Apparently, there is someone with my name who wrote some sci-fi/dark fiction books. I now get the occasional random email from authors who are looking to connect and ask about the book. Way too much golf to play for me to be writing sci-fi books, but incase anyone is interested.

are you an undergrad wanting to learn about or get more experience with ML/AI + TESS data? apply to work with me through the MSU Advanced Computational Research Experience for Undergraduates! applications are open until Feb 15, 2026 icer-acres.msu.edu don't hesitate to reach out with questions!

Your Support Will Make a Big Difference! MSU Observatory’s public programs are led by volunteers and supported by donations, and currently reach about 2000 people each year. givingto.msu.edu/causes-to-su...

So sad to see astro PhD programs charging >100$ per application in a year where a very poor acceptance rate is expected.

Incredible image from our student observers!

We had such a fun time at the Halloween public night last Friday! Thanks to everyone who stopped by, we'll be open again for public nights in the spring.

Join us tomorrow (Saturday) from 7:00-10:00pm for public night at the MSU Observatory! We have lots of fun moon and astronomy activities planned! Visit our website for FAQs: web.pa.msu.edu/astro/observ... Address: MSU Observatory, 4299 Pavilion Dr, Lansing, MI 48910

If any of you fine folks are planetarians in (or want to be in) mid-Michigan, the Abrams Planetarium is hiring a full-time-staff position for the first time in 11 years!! Come work with the astro, scicomm, and informal ed folks at MSU!! 🔭 🧪 (reskeets welcome) careers.msu.edu/jobs/educati...

Join us for these free astronomy events tomorrow, September 27th! 🌌 🌙 Night hike and night sky observing with Abrams Planetarium at Burchfield Park: www.lansing.org/event/burchf... 🌙 Public Observing at the MSU Observatory: web.pa.msu.edu/astro/observ...

I'm hiring 1-2 postdocs this year! If you're interested in: GW astrophysics (Binary) Stellar Evolution Stellar dynamics (esp. w/ massive BHs) Galactic dynamics (inc. stellar streams) plz consider applying! You don't need letters initially, just a list of references. 🔭🧪 aas.org/jobregister/...

~ 1000 astro bachelors degrees given out last year, a new record, while most grad programs are planning to admit fewer students this year (due to reduced or uncertain federal funding).

rotation periods! variables! machine learning! arxiv.org/abs/2509.14423

So proud of what we are accomplishing at @michiganstateu.bsky.social using our campus observatory. Scientific outreach and research from an incredible group of students.

Billions of years in the making, just in time for Friday night viewing. Swan Nebula (M17), Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), and Whirlpool Galaxy (M51a) captured with our 24-inch telescope.

Proud supervisor moment: #LeidenObservatory graduate student Richelle van Capelleveen led one of two papers on our discovery of WISPIT 2b#LeidenObservatory 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 🔭 🧪

Remember that AAS research notes were rejected from arxiv… arxiv.org/abs/2508.09167

We were able to get the application portal closed for the astronomy graduate program at @michiganstateu.bsky.social for the upcoming cycle. Not an ideal circumstance, but we wanted to communicate this to the community as early as possible.

Best unsolicited email/call was I heard of was the person who said they had visited LHS 1140 b and described it in detail.

Kepler mission: smaller stars have more short-period, small #exoplanets. Theory: the smallest stars won’t have enough disk material to make small planets so there must be a turnover. Kepler+K2: We have found a turnover! Check out our newest Scaling K2 paper: arxiv.org/abs/2508.05734 🧵 1/9 🔭🧪☄️

Anyone in the Lansing area should stop by tonight and see the beautiful night sky!

I am community sourcing a list of people who are actively in search of MS/PhD students in planetary science/astrobiology/exoplanets for Fall 2026. If you are such a person, please fill out the following google form: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Sign of the times- Michigan State, one of the biggest astronomy programs in the USA, is not accepting ANY applications for its graduate program this year 😖 🔭🧪🎢

this is due to a combination of (a) having a wayyy bigger than expected incoming class and (b) the state of federal funding as much as it sucks, it's important to be transparent about where we stand. hopefully other departments will follow

With prospective graduate emails beginning, I want to point people to a thread about these emails: x.com/Astro_JRod/s... Unfortunately, @michiganstateu.bsky.social 's astronomy PhD program will not be accepting applications for the upcoming admissions cycle. astro.natsci.msu.edu/graduate/how...

summer project presentations from Ryan and @adalyngibson.bsky.social at the @michiganstateu.bsky.social MidSURE conference today!

190-250 Msun!

UniSQ PhD student Emma Nabbie has a cool paper about a Kepler system showing more than 24 hr of TTVs! They show that the system can be explained by a mutually inclined (15deg) non transiting interior planet at 2:1 resonance! See paper! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Here's I3/ATLAS from the 0.8m at Mt Kent as of 1 hr ago. The clip is a 50-min sequence.

Like many NASA projects and missions, the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute was asked to submit a closeout budget this week. Hopefully just a drill! But very difficult just the same. 💔 Regardless of what happens, I’m *so proud* of the service we have performed for the community over the years. ✨🪐💾🔭👩🏻‍🔬

Career Update: As of today, I was promoted to Associate Professor w/ Tenure at @michiganstateu.bsky.social. Just a surreal moment, incredibly grateful to my advisors, mentors, and team!

#exoplanets #jobs 📣 I'm advertising for a postdoc! Come work with me in sunny SoCal on the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey Project Infrastructure Team. You'll help build the pipeline for Roman* occurrence rates. *Launches NEXT YEAR! Please RT & share with your networks! aas.org/jobregister/...

New results from the Young Worlds Lab! arxiv.org/abs/2504.13262 So you measured a stars' rotation period using a TESS light curve, how good is it? That's the question we wanted to answer with this paper. 🔭🧪⭐🌌 #exoplanets

A lot of interpretation from a flat line…. K2-18 is not habitable but the crazy alien community is gonna have fun with this one. www.bbc.com/news/article...

𝗡𝗼, 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝟮-𝟭𝟴𝗯'𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. K2-18b is back in the news, now with a bold claim that biosignature molecules (DMS and/or DMDS) have been 'detected at 3σ'. Most exoplanet astronomers are extremely sceptical about these claims, let's see why (1/n). 🔭🧪🪐 #exoplanet

After ten years, this is the first summer I cannot pay myself summer salary. Profs make 9-month salaries, with our summer supported by grants. I PIed three successful grants this year that got 0-10% of their typical budget, so I have to pay myself or my students. I choose my students.

looks like the NASA XMM-Newton AO-24 budgets are postponed indefinitely 🥲🔭🧪 #stellarastronomy #exoplanets heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/xmm...

Nothing like waking up to an email from a crackpot saying they have solved dark matter..... at least the alien conspiracy theorist are barking up the right tree when they email me their "ground breaking idea".

If I could sum up my thoughts on this article…

Just got asked to review a Dark Matter/Cosmology paper... Dear editors, if you are asking for free labor, at least check you have the correct "Rodriguez".

“Don’t get stuck doing unpaid labor”

My first PhD paper is out! We present two new compact binaries that seem to belong to the rare class of 'transitional' millisecond pulsars. arxiv.org/abs/2503.07709

“Embrace the Challenges”…

JWST: Just Wasting Scientists Time....seeing top quintile rejections...

From Jack Lubin : Where do Hot Sub-Neptunes Come From?! 🔭✨ astrobites.org/2025/03/07/w...

The peer review system doesn’t work when your are asking the same people for $1000s to publish their own paper. Your customers can’t also be your workforce. Reduce paper charges or compensate your reviewers.

The list of cancelled REU programs for summer 2025 continues to grow. MSU P&A is now on that list.

HOLY CRAP THIS BLEW UP. Thank you for the outpouring of support. 🥰 If you have ten minutes, please read this post: danny.hellmo.space/posts/it-is-... There's resources at the end for organizing, which we must do. #science #tech #astrosky #physicssky #reu #msu #academia #puremichigan #research

Astronomy Alert! It appears RW Aurigae has begun to dim in brightness again!!!

Paper Alert! 11 New Transiting Brown Dwarfs and very Low Mass Stars from NASA's TESS Mission. Second PhD paper by Noah Vowell at @michiganstate.bsky.social! arxiv.org/abs/2501.09795

Dear Graduate Programs, Please do not replace the ability to upload a recommendation letter with these prompts. This significantly increases the time to submit a proper recommendation, leads to worse overall response, and is unnecessary when everyone else is asking for a uploaded letter. #academia