting it in just under the wire, practically to the millisecond! And so to bed. (Time zone Oxford, 1AM = 8PM EDT)
Breaking: MIT president Sally Kornbluth decisively rejects Trump's coercive "compact" for higher education. Here is an excerpt from her letter, following on a description of the principles by which MIT has already abided. I'm proud to be re-joining their faculty in 2026.
October 12, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Breaking: MIT president Sally Kornbluth decisively rejects Trump's coercive "compact" for higher education. Here is an excerpt from her letter, following on a description of the principles by which MIT has already abided. I'm proud to be re-joining their faculty in 2026.
Following up on this thread, something that might not have been clear from what's in the paper is what's going on with the bare rock vs. rock vapour case in Fig. 2, so I'll add some additional explanation here.
September 25, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Following up on this thread, something that might not have been clear from what's in the paper is what's going on with the bare rock vs. rock vapour case in Fig. 2, so I'll add some additional explanation here.
Our other piggy, SeitaPirtti, also got along well with Rob's piggies, but wasn't in the pictures. Here she is:
September 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Our other piggy, SeitaPirtti, also got along well with Rob's piggies, but wasn't in the pictures. Here she is:
And now one of Rob's makes friends with one of ours:
September 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
And now one of Rob's makes friends with one of ours:
@robb-b.bsky.social , an old friend, made a connection on bluesky recently, and we were reminiscing about a play date for our family's guinea pigs. At the time I only had a crummy early electronic camera, but here are the pix I found from the time. First, Rob's family piggies:
September 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
@robb-b.bsky.social , an old friend, made a connection on bluesky recently, and we were reminiscing about a play date for our family's guinea pigs. At the time I only had a crummy early electronic camera, but here are the pix I found from the time. First, Rob's family piggies:
#EPSCDPS2025 : Make sure to catch Alex McGinty's poster ( #proudadvisor ) F219 today on modeling of the phase curve of the lava planet TOI 561b .
September 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM
#EPSCDPS2025 : Make sure to catch Alex McGinty's poster ( #proudadvisor ) F219 today on modeling of the phase curve of the lava planet TOI 561b .
under which a liquid water ocean can form. This includes determination of how much water abundance is needed as a function of the instellation (basically how far out you are from the star). This employs new thermal evolution models.
September 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
under which a liquid water ocean can form. This includes determination of how much water abundance is needed as a function of the instellation (basically how far out you are from the star). This employs new thermal evolution models.
Hamish Innes just finished talking about subNeptunes at #EPSCDPS2025. In his doctoral work at Oxford (#proudadvisor) he identified conditions for existence of a liquid water ocean at subNeptunes, concluding they have to be much more weakly irradiated than any current candidates
September 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Hamish Innes just finished talking about subNeptunes at #EPSCDPS2025. In his doctoral work at Oxford (#proudadvisor) he identified conditions for existence of a liquid water ocean at subNeptunes, concluding they have to be much more weakly irradiated than any current candidates
traditional joik. That just underscores that joik is a living and evolving tradition. If you want to get an idea of what really traditional joik is like, here is an example from the Svecia Joik disk (no copyright, and silly I had to turn it into a movie to post it)
August 31, 2025 at 8:39 PM
traditional joik. That just underscores that joik is a living and evolving tradition. If you want to get an idea of what really traditional joik is like, here is an example from the Svecia Joik disk (no copyright, and silly I had to turn it into a movie to post it)
And science fiction catches on to the new picture rather quickly. This collection is from 1968. Wikipedia thinks it was mainly stimulated by Venera 4, the first successful in situ probe (though it didn't reach the surface, and wasn't intended to).
August 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
And science fiction catches on to the new picture rather quickly. This collection is from 1968. Wikipedia thinks it was mainly stimulated by Venera 4, the first successful in situ probe (though it didn't reach the surface, and wasn't intended to).
Two relevant snippets from my 2013 Hayden Planetarium talk on science fiction atmospheres. First, the old swamp world picture (not actually ridiculous, given the high albedo of Venus):
August 27, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Two relevant snippets from my 2013 Hayden Planetarium talk on science fiction atmospheres. First, the old swamp world picture (not actually ridiculous, given the high albedo of Venus):
Den finns fortfarande, men utsålt tydligen i augusti, tyvärr.
August 22, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Den finns fortfarande, men utsålt tydligen i augusti, tyvärr.
And one last tune. I don't know the name of this one, but Noah sure can burn up his fiddle on it!
August 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
And one last tune. I don't know the name of this one, but Noah sure can burn up his fiddle on it!
And we often have songs as well. This is an Irish ballad. That's Peter T. on the three-row melodeon. Peter's day job is Classics.
August 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
And we often have songs as well. This is an Irish ballad. That's Peter T. on the three-row melodeon. Peter's day job is Classics.
Andy Cutting's "Flatworld." We did this in a set with two other waltzes: In a Continental Mood and Emma (a Finnish waltz). Not everybody knew Flatworld, but in a session, it's OK to just take a rest if you don't feel up to learning a new tune by ear.
August 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Andy Cutting's "Flatworld." We did this in a set with two other waltzes: In a Continental Mood and Emma (a Finnish waltz). Not everybody knew Flatworld, but in a session, it's OK to just take a rest if you don't feel up to learning a new tune by ear.
Great session at the Lamb and Flag this afternoon. A few excerpts, starting with Out on the Ocean
August 17, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Great session at the Lamb and Flag this afternoon. A few excerpts, starting with Out on the Ocean
Diatonic, as in ...
July 18, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Diatonic, as in ...
And an #ExoclimesVII poster by Shami Tsai (postdoc alumnus of my Oxford PCDgroup) on sulphur chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres, including DMS. Significant results include a cluster of other compounds that should appear alongside DMS, abiotic photochemical DMS production.
July 11, 2025 at 9:44 PM
And an #ExoclimesVII poster by Shami Tsai (postdoc alumnus of my Oxford PCDgroup) on sulphur chemistry in exoplanet atmospheres, including DMS. Significant results include a cluster of other compounds that should appear alongside DMS, abiotic photochemical DMS production.
And here's an #ExoclimesVII poster by Perez and Schaeffer on tests of interior-atmosphere interactions (one of my favourite subjects).
July 11, 2025 at 7:56 PM
And here's an #ExoclimesVII poster by Perez and Schaeffer on tests of interior-atmosphere interactions (one of my favourite subjects).
Catching up on some interesting #ExoclimesVII posters. Here's one by Marylou Fournier-Tondreau (DPhil student in my Oxford Planetary Climate Dynamics Group) on new models of seafloor weathering. This is being calibrated against Earth data, because that's where the data are for now ...
July 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Catching up on some interesting #ExoclimesVII posters. Here's one by Marylou Fournier-Tondreau (DPhil student in my Oxford Planetary Climate Dynamics Group) on new models of seafloor weathering. This is being calibrated against Earth data, because that's where the data are for now ...
One of the many #ExoclimesVII groundhogs, enjoying a nibble of grass on a sunny Montreal day
July 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
One of the many #ExoclimesVII groundhogs, enjoying a nibble of grass on a sunny Montreal day
At #ExoclimesVI, Chloe Fisher (Oxford postdoc) is talking about using multi-planet subNeptune systems to explore subNeptune atmospheric chemistry. Notes that with NIRSPEC data only it is hard to get confident molecular features. NIRISS helps out a lot.
July 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
At #ExoclimesVI, Chloe Fisher (Oxford postdoc) is talking about using multi-planet subNeptune systems to explore subNeptune atmospheric chemistry. Notes that with NIRSPEC data only it is hard to get confident molecular features. NIRISS helps out a lot.