My recent PhD paper, titled “The Hidden Life of Stars: Embedded Beginnings to AGB Endings in the PHANGS-JWST Sample. I. Catalog of Mid-IR Sources”, is out! The paper presents a catalog of JWST MIRI 10 µm and 21 µm sources across 19 nearby galaxies. arxiv.org/abs/2509.16459

Galactic bubbles like never before! @eric-koch.bsky.social introduced BubbleZoo, a citizen science project cataloging JWST’s mesmerizing voids in galaxies, at the JWST session on galaxies at the 6th Shaw-IAU Workshop! 🔭 #astroedu www.youtube.com/watch?v=726s...

Sitting here at UCLA medical center while some of the best doctors in the world have their research grants cancelled in between saving people’s lives. Preventing them from doing their work and training the next generation of doctors is in nobody’s best interests.

Introducing...your sneak peek at the cosmos captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory! Can you guess these regions of sky? This is just a small peek...join us at 11am US EDT for your full First Look at how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos! 🔭🧪 #RubinFirstLook ls.st/rubin-first-look-livestream

This month we highlight a score of Black astronomers trying to pursue their ambitions without fear, and Black In Astro, an organization supporting predominantly early-career Black people working in the space sciences. Editorial: www.nature.com/articles/s41... #BlackSpaceWeek #EquityInSTEM 🔭

Delighted that the first paper from our Cy2 JWST program was published today, reporting the discovery of molecular hydrogen in the 3% Solar metallicity galaxy Leo P. This was a very fun project with @karinsandstrom.bsky.social strom.bsky.social and fabulous co-authors! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How bad will it be? Catastrophic. Proposed cuts to #NSF, #NIH, and #NASA will set the US R&D landscape back 25 yrs+, cause economic and job loss now, and undermine innovations to come. But, this is the WH's *proposed* budget. Speak up now before it is too late. (inflation adjusted $-s below)

Talk about a double whammy! Baby and big science result in the space of 10 hours - great work, Blakesley Burkhart www.nj.com/news/2025/05... 🔭

The CfA SPARK program offers a one-year postbaccalaureate research opportunity where you will contribute to current and on-going CfA research, and develop essential skills designed to strengthen your graduate school applications and prepare you for a successful career in astrophysics

Very excited about this paper led by Ilyse Clark resolving an extragalactic, low metallicity photodissociation region for the first time! 5x more CO-dark H2 column than the comparable Milky Way PDR! arxiv.org/abs/2504.06247

Call it anecdotal, but my Canadian friends who are cancelling their US travel are not doing it because of tariff worries at all; they’re doing it because the US government is currently actively threatening Canada’s sovereignty and economy and they’re all justifiably furious

LET’S DO THIS UCSD #standupforscienceUCSD

The mass firing of both new hires and recently promoted senior staff within #NOAA, including mission-critical and life-saving roles at the National Weather Service (#NWS), is profoundly alarming. 1/11

The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.

Undergraduate research opportunities are incredibly valuable, both for the students and for the progress of the work. And having undergraduate research experience is a massive help for grad school admission. REU cancellations harm students’ preparedness & career prospects, and slow research progress

Very much appreciate the clear directives from the chancellor of our district. Very much aware of how abnormal this all is. youtu.be/j6qvbVESLKI?...

As of Jan. 15, a biography of Vera Rubin on the observatory’s website included a section titled, “She advocated for women in science.” That language was gone Monday morning. Some of it was later restored — but not all of it. By @lisalsong.bsky.social

This is hitting my research group as well. NSF postdoc fellow can't get stipend paid in time to pay rent this month.

It would be fantastic if major federal institutions would acknowledge that the executive branch cannot legally unilaterally cancel or redistribute congressionally appropriated funding on ideological grounds and thus they have no legal obligation to comply with such directives

LAWLESS NSF: Every NSF employee who is following the director on this funding freeze and fishing expedition is in violation of US code. per the post below, this language has been reauthorized twice, most recently by Biden in 2022 as the CHIPS Act. www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/... 🧪

I'll be talking about the Iliad in San Diego Feb 4th. www.eventbrite.com/e/the-annual...

JWST N628 Stamp issued🔭 #extragalactic🧪https://shorturl.at/Xqrtk Easy to forget that this is an actual place, a place w/ billions of ✨ and planets where we cannot travel. Astronomy has guided humanity through the cosmos Humbling to reflect on the role we will play as our presence grows beyond Earth

NEW: #NASAWebb has spotted a reverberating light echo spreading across space. As a light pulse travels through space, it illuminates previously unseen material, revealing intricate structures resembling wood grain: webbtelescope.pub/422ET6Z #AAS245 🔭 🧪

OMG THIS SHOULD BE SHOUTED FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!! Students!!! Heed this advice, please!!! 🙏

Happy holidays everyone! As a present, have some Herschel far-IR maps and dust SED fitting results for 1578 nearby galaxies! Now live on IRSA: irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/data/Hersche... And described in detail in: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025ApJS...

surreal 🔭🧪 #PHANGS-JWST NCG628 imaging is being turned into a US POSTAGE STAMP ✉️ !! ✨The imaging has truly taken a life of its own. Grateful for the amazing village of collaborators, comms folks, USPS for bringing the universe to people's doorsteps.✨ #extragalactic www.space.com/usps-james-w...

Well this is awesome: about.usps.com/newsroom/nat...

#extragalactic #paperday arxiv.org/abs/2412.07862 ✨🔭🧪 with STScI postdoc Jimena Rodriguez! where we search for dusty star clusters in 19 nearby galaxies using the PHANGS-JWST Treasury Survey, and find a very short timescale (<3 Myr) for the dust embedded phase. Fig 17 & 18 are my favs!

I wrote about what happens when astronomy bumps into its shadowy twin in the world of spies and espionage: gift link: www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Using powerpoint astrometry, here's the JWST Sombrero galaxy image with Chandra X-rays in blue! The X-ray point sources are low-mass X-ray binaries (low-mass stars orbiting neutron stars/black holes); a dim, diffuse hot outflow is apparent too. Chandra data from chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2007/s...

NGC 3521 by NIRCam. Processed by @thocarp.bsky.social www.flickr.com/photos/19746... 🔭 🧪

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!). 🤩

Reminder that the UCSC Lamat Institute application deadline is early this year, December 1! Lamat is an outstanding program that offers research opportunities and professional development for undergrads, particularly community college students.

Scholarship for women impacted by incarceration (themselves or their parents). Applications open this week and due by February!

Hi friends! I’m over here now.