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Dr Jan Eldridge

@astro-jje.bsky.social
9.6K followers 1.5K following 697 posts

NZ theoretical astrophysicist studying exploding binary stars. Sci-fi addict, feminist, non-binary femme. Pronouns: she/her/they. All views my own.

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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
Emily Hunt @emily.space · 01/10/2026
Great to see in this bumper review of the LMC & SMC ditch the pointlessly colonial language that we have for the Milky Way's two nearest neighbours. arxiv.org/abs/2609.38277 Magellan had *nothing* to do with discovering them, and they were known to indigenous communities for millennia. 🔭☄️
1.1 Historical context: the cranes of the southern night sky

The two nearest star forming galaxies to the Milky Way are readily observable to the naked eye in the southern hemisphere. Consequently, these two galaxies have been known to humans, since there have been humans in those regions of the planet. Just like today, the origin and purpose/meaning behind their presence have been the subject of discussion and conjecture, as reflected in the mythology of most civilizations in the Southern Hemisphere. For example, the Mapuche people of Chile referred to these objects as “water ponds” (Rüganko or Menoko). The Clouds also feature in the oral histories of most Aboriginal groups in Australia. For example, in the Lower Murray they are known as Prolggi, which has been translated as “Cranes”. 

The earliest written records of the Clouds are possibly traced to the work of Persian astronomer Abd-al-Rahman al-Sufi (around 964 AD) in his treatise Kit¯ab suwar al-kaw¯akib (“The Book of Fixed Stars”). In western astronomy, these galaxies have been known collectively as the Magellanic Clouds, and individually as the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), for the larger of the two, and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), for the smaller. The term “Magellanic” for the Large and Small Cloud was not coined by Magellan himself or his chronicler, and Magellan did not directly refer to the LMC and SMC themselves in his writings (Dennefeld 2020).

In this review, we will refer to these two galaxies collectively as “the Clouds” and separately as the LMC and SMC. As a field, Astronomy must adopt naming conventions thoughtfully and be ready to modify historical precedent (de los Reyes M 2023). As with the story of our understanding of the dynamics of the Clouds themselves, conventional wisdom cannot dictate modern astrophysical discourse. If we wish to advance our physical understanding of the universe, we must build an inclusive community that can support and sustain a diversity of scholars who will…
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Very proud of the amazing Dr @ordinarystarman.com who has now graduated and can get "Dr" on all her bank cards. Also not everyday you hear someone you work with on the radio because they're the first Samoan PhD in astrophysics from UoA: www.rnz.co.nz/news/pacific...
rnz.co.nz
First Samoan astrophysicist encourages Pasifika students to reach for the stars
The first Samoan person to graduate with a PhD in physics at the University of Auckland has encouraged Pasifika students to remember that they belong and can succeed in academia.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I so need to dig out these CDs and play the games again....
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For no apparent reason my brain is thinking about the best breakfast wrap I ever ate when I was at Lake Louise.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This is a very long but amazing thread of posts! Well worth taking the time to read. Underground spaces are amazing and these four stories of how different people engage with them are just brilliant.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Yes this Deputy Dean did mention the 60th Anniversary of Star Trek in the Faculty of Science Senior Leadership Team meeting. I mean, it's why I'm there and probably other staff so that's not a bad thing? It also got a good few laughs. 😂🥰🖖🏻
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
So the week after the "Star Trek Strange New Worlds" talked about "Strong Force Neutrinos" this happens.... www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
World’s biggest dark matter detector spots a single weird particle
It’s far too early to declare a discovery, physicists with the LZ detector say
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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 26/08/2026
RIP Tim Curry 😭
static.klipy.com
Tim Curry: Uncorrupted Space
Alt: Tim Curry: Uncorrupted Space
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Jason Song Quinn (Comms Open) @hulkhoquinn.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Think about Miss Piggy. She lost a best friend and now an ex-lover in matter of 24 hours.
Miss Piggy and Dolly Parton in fancy dresses posing together photo of Tim Curry surrounded by muppets, smiling for a photo. A quote from curry is added “it didn’t go very well. It didn’t survive the shoot. She felt I wasn’t being faithful to her” it’s him discussing his ill fated affair with miss piggy
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Just remember that Tim Curry had a key role in Hunt for the Red October! I also now can't read the book without casting him as the Medical Officer.
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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
CEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Give a big joyful "SPAAAAAAAYSSSSS" for our boy today.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Saw a post on Facebook that I now can't find pointing out that (at least some) witches in history were probably just neurodiverse women (not that we can diagnose historical figures) and I can't stop thinking about how much sense that makes.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
That time when you realise you brain can probably run stellar evolution models faster than a computer can... the only problem is getting the data out into a paper is a bit tricker. 🤣😂😢
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Nnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're going to lose Swift.... 😢 www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/1...
rnz.co.nz
A mission to stop a space observatory from falling to Earth has failed. Here’s what happens next
A satellite called LINK that recently launched to boost the orbit of a falling space observatory won't be able to carry out its daring rescue mission after all.
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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
Richard Easther @rjme.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Latest paper from my group -- looking at possible gravitational wave signals from primordial black holes interacting with the black holes at the centres of galaxies, with my excellent student Laura Burn and Nelson Christensen. cosmology.auckland.ac.nz/2026/08/17/p...
cosmology.auckland.ac.nz
Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
We calculate the gravitational wave signal from encounters between primordial black holes and the super massive black holes at the centres of galaxies.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Humble brag time. I just swam 1.5km (in just over an hour, so only four times slower than elite pace 😂🤣). Not bad for someone who two years ago had been dealing with pericarditis.... Feeling - Fantastic!
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
The main downside to being a Robbie Williams fan is that eventually YouTube starts queuing up Take That songs.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Okay these are some pretty amazing observations of the Sun and posted in RNZ!!!!! www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/9...
rnz.co.nz
Sun's swirling surface captured in spectacular detail by world's largest solar telescope
The Sun's surface is constantly churning with hot, glowing plasma.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I don't know who needs it but I'm sending the Universe a positive spherical cow moo!
static.klipy.com
Spherical Cow Transformation
ALT: Spherical Cow Transformation
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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
Climate.us @climate.us · 22/07/2026
Climate.us makes climate science easy to find, understand, and use. Look up an indicator like CO2 or sea level. Find maps and data for a class or article. Get plain-language explainers for tricky climate terms. Explore Climate.us!
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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 21/07/2026
1. In an incredible new landmark review, the Health Council of the Netherlands has declared that gender-affirming care for trans youth works, reducing wait times is "morally urgent," and regret is rare. It is the latest of many Euro countries to advance care. Subscribe to support our journalism.
erininthemorning.com
Landmark Official Dutch Review Recommends Trans Youth Care, Call For Expanding Treatment
The review finds that wait times must be shortened, that few people detransition, and that trans youth care has enormous benefits.
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Natacha @natacha.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
The Dutch equivalent of Cass, (except it’s a proper scientific review not pseudoscientific drivel like Cass) has wholeheartedly endorsed puberty-blockers and full gender affirming care for young trans people.
erininthemorning.com
Landmark Official Dutch Review Recommends Trans Youth Care, Call For Expanding Treatment
The review finds that wait times must be shortened, that few people detransition, and that trans youth care has enormous benefits.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Best comment from Co-pilot: "After all, the official university leadership competency framework is sadly silent on the important question of whether a Deputy Dean should sing Angels in the car on the way home. 🎵 Personally, I think that omission should be corrected in the next review cycle. 😁"
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
That time on a Saturday when you're slowly inflating your stellar models into gas clouds rather than trying to explode them in supernovae.
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Hilding Neilson @astrojipjawej.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Now I’m starting to write more about them with two new accepted conference proceedings arxiv.org/abs/2606.26296. arxiv.org/abs/2607.07592. I think these works add to the discussion and I hope will help us broaden the understanding of the diversity of possibilities of life in the Galaxy.
arxiv.org
Indigenizing the Drake Equation: how Indigenous methods can help us understand life in the Milky Way Galaxy
The Drake Equation is a thought experiment whose purpose is to understand the ingredients necessary for life and advanced technological civilizations to exist on other worlds in our galaxy. However, b...
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I need more coffee.
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Corey S. Powell @coreyspowell.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Comet 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor that blew through our solar system, might have been a truly ancient relic. A new analysis of its unusual composition suggests the comet could be up to 12 billion years old, dating from the earliest era of our galaxy. 🧪🔭 esawebb.org/news/weic2613/
Measurements of specific element varieties by Webb’s NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph) instrument show how different the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is from comets originating in our own Solar System. Researchers used NIRSpec to measure carbon-13, which contains an extra neutron, relative to the more common carbon-12. They also measured the abundance of heavy hydrogen, which is a hydrogen atom with an added neutron.

Webb’s NIRSpec found a surprisingly large amount of heavy hydrogen, with a low abundance of carbon-13, indicating that 3I/ATLAS came from a place very different from our own Solar System. Researchers say early analysis of these results indicates that 3I/ATLAS was ejected from its origin system billions of years ago.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Best LLM comment on a piece of writing: "So yes—“not over Doctor Who-ing people” was exactly the right editorial call. 👍".
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Last year I was visited the Department of Physics at University of Oxford to give the 2025 Pride in Physics lecture. The live recording went wrong so here is the re-recorded version! youtu.be/KyQ--OldFRg Thank you @astrojake.bsky.social for inviting me and running this really important series!
youtu.be
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QueerAF @wearequeeraf.com · 08/06/2026
From Section 28 to the Matchgirls' Strike, moments of progress have been met with panic, hostility and attempts to claw back control. Anti-trans backlash may be no different.
wearequeeraf.com
Behavioural science has a practical lesson for us to fight back against transphobia
The behavioural science concept of ‘extinction bursts’ might be useful for the Trans+ community
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
An amazing opportunity to come and do astrophysics and/or space technology at the University of Auckland! Also the scope of the role is broad so if you like the idea of living in Aotearoa New Zealand, apply! jobs.smartrecruiters.com/TheUniversit...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com
Lecturer - Te Kura Mātai Ahupūngao | Department of Physics
Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandTe Whare Pūtaiao | Faculty of Science is the leading science faculty in Aotearoa New Zealand and one of the largest in Australasia....
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Co-pilot knows me so well: "Add a few light-touch humorous lines (very “Jan-style”) to help land the message without losing authority."
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
I don't care what time it is, it's time for cheese and crackers!
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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
"Someone, somewhere, has taken the decision to defund astrophysics research in the UK, but no-one seems quite sure who that was, or why." The latest on the impact of the catastrophic funding cuts to UK astrophysics, by me, in @natastron.nature.com 👩‍🔬🧪🔭 ✒️ www.nature.com/articles/s41...
World View:  A change in UK policy jeopadizes the future of UK astrophysics - By Catherine Heymans

The latest budget proposal announced by the largest UK science funding agency threatens to severely affect UK astrophysics research. My colleagues and I are fighting back.
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Brooke @curly.kiwi · 26/05/2026
NZ First wrote their definitions bill after anti-trans hate group SUFW showed them a petition demanding such a bill. They gathered 2,245 signatures in 4 months This petition *against* the bill just surpassed that in less than 4 hours ❤️ Please stand with us our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/e-...
our.actionstation.org.nz
E Tū E Kī: They Don’t Speak for Us - Block the Definition of Woman Bill
The Government is progressing a Bill through Parliament that aims to limit the rights of transgender, non-binary, and intersex New Zealanders in the name of cis women, by defining “man” and “woman” (a...
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Just remember that if you're left handed you have an advantage in physics exams as you don't have to put your pen down to use the right-hand rule.... 😂 www.rnz.co.nz/life/relatio...
rnz.co.nz
Raising a left-handed child in a right-handed world
Don’t hand a spoon to Maple's right, the typically happy two-year-old will meet you with a scowl.
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Reposted by Dr Jan Eldridge
Paul Thistoll @pault.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Rights Aotearoa's submission guide for the Legislation (Definition of Woman & Man) Amendment Bill is linked below! Please submit in support of trans, non-binary, and intersex kiwis. This bill erases them in law.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
That time you're already highly stressed and anxious and you're crossing the pedestrian cross when a cycling barely misses you at full speed. If they'd hit me it would have been broken bones all over. Should I have been looking? Maybe? But on the busiest pedestrian crossing? No?
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Mallory Moore @sexabolition.blog · 22/05/2026
A friend did the maths on this and noted that in the last 5 years there has been one hostile news article for every ten trans people in the population total.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
And great... when it rains it pours... when I visit the UK next I will be breaking the law if I use the women's toilet. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Toilets and changing rooms must be used on basis of biological sex, guidance confirms
The guidance was published on Thursday following the landmark Supreme Court ruling last year.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
And in another positive event Youtube has just played the Tron Suite by Wendy Carlos.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Some more positive news: I've been making numerical models of binary stars that haven't been made before. The progeny of the first stars which were enriched with oxygen much more than iron, this leads to interesting evolution. Hopefully it does at least... we haven't done this before.... Ah science!
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Be kind to your trans and gender diverse family and friends in NZ today, everyone. This story is across the media, and it can be really tough to deal with — it certainly caused my anxiety to significantly spike at the moment.
rnz.co.nz
Bill seeking to legally define the terms 'man' and 'woman' passes first reading
Supporters of the bill say it is a matter of clarity, but opposition parties have described it as divisive and a "time warp".
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
In other news... will be on RNZ National at around 8.30pm talking about the differences between asteroids and comets. Possibly also how you pronounce "Halley's".
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
literally letting robots compete while banning trans people 🙃
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Always love a good cup of tea.
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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 11/04/2026
LOL, trying to stay offline and do my work, and friends are sending me "LOOK AT THIS NEW PIC!" texts .... This one is worth it. First PoC and first woman to go around another world. Don't stop talking about this point. It's important. #ArtemisII
Astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch in their orange astronaut suits as they sit inside the side of a helicopter after it has landed
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I need to do a blog post about sci-fi stories where the "Sun is dying" and rank them. Sunshine comes dead last - you only find out why the Sun is dying on the DVD extras and it's a particle physics reason.... Best story on the list first is "Project Hail Mary", second "Songs of Distant Earth".
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The Spaceshipper 🚀 @thespaceshipper.com · 06/04/2026
Danny Boyle's Sunshine was released 19 years ago today. KANEDA, WHAT DO YOU SEE?! What a spaceship crew, what a cast.
A diverse group of seven people - Troy Garity, Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Benedict Wong, and Chris Evans - sits closely together, gazes turned upward with a mix of awe and anticipation in a dimly lit environment.
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Paraphrasing: Astronaut: "we haven't seen any impact flashed for the last five minutes...". Ground control: "oh well never mind...". Astronaut: "we've just seen one when I just said that." Murphy's law still applies in space. 😂🤣
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