In honor of (hopefully) today's launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon in more than 50 years, here is a to-scale graphic of exactly how far away the Moon actually is. (Click image to expand.) You could fit about 30 Earths between the Earth and the Moon!

I am delighted to share that my first paper has now been accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics and is now on the arXiv!! arxiv.org/abs/2603.24663 In this paper I disentangle the drivers of variability in three early L-dwarfs using HST/WFC3. More info below 🧵!!

TWO recently accepted papers on arxiv today from our group, led by PhD students @maddielam.bsky.social and @astrotoole.bsky.social. If you like brown dwarfs, variability, clouds, aurorae and/or magnetic spots there is something here for you! 👀 arxiv.org/abs/2603.24662 arxiv.org/abs/2603.24663

Proud to announce that my first PhD paper has now been accepted and is live on arXiv!! arxiv.org/abs/2603.24662 In this paper I provide the first analyses of JWST spectra of a sample of young, co-eval L dwarfs, focusing on the silicate absorption and whether there are any equator-to-pole variations.

Published in #MNRAS: "Chasing the storm: investigating the application of high-contrast imaging techniques in producing precise exoplanet light curves", Sutlieff et al. This is Fig. 1: for the caption & to read the paper please visit academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

And while I'm at it, a belated promo for my latest first-author paper (out late last year). I've been using APP coronagraphs as a tool to look for changes in brightness in imaged companions (exoplanets & brown dwarfs) due to variations in their atmospheres such as clouds or radiative convection 🪐🔭

For all the coronagraph fans out there: I'm pleased to share our paper (led by @mattkenworthy.bsky.social) on the design & performance of the Apodizing Phase Plate coronagraph for the ERIS instrument at the Very Large Telescope + our recommendations for using it to study exoplanets & brown dwarfs 🪐🔭

My periodic reminder for #astrosci #astrodon #exoplanets Early Career Researchers to please, please, please have a simple web site with your current email address on it - rationale here: kenworthy.space/advice/

Swapped ‘on sky’ in the astronomical sense for ‘on Skye’ in the Scottish sense last week - I’d been meaning to visit this stunningly beautiful place since moving to Edinburgh and it definitely lived up to expectations! So many amazing hikes and things to see (+ we even had surprisingly good weather)

Together with Sebastiaan Haffert our review on “High-Contrast Coronagraphy” is out - writing an ARA&A review has been on my academic bucket list, and I’m very proud of the result. It uses the showyourwork! framework, making it a completely reproducible paper. #FAIR #astrodon #exoplanets

Congratulations to Dr Ben Sutlieff (@bensutlieff.bsky.social) for his pop up talk describing his poster about mapping exoplanet atmospheres with ground based observations 🔭 #ukexom25

Please help us get the word out: our 6 wk astrophysics 🧪🔭summer research program for international MSc students is open for application! Note this is aimed at students from disadvantaged regions or under-represented groups in astro! I will host one position on black holes ⚫️! aspire.science.uva.nl

With astronomy job season approaching, if you’re a PhD or early postdoc, PLEASE make a webpage and put your current contact details on it, so that searching for “< your name > astronomer” finds you first - more explanation how and why here: Unsolicited Advice #astrodon 🔭🪐

Sharks are older than the rings of Saturn. This paper finds that the rings are no older than 400M years. Sharks date back to at least the Late Ordovician Period, 450M years ago.

Lovely to go on the Dirleton Solar Walk and see some of what @bensutlieff.bsky.social has been up to 🪐 Would definitely recommend, and Neptune is near a great garden centre if you need cake motivation.

Calling the Lothians - fancy an autumnal planet walk? The beautiful historic village of #Dirleton is proud to announce that dirleton.solar is open! 🥳😎 Take a stroll from the Sun in the village through to Neptune at the Archerfield Walled Gardens. Scan the QR codes for planet-facts en route! 🔭

For those in Scotland, Dan Arnold has just completed the Dirleton Solar Walk - dirleton.solar - a scale model of the solar system, with help from @astroroyalscot.bsky.social , @bensutlieff.bsky.social , @astronomyedinburgh.bsky.social and others listed on the supporters page. #astronomy

Just found out that some of the talented people at work helped with this project to make a walk that takes you through the solar system in the very lovely heart of East Lothian. Definitely on the list to try out soon. dirleton.solar/flight-plan

Very excited to be at the opening of the Dirleton Solar Walk today - a scale model of our Solar System in the East Lothian countryside, placed over 1.2km of the John Muir Way walking route! 🪐🔭 This was a really fun project to support and I highly recommend it for those local, esp. for kids/families!

In Dundee yesterday for the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance Annual Cormack Astronomy Meeting (longest conference name ever? 🔭) with @agastro.bsky.social, @dirkscholte.bsky.social, and others. A full day of talks, but still managed to sneak in a little bit of sunrise sightseeing!

Reposting this video because I think everyone needs to see it. We’re so used to seeing Martian dust storms in movies, but this is actual footage, this is real! 🔭

An enormous 5,000 kilometer wide storm in Jupiter’s north polar region. Imaged by NASA’s Juno orbiter on November 24th during Perijove 67 approach.

Check out BU PhD-student @alliemccarthy.bsky.social's paper just accepted to ApJL! JWST spectral light curves of SIMP 0136 show clear pressure-dependence, indicating three variability mechanisms: clouds, hot spots and C chemistry. @johannavos.bsky.social is the JWST PI! arxiv.org/abs/2411.16577

Optimist: The cup is half full Pessimist: The cup is half empty Exoplanetary scientist: We've detected water in the cup!

These are the planets to scale not only in size, but also in their tilt and rotation speed. Pluto and Ceres (a couple of dwarf planets) are included whether you like them or not 🫣

Finally got to experience a snow day at the observatory!! I only wish I had a sledge… 🔭☃️ (also saw this excellent snowman on Blackford Hill for which I cannot take credit)

🔭 Undulatus Clouds over Las Campanas Observatory - ©Yuri Beletsky apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap24111...

JWST observations of the ice giant Uranus over 1 year! Full size, more info & single images: flic.kr/p/2pUN7Ec 🔭 Credit Processing: Andrea Luck CC BY Raw Data: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI 3 Frames 2023-02-06, 2023-09-04 PI: Klaus Pontoppidan, JPL 2024-02-06 PI: Naomi Rowe-Gurney, RAS

There’s more to rainbows than the human eye can see: here’s how a rainbow extends into the infrared and ultraviolet. Photos: 1. Infrared 2. Visible (obviously) 3. Ultraviolet, and 4. A composite showing how UV is beyond the violet in a rainbow, and IR beyond the red end. 🧪 #photography

Applications are open til April 30 2025 for international applicants to do a Masters + PhD combo with me in astrostatistics at Macquarie University in Sydney! www.mq.edu.au/research/phd...

The view from the roof of Edinburgh’s Royal Observatory today - beautiful blue skies, but it’s definitely starting to feel like winter here (morning frost, peak temperature of 1°C, sunset before 4pm) ☀️🥶🔭

Delighted to welcome my friend and astrophotographer extraordinaire @joshduryphotomedia.bsky.social to Bluesky! 🔭 #astrophotography

Folks, Nov 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance. 🏳️‍⚧️ Today, and especially in today’s climate, we remember those we've lost to violence and hatred. Let's stand together in solidarity, grief, and unity with our Trans communities, fighting for acceptance and safety for all. Some resources 👇 📸 GLAAD

PhD Advertisement! 4-yr PhD position as part of the EPSRC Aerosols CDT to work with me and Prof Jonathan Reid at Bristol on Laboratory experiments to measure the Optical Properties of Silicate aerosols for applications to exoplanet atmospheres. See Application instructions and details via link

A brown dwarf astronomy starter pack. Let me know if you want to be added. It was @markmarley.bsky.social ‘s idea. 🔭 go.bsky.app/UVjXNLA

Made a starter pack for exoplanetary astronomers! Reply to this skeet if you’d like to be added! 🔭 🧪 go.bsky.app/8T1wFxu

Hi new followers! Seems like a good time for an #introduction post - I'm Ben, a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy based in Edinburgh. I study the atmospheres & weather of exoplanets (and brown dwarfs, their higher mass cousins) using observations from telescopes both on the ground and in space 🪐🔭

If you want to know anything about radio signatures of exoplanets, star-planet interactions, or space weather, check out our Nature Astronomy perspective! You can access it (for free) here: rdcu.be/d0bYI

I've seen some discussion re. whether scientists leaving Twitter is bad for science communication reasons. While I do agree that we all have a responsibility to sci-comm/public engagement, we also have the right to choose not to do it in a space that is actively degrading to our personal wellbeing 🔭

It seems that my partner & I picked a good time to take a short holiday to be outside + avoid endlessly doomscrolling. But it’s so nice to come back and see how much the community here has grown! I wasn't a big Tweeter, but it’s good to see so many familiar faces here now (from astronomy & beyond)

New paper day! Excited to get this one out there - with thanks to my amazing coauthors! 🪐🔭

So you want to measure the atmosphere of Proxima b? A🧵on how to do this with HARMONI@ELT in the next decade. You can also check out my paper showing these results 🔭 🪐: arxiv.org/abs/2401.09589 Or this summary phys.org/news/2024-01... 1/N

🚨🚨 PhD Position in Extrasolar Atmospheres 🚨🚨 I'm looking for a PhD student to join my group at Trinity College Dublin to investigate weather on imaged worlds beyond our solar system ⚡☁️🪐 ⏰ Deadline: Feb 20th 📝 Job Ad: tinyurl.com/2jfycpfx Please share widely!

If you want to know everything about the radio properties of AU Mic (and stellar radio emission in general), check out Sanne's paper: arxiv.org/abs/2312.09071

Do I know anyone with experience of setting up public access to a SQL database? We (IfG) hold a database of ministerial appointments since 1979 which we’re keen to make externally accessible – would love to speak/get coffee if you’ve done something similar

Wake up nerds, new JWST image of Uranus! Sorry if this is morbid, but I really hope I’m alive by the time we get some Juno-style images of the icy giants Neptune & Uranus 🤩 📸: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI 🔭🧪

Arrived at Cerro Paranal yesterday for the first time - it’s such an incredible place! There’s something really special about watching the sunset and then seeing some of the world’s largest telescopes come to life around you 🔭 @jaynebirkby.bsky.social @sophiavaughan.bsky.social

🧪🔭 Astronomy students/ECRs: your occasional reminder to please set up a web page with your current contact details on it - other astronomers may want to invite you for a talk or a collaboration. Don't make it challenging for them to find you! kenworthy.space/advice.html#...

New to Bluesky? I just made a blog post with tips and information to help you get started on the platform, including tips on how to find people here and information about feeds. Check it out! 🔭 emilydoesastro.com/posts/230824...

Hi everyone! Delighted to be joining the astronomy community over here above the clouds 🪐🔭