iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Duncan Christie

Dr. Lili Alderson @lili-alderson.bsky.social · 18h

It's paper day! @stellarplanet.bsky.social, David Grant and I produced the first-ever transmission map of an exoplanet, exploring how the atmosphere changes around the limb: from sunrise, sunset, the poles, and everything in between 🧵

The shape of WASP-17b’s atmosphere mapped using transmission strings. The planet has a broad banded jet around the equator with vast wind speeds which transport material and heat from the permanently irradiated dayside to the permanently shadowed nightside. The atmosphere over the equator of the evening limb (left) is hot as it is transported from the dayside of the planet, while the atmosphere on the right has cooled as it traversed the nightside and passes back to the dayside via the morning limb. Image credits: Engine House and Hannah Wakeford

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Hannah Wakeford @stellarplanet.bsky.social · 21h

Planets are 3D! Shocking I know but when we measure an exoplanet we collapse the info into an average while assuming the planet is a perfect circle. UNTIL NOW! @lili-alderson.bsky.social presents: A Spatial Map of the Atmospheric Limb of a Hot Jupiter arxiv.org/abs/2610.18806 1/n🔭🧪

Artist impression of the hot Jupiter WASP-17b and its asymmetric atmosphere. The planet has a thick banded structure around the equator and the light is shining through from the back to show an extended left side of the atmosphere representing the evening terminator (limb) and a more compressed right side representing the morning terminator (limb).

Artist impression of the hot Jupiter WASP-17b and its asymmetric atmosphere as it transits in front of its host star. The planet has a thick banded structure around the equator and the light is shining through from the back to show an extended left side of the atmosphere representing the evening terminator (limb) and a more compressed right side representing the morning terminator (limb).

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Evie Ahrer @eahrer.bsky.social · 15h

Honestly just for the super nice figures you should check out this paper! 🤩

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Eos @eos.org · 16h

Mars is a planetary archive. Attempting to terraform it before cataloging that archive “would be like burning the Library of Alexandria after opening only a single scroll,” write scientists. 🧪🔭🔴 eos.org/opinions/wha...

eos.org

What We Could Lose by Trying to Make Mars Habitable - Eos

The rock, ice, and atmosphere of Mars hold a largely unread archive. Terraforming could erase it before the biggest scientific questions are answered.

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Our next ECR highlight session will be on October 22nd. Join us for talks on interior modelling of exoplanets and the variability of brown dwarfs and exoplanets. To receive the Zoom link, sign up to the mailing list on our website. #exoplanets bowiecollaboration.github.io/seminars.html

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BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Sub-Neptunes and the potential Hycean worlds have rightfully garnered a lot of interest. Edouard Barrier explains how convection and the runaway greenhouse effect may or may not shape these atmospheres. #exoplanets #astronomy www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn_B...

youtube.com

Climates of Temperate sub-Neptunes - Edouard Barrier

YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars

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BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

55 Cnc e can be an inscrutable planet at times. Ruizhi Zhan is doing great work lifting the veil and helping us understand its atmospheric dynamics using three-dimensional models. #exoplanets #astronomy www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FM4...

youtube.com

Reinterpreting the JWST Observations of 55 Cnc e with a Non-Grey General Circulation Model - R. Zhan

YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Kamber Schwarz @theschwarz.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I'm hiring a postdoc to work on new models of ionization chemistry in star and planet formation! Come join my new group at the University of Georgia: aas.org/jobregister/... ☄️

aas.org

Postdoctoral Position in Star and Planet Formation

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Georgia has an opening for a postdoctoral researcher working on the development of new chemical/dynamical models of protoplanetary disks in...

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Mark Marley @markmarley.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Great opportunity to come to LPL for a postdoc to work on outer solar system atmospheres w/ Prof. Tommi Koskinen. Exoplanet folks, this is your chance to broaden into solar system atmospheres & build your experience with a world expert on atmos. structure and E balance. aas.org/jobregister/...

aas.org

Postdoctoral research associate in planetary atmospheres

The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) at the University of Arizona invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in the field of solar system planetary science. The successful...

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 30/09/2026

One of the most harrowing things about academia, when you're a grad student, is how vulnerable you are to how you're perceived by more senior researchers. Your career advancement depends on confidential letters of reference & private discussions amongst faculty. You have no information or control.

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

the unpublished version become citations to the published version, regardless of the intention of the citing author or changes in the content that occurred during the refereeing process.

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I think it ceased to be a pre-print server when it became everyone's primary source for papers and when citations of pre-prints became the norm. It's no longer a solicitation of comments; it's a dissemination of the information to the community and people cite the papers as such. Citations to

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Dr Jake Taylor @astrojake.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

“Submitted to X” “to be submitted” etc etc has become the norm on arxiv, does no one care about peer review anymore?

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Having to reread a paper to find out if it has changed significantly is unbelievably frustrating.

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Anna Gifty @itsafronomics.blacksky.app · 28/09/2026

Let the history books show that STUDENT reporters brought national attention to unchecked abuse. I hope that their cups and opportunities forever overfloweth.This is courage.

abcnews.com

District attorney reopens case of alleged Cornell University 'gang rape'

Prosecutors in central New York say they are reopening the case of alleged gang rape at a Cornell University fraternity.

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 28/09/2026

New Horizons is now *three days away* from shutting off its two heliophysics instruments, simply because NASA has not provided the $2M in funding it had promised to the mission last year or this year. There is no science basis for shutting these off. Our earlier coverage:

science.org

NASA’s New Horizons mission may shut down two instruments over lack of funding

Decision risks “incalculable loss” of data from the edge of the Sun’s influence, scientists say

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Jens Notroff @jensnotroff.com · 27/09/2026

The world is watching. And shaking their head.

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Potassium and sodium are significant sources of electrons in hot Jupiter atmospheres, and thus they play an important role in the atmospheric coupling to the magnetic field, among other things. I have a paper out that looks that their thermochemical kinetics. #exoplanets arxiv.org/abs/2609.26432

arxiv.org

Transport and Thermochemical Kinetics of Alkali Species in Hot Jupiter Atmospheres: Implications for Magnetic Models

Interactions between the planetary magnetic field of a hot Jupiter and the winds within its atmosphere are moderated by the electron and ion abundances. For a solar metallicity atmosphere at pressures...

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Benjamin Pope @benjaminpope.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

when the AI bubble bursts and frontier labs collapse, open weights models will still be out there on the internet that anyone with a decent computer can run locally. I don't think we're prepared enough for how to deal with this

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Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

*8* postdoctoral positions in atmospheric physics, from the Earth to Exoplanets: aas.org/jobregister/... This is part of the Multiscale Physics of Clouds Across Planetary Atmospheres collaboration, funded by the Simons Foundation, led by Prof. @astrocaroline.bsky.social!

aas.org

Postdoctoral Researchers — Multiscale Physics of Clouds Across Planetary Atmospheres | American Astronomical Society

The Multiscale Physics of Clouds Across Planetary Atmospheres collaboration, funded by the Simons Foundation, is seeking 8 postdoctoral researchers to develop new approaches to understanding clouds ac...

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026

Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

* apathy, not necessarily antipathy, but maybe antipathy.

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

On October 8th, we begin our autumn Early Career Highlight series with two talks on 3D climate modelling by Ruizhi Zhan and Edouard Barrier. Sign up to our mailing list (details in our bio) to receive the Zoom link. #exoplanets #astronomy

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It is exhausting to hear people who are the most uncritical in pushing for LLM adoption in every aspect of our work express concern that it is going to cause a disaster. Do I reconcile this by questioning their sincerity or by inferring their compete and total antipathy about any consequences?

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

It's much easier for me to express concern about the actual rules than it is for me to come up with a better solution. 🫠 I sympathize with the committee as there isn't really a good option available to them as so much is out of their control.

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

What can fractionation during atmospheric escape tell us about the atmospheric composition? Matthäus Schulik has the answers. #exoplanets #astronomy www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Wx...

youtube.com

From Bulk to Space: Can atmospheric escape be a tool to probe lower atmospheres? - Matthäus Schulik

YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I worry that the nuance in the rules about LLM use by reviewers is going to be overlooked in practice. It'll get reduced to 'AAS allows reviewers to use LLMs' and our submissions will end up in some LLM's training data.

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

GPT-Ern Malley @denam.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

My read at least is him going "you dumb motherfuckers are destroying the intellectual commons" in an extremely nice and pleasant fashion

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Laura Kreidberg @lkreidberg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Fun paper out today from @sophiavaughan.bsky.social - analytic solutions for rotational broadening of reflected light from exoplanets in arbitrary orientations around their host stars. Rare to see an old-school math problem in exoplanet research today- Sophia crushed it! arxiv.org/abs/2609.05619 🔭

arxiv.org

Rotational broadening of exoplanet spectra in arbitrarily oriented systems: Application to reflected light

Exoplanet reflection spectra contain a wealth of information, which we are now beginning to access. At a high spectral resolution, the rotation of both the star and the planet affects the shape of the...

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

David Picard @davidpicard.eurosky.social · 08/09/2026

Remember folks, if it leaves your computer, it's no longer "your data"

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Laura Kreidberg @lkreidberg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Happy to share two postdoc ads for positions in the APEx department at MPIA - please spread the word! - direct imaging and spectroscopy of wide-separation planets with Wolfgang Brandner aas.org/jobregister/... - forward modeling of exoplanet atmospheres with Elsie Lee aas.org/jobregister/...

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BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The BOWIE+ seminar autumn schedule is out! Next week, we will begin with a talk by Matthäus Schulik of Imperial on his work on atmospheric escape. The rest of the autumn will be highlight talks by early career researchers. To get the zoom links, see the details in our bio. #exoplanets #astronomy

Upper left: A picture of Matthäus Schulik in front of ruins. To the right, the title of his upcoming talk -- From bulk to space -- on September 10th. Below, a table of other upcoming talks from October until December.
Bottom: text describing the BOWIE+ Collaboration: "We are a UK based collaboration with a focus on studying the atmospheres of exoplanets using the James Webb Space Telescope. We work together to create proposals for JWST GO time, holding both in-person and virtual collaborative meetings. If you are interested in getting involved, please reach out via our email: bowie.collaboration@gmail.com"

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Thankfully, I have been very fortunate to work for a number of great PIs, but I've also been a postdoc long enough to have seen postdocs be treated very poorly. Remind them of their rights and responsibilities at the beginning so that they are better prepared in the future.

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I have also seen PIs attempt to get their postdocs to waive their contractual rights with this "with them, not for them" rhetoric because they 'shouldn't view themselves as an employee.'

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

If something strains the relationship and it serves their interests, the PI (or if it is very serious, the administration) will quickly and in no uncertain terms remind the postdoc that they do not work "with" the PI and there is very much a power imbalance.

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

While I completely understand why PIs like to correct people and say their postdoc works "with them" and not "for them", and there are plenty of reasons why they might want to set the tone for a healthier working relationship at the beginning, I think this should discussion should be more nuanced.

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BOWIE+ Seminar Series @bowieseminar.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Cathal Maguire's talk on limb asymmetries in exoplanet atmospheres is now available, just in time to inspire your JWST proposal writing. #exoplanets #astronomy www.youtube.com/watch?v=f47c...

youtube.com

Limb from Limb: Observing Atmospheric Asymmetries from the Ground and Space - Cathal Maguire

YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars

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Alex Ip 葉清霖 @alexip718.com · 31/08/2026

I can no longer in good faith recommend anyone to study in the US, or stay stateside for work and further education after completing degree programs they had started during the Biden era. US higher ed is unrecognizable even compared to a year ago when ICE was kidnapping students from their homes

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Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I am shocked, shocked I tell you! Well, okay, not that shocked really.

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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

One way you know Dolly Parton lived life the right way: I don’t think anyone’s going to get fired for accurately quoting Dolly Parton today.

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Hannah Sanderson @han-san-planets.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Do you write in Overleaf? Follow these new instructions to make your PDFs screen reader accessible docs.overleaf.com/writing-and-...

docs.overleaf.com

Creating accessible PDFs in LaTeX | Overleaf docs

This page describes LaTeX accessibility in Overleaf and relevant considerations.

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

The University of Ghent has some complicity in platforming Nathan Cofnas. His current bio on his own page states he is a "postdoc" at Ghent. I hope for the sake of Ghent and its students this is a pretty short term postdoc. nathancofnas.com

nathancofnas.com

About - Nathan Cofnas

I work in the philosophy of biology (very broadly construed) and ethics, and the intersection of these fields. I’m particularly interested in scientific and ethical controversies connected with evolut...

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Bryn Jones @bryn00.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

The Guardian: "University of Cambridge whistleblower who reported alleged bullying wins employment tribunal" "Prof Wyn Evans, who raised concerns over treatment of female staff at Institute of Astronomy, was subject to ‘baseless’ investigation, judge rules" www.theguardian.com/education/20...

theguardian.com

University of Cambridge whistleblower who reported alleged bullying wins employment tribunal

Prof Wyn Evans, who raised concerns over treatment of female staff at Institute of Astronomy, was subject to ‘baseless’ investigation, judge rules

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ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Very excellent postdoc opportunity, at U. of Geneva, with collaborations across a very exciting Swiss exoplanet and life network. www.unige.ch/sciences/cvu...

unige.ch

Michel Mayor Fellowships - Centre pour la Vie dans l'Univers - UNIGE

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Leo Hickman @leohickman.carbonbrief.org · 30/07/2026

++BREAKING++ The UK and Spanish governments have issued a joint statement overnight: "[We] agreed that this summer’s wildfires demonstrated that climate change was now a national security emergency facing Europe and threatening our way of life." www.gov.uk/government/n...

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Evert Nasedkin @evertnasedkin.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

🔭 New paper day! 🪐 This time from Merle Schrader, a PhD student in the brown dwarf group at Trinity College Dublin. Today, they're publishing a fresh look at SIMP-0136, using principal component analysis, identifying the mechanisms driving its atmospheric variability. arxiv.org/abs/2607.26182

arxiv.org

The JWST weather report: Unravelling the atmospheric variability of isolated worlds using principal component analysis

Brown dwarf variability directly probes atmospheric dynamics beyond the Solar System, and recent JWST time-resolved spectroscopy has opened a new window into these processes. Principal component analy...

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Reposted by Duncan Christie

Harrison Nicholls @nichollsh.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

New paper on arXiv today! On the efficacy of using novel Bayesian machine learning to dispatch 'expensive' forward models of planetary evolution. This connects with #PLATO ageing and can help solve degeneracies in current static-retrieval approaches which treat #exoplanets as snapshots.

arxiv.org

Constraining the lives and times of exoplanets through evolutionary Bayesian retrievals

Static retrieval frameworks are leading tools for interpreting exoplanet observations, yet time-independent modelling leaves them prone to degeneracy and unable to resolve exoplanets' histories. The c...

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