Finally some clarity on the #STFC budget: it's falling in real terms as UKRI spending rises. A conscious decision has been made to decrease UK funding for fundamental physics, despite all the evidence that our blue skies research is key for economic growth. Thank you @resprofnews.bsky.social!

We are looking for two new PhD students to join our group at the University of Southern Queensland to work on exoplanet demographics and atmospheres. See AAS ad below. aas.org/jobregister/...

Unexpected EHT intern alert! This bird had gotten lost in the fog and appeared at the IRAM 30-m control room door- more than 1,500 meters above its usual habitat. After a brief "internship," it was safely released back into nature the next morning. #M87MOVIE

The new Artemis 2 pictures are stunning! 🧪🔭

Crescent Earth as viewed by the Artemis II crew yesterday (April 4th). flic.kr/p/2s5Z9yc

Listening in to the live Artemis II feed. I love the way they talk about everything (jargon, acronyms, plaing English) . Like a bit ago, an astronaut was talking emotionally about how beautiful the views were of the approaching moon, and Houston's CapCom person responded plainly “Copy. Moon joy.”

Congratulations to second-year DPhil student Mitchell Yzer on his highlight talk at UKExom! He gave an amazing overview of how to detect technosignatures in exoplanet atmospheres using the ELT! Lots more exciting work to come out of his research!

I have a new book coming out next month -- my children's astronomy books have become a trilogy 😀 Want to know about time travel, black holes, wormholes, and whether we live in a multiverse? Mastering the Multiverse is out May 7th, and available to preorder now. 🔭🧪 dk.com/products/978...

@maddielam.bsky.social did a deep dive into silicate clouds with JWST observations of brown dwarfs to identify whether the clouds at the poles and equator look different: arxiv.org/abs/2603.24662

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 🪐🔭

If you haven’t seen 3Blue1Brown videos yet, you are missing out! His latest one is on M.C. Escher’s picture frame distortion is absolutely breathtaking, using visuals to introduce complex analysis in what feels a very intuitive way. All his videos are excellent and well worth a browse.

Less than one week after this post, the theoretical particle physics grants have been ruthlessly cut. PDRA positions are down by ~70% compared to the last funding cycle. Some groups cannot even hire postdocs for the next 4 years. This is on top of an effective 100% hiring cut for October 2026.

Star Formation xkcd.com/3222/

The Cheshire cat in this tree was watching me when I went out to set up my telescope 🔭

So I guess we at Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society support emojis now. ApJ would never! Please use this power carefully. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3... 🔭

4-Year Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship in Physics/Astro @ Edinburgh! - early career - personal background currently under-represented in the School - Pay Grade: Lecturer (~Assoc. Prof.) - ***Deadline 20 April 2026*** 🔭🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🧪 elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

It’s Planets Day! We’ve gathered researchers from across Oxford to discuss questions on the possibility of complex life throughout the universe. A great mix of expertise here today bringing many exciting conversations! opal.physics.ox.ac.uk/planetsday2/...

Very excited for this!

NEW: Researchers in @biology.ox.ac.uk have discovered that hedgehogs can hear ultrasound up to 85kHz, far beyond the human range. The finding could help develop targeted repellers to reduce hedgehog road deaths. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/558ukfwc

I'm super excited to share a HUGE paper out from Young Worlds Lab team member Andy Boyle. I present for you, ~900,000 rotation periods from TESS! 🤯🔭🧪⭐ #exoplanets #stellarrotation arxiv.org/abs/2603.05586

For the final Astrophysics colloquium of term, we had Asst. Prof Anjali Piette from the University of Birmingham give us a whirlwind tour of studying lava worlds, sub Neptunes, and hot Jupiters with JWST!

Congratulations to Dr Tobias Meier (@tgmeier.bsky.social) on the publication of his paper "Mantle Convection and Nightside Volcanism on Lava World K2-141 b" featuring 12 former and current Oxoplanet members! You can read the paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2603.02408

You've maybe heard of ocean planets 🌊🪐 but what about *electric magma* ocean planets?! 🔥⚡🌋 For our next #RockyWorldsDiscussion on Thu 5 March @ 14:00 UTC, Miki Nakajima will present exciting simulations on magma ocean dynamos in Earth and super-Earths More: www.rockyworlds.org/event-detail... 🧪🔭

Here is a link to the letter. www.iop.org/about/news/o...

The ESO studentship was probably one of the best experiences of my academic career so far; recommend it 100%! Please spread into your networks. Happy to answer questions or even host a student with one of my fellow #exoplanets people. Just get in touch!💙

📢 @astroroyalscot.bsky.social, Prof. Jon Butterworth, & our rep for Early-Career Researchers, Simon Williams @si-wills.bsky.social will meet the SITC Committee next week to talk about the STFC funding! Let's all attend the hearing in person and online!🙎💻 committees.parliament.uk/event/26683/...

Me and @readdark.bsky.social are advertising aPhD position in our lovely group here at Surrey university. We're looking to understand unusual globular clusters and faint dwarf galaxies. Check out the advert and get in touch if you have questions 🔭🧪 www.surrey.ac.uk/fees-and-fun...

STFC CEO responds to @jonbutterworth.bsky.social "it is important for all of our ... programmes ... to contribute to us making savings across our entire portfolio" No mention that *all* is disproportionately falling on the particle-astro-nuclear programme 🤷‍♀️😡 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Very interesting Astrophysics colloquium given today by Prof David Kipping (@davidkipping.bsky.social) about the role of Bayesianism and Anthropics in searches for life. Excited to see the paper published! Much to think about when it comes to finding life with future space telescopes.

We'd love to gather amateur Jupiter imaging over the next few weeks to provide context for this Jupiter campaign from #JWST (plus Juno with be flying by Feb 25th on #PerijoveDay!). More details here: leighfletcher.substack.com/p/supporting...

Hello HARPS3! Are you ready for some optics? OK then ... let the optical installation begin!⭐

Cloud!

UK undergrads - UK Space Agency Internships Programme is running this summer. Is paid too (£5k for 8 weeks). web-eur.cvent.com/event/2a6caf...

We’re bringing our mix of comedy and science to Oxford’s best basement next Thursday, the 19th. Tickets available here: wegottickets.com/f/15055/ Do come, it’ll be a blast.

The 2026 ESA Graduate Trainee positions are waiting for your applications! Step into a unique role where you’ll contribute to inspiring space missions and work alongside leading professionals from across Europe. Discover the available positions 👉 jobs.esa.int #ESArecruits 🔭 🧪

Reposting to the astronomy and science feeds 🔭🧪 GPE's conclusion on STFC's savage cuts to astro/particle/nuclear physics research:

This is a cool photo of crescent Venus. And the Moon, too. Image credit: Iván Éder

Early-career researchers are rightly worried about the road ahead, and have drafted an open letter to UKRI & #STFC, calling for a "strategic correction" to avoid irreversible loss of curiosity-driven UK research - an essential part of future discoveries, tech, & growth. bsky.app/profile/si-w...

‘We have a world-leading research base...but we’re about to throw it away.’ @oxfordphysics.bsky.social's Prof Chris Lintott responds to plans to cut University funding for astronomy and physics ⬇️

MPs for Cambridge and Milton Keynes Central represent institutions (Cambridge and OU) with astronomy groups. If you're in those please email Emily Darlington and Daniel Zeichner ASAP.

That'll be MPs from Newcastle Central/West, Mid-Norfolk, NW Hants, Gravesham, Henley & Thame, Cambridge, MK, Stoke-on-Trent South, South Derbyshire, Erewash and Newton Abbot. If you're in one of those areas and would be willing to write to your MP today that would be amazing.

Interesting. The head of UKRI is talking to the Commons Science, Innovation and Tech. Committee tomorrow: hope one of the MPs asks about his dramatic cuts to the astronomy budget.

I've updated my post on the funding crisis heading for British astronomy: docs.google.com/document/d/1.... UKRI made clear that astro and particle physics are being subject to unique cuts due to rising costs elsewhere. This looks like a deliberate decision not to fund fundamental physics. 🔭 🧪

Me, on astronomy funding crisis, on the @ox.ac.uk website: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-02... 🔭🧪

You may have seen pictures, but have you ever seen video of a gigantic jet #TLE from space? Astronaut Jeanette Epps captured this incredible sequence on July 20th, 2024 for the DTU/@science.esa.int Thor-Davis experiment. 🧪🔭 youtu.be/xN2J7_rOBJY Credit: ESA/NASA/J. Epps Processing: Simeon Schmauß

Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin’s autobiography is just amazing. Every astronomer should read it. Here she is talking about her memories of Annie Jump Cannon.

That image just blows my mind

A reminder that I and a bunch of awesome people are doing stand-up about science in Kings Cross on the 28th. This will be excellent. Tickets here: wegottickets.com/event/684234.