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AstroMonnier

@astromonnier.bsky.social
88 followers 76 following 82 posts

John Monnier, Professor of Astronomy, U. of Michigan Favorite Things: Imaging Stars & Exoplanets with Interferometry Developer: MIRC-X, MYSTIC, STARI 2014 Michelson Investigator Prize; 2019 AAS Joseph Weber Award monnier.us Opinions my own.

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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
It was great getting up Sunday morning and watch the flawless launch of Roman Space Telescope! And great job @dominicbenford.bsky.social on #NASA TV with clear explanations of the science goals!
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
This is a great summary of the potential for space interferometry of exoplanets.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 19/04/2026
Disturbing. Are accreditation agencies paying attention? www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...
washingtonpost.com
Students are speeding through their online degrees in weeks, alarming educators
Some online colleges allow students to take unlimited courses on their own time, leading to quick degrees and worries about devaluing credentials.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
But he didnt know about interferometry. The #chara Array is just down the road from these amazing solar towers continuing this legacy. We can now study quite a diverse range of stars in quite some detail with milliarcsecond resolution.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Happy New Years! I will be attending AAS Meeting in Phoenix to present a poster on our STARI Mission. Look me up to learn more or to catch up. starimission.space
starimission.space
STARI: STarlight Acquisition and Reflection toward Interferometry
Space website with enhanced multi‑layer parallax.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
Working on my first AAS "iPoster"... I hadn't realized the presenting screens are much smaller than a typical physical poster and so not sure this is really an upgrade for most people. What am I missing?
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
My STARI (starimission.space) Collaborators Simone D'Amico and Sam Low (Stanford) took time to make this image as we prepare for our System Requirements Review on Friday! tinyurl.com/4ett99wv #stari #nasa @jwcutler.bsky.social
Real image of Super Moon by Sam Low with mock up of the STARI formation flying mission included with an artistic touch by Simone D'Amico
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Happy to announce a paper 20+ years in the making: arxiv.org/abs/2512.06066 In a huge group effort with new data from VLA, ATCA, Swift, Chandra, Keck aperture masking, and Keck adaptive optics, we report a "shocking" result about colliding wind WR112. Enjoy! Let me know if you have any questions!
arxiv.org
Revealing the accelerating wind in the inner region of the colliding-wind binary WR 112
Colliding winds in massive binaries generate X-ray-bright shocks, synchrotron radio emission, and sometimes even dusty "pinwheel" spirals. We report the first X-ray detections of the dusty WC+O binary...
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 07/12/2025
BREAKING: No. 2 Indiana beats No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 for its first Big Ten championship since 1967 and likely lock up the top seed in the playoff.
bit.ly
No. 2 Indiana beats No. 1 Ohio St. 13-10 to end Big Ten title drought, lock up top playoff seed
Fernando Mendoza’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt gave No. 2 Indiana the lead midway through the third quarter and the Hoosiers' stingy defense pitched a shutout the rest of the way to beat No. 1 Ohio State 13-10 for their first Big Ten championship since 1967 while likely locking up the t
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
When I was a grad student, we dreamed of imaging nova (and supernova) explosions with our then-new infrared interferometers. And while we are still waiting for a Milky Way SUPERnova, we CAN now see novae go boom using CHARA with instruments built at U. Michigan! news.umich.edu/seeing-stell...
news.umich.edu
Seeing stellar explosions in high definition
An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Michigan, has captured unprecedented images of two stellar explosions—known as novae—within days of their eruption.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 22/10/2025
Ha. The “Urban Experience Fee” unexpectedly cost us an extra $25 extra per night during our recent stay in Chicago. But look at what amenities were included:
Card showing the benefits
Of the Urban experience fee in a chicago hotel
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Amazing work solving a tricky calibration problem with JWST aperture masking data! Any hope to improve ground-based systematics with this general approach? @benjaminpope.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2510.09806
arxiv.org
AMIGO: a Data-Driven Calibration of the JWST Interferometer
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) hosts a non-redundant Aperture Masking Interferometer (AMI) in its Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument, providing the only dedicate...
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Its much harder to help my kids with homework post-covid with no textbooks. Can’t help but wonder if the move to online resources is hurting learning across the board, but especially middle and high school.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Thanks @planet4589.bsky.social One ride to terminator every few years.... Check it out, @jwcutler.bsky.social !
Two-panel meme. Top: hand-drawn sketch of Earth, Sun, and a red sun-synchronous orbit, with notes asking about allowed orbit angles. Caption: “How it started.” Bottom: polished 3D visualization of Earth with day/night shadow, orange SSO orbits, blue other orbits, and a red terminator line. Caption: “How it’s going.”
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
🚀 Rideshare reality check: @planet4589.bsky.social — is there a good source for CubeSat drop-off orbits from the past 5 years? I’m modeling #STARI (a LEO formation-flying mission) and need to know the most common insertion orbits. Dream case is SSO terminator—but I’m told those are unicorns 🦄.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
Bravo to the organizers of the 2025 #smallsat Conference! Lively talks, great interactions, and flawless organization — plus free coffee, ice cream, lunches, and industry socials that set a high bar. Hope #AAS and #SPIE are taking notes! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Excited to attend my first SmallSat conference in Salt Lake City this week. Many cool CubeSat missions and innovative companies exhibiting. I’ll talk about our formation flying mission STARI later in week. #smallsat #stari
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
Really hate to see Stanford going back on its pledge to halt legacy admissions. stanforddaily.com/2025/08/06/s...
stanforddaily.com
Stanford to continue legacy admissions, reinstate standardized test requirements
New admissions criteria announced a continuation of legacy consideration and a reinstatement of the standardized testing requirement for class of 2030 applicants
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
Bravo.. “ — making “Harvard astronomer” the scientific equivalent of “Florida man” didn’t just happen; it took long-term dedication.”
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
It is cool to see a movie about local Ann Arbor History funded by kickstarter! Congratulations to the filmakers! www.kickstarter.com/projects/196...
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
For those also waiting, I just got a late NSF-ATI rejection today. The letter says only 10% success rate, notably lower than historical practice. With MRI shutdown for next year, I suspect ATI (the only other NSF instrumentation programs) will be overwhelmed!
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Ok. So NSF has officially cut funding for one of its largest instrumentation programs for next year. Hope this is temporary. www.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...
nsf.gov
Changes to NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program for FY 2026
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Spent time to visit Copernicus in old Krakow. He worked at The Jagiellonian University in Krakow, the 4th oldest University in Europe, where they started out only teaching 3 disciplines: Law, Medicine, and Astronomy.
John in front of Copernicus statue in Krakow
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 10/06/2025
I’d like to advertise the Michigan Society of Fellows, a unique opportunity for recent PhDs to carry out cutting edge research while also developing their teaching skills. Any Interferometrists or ELT-METISians interested? Note early deadline Sep 15. societyoffellows.umich.edu/the-fellowsh...
societyoffellows.umich.edu
The Fellowship – University of Michigan Society of Fellows, Established 1970
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Fellow Astronomers: With ApJ page charges running $3K these days, what are some alternate journals to submit to?
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Ive also been disappointed by the silence of our National Academy of Sciences. Perhaps if the membership of the NAS itself was being cut by 50% we would hear more complaint. arstechnica.com/science/2025...
arstechnica.com
US science is being wrecked, and its leadership is fighting the last war
Facing an extreme budget, the National Academies hosted an event that ignored it.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Reasonable NSF budget cut: * Choose to support only one Extremely Large Telescope Project Unreasonable NSF budget cut: * Choose to support only one of the two essential LIGO Gravitational Wave Interferometer detector sites.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Space science is probably the only area in technology that the USA is the undisputed world leader. Squandered.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
Maybe this has been written before, but one of explanations for the increased and more widespread administrative mayhem of the new govt compared to last must be chatgpt.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
I could not disagree more with revoking student visas based on nationality. As the PhD advisor of multiple international students over past 20years, there is no doubt our Country is stronger and more prosperous with their contributions.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Potentially legit reasons to withdraw tax-exempt status for Universities: * increasing student tuition faster than inflation * paying U Presidents >$1M/yr Not legitimate reasons: * defending student and faculty academic freedom * pursuing DEI activities legally allowed by state and federal laws
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Will US news outlets please verify and shine a spotlight on these abuses? Does not MAGA. www.news.com.au/travel/trave...
news.com.au
Ex-cop jailed and deported during holiday to US
A former NSW police officer has described the terrifying ordeal she faced after she was detained, jailed overnight and deported from the United States – despite travelling there legally on a tourist visa to visit her US military husband.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Great seeing these dust shells. Im finishing an update paper on WR112. Now do mysterious WR98a !
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
The politicization of basic government functions must not stand. Thanks for the reporting and spreading this news.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
Nice article summarizing some unexpected radial velocity results!
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Stand Up for Science! @standupforscience.net · 02/05/2025
🔔BREAKING🔔 The NSF has frozen all research grant awards—cutting off life-saving science midstream and demanding ideological screenings for future funding. This is censorship disguised as oversight. Here’s how you can help us spread the word ➡️🧵(1/3): www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Exclusive: NSF stops awarding new grants and funding existing ones
US science funder also plans to screen grant applications for compliance with ‘agency priorities’.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Words are Wind… www.michigandaily.com/opinion/op-e...
michigandaily.com
In defense of our institutional independence
This University is a proud public university that belongs to all of us and generations to follow. It is a place to test ideas, shape futures and pursue, not prescribe, truth.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
University of Michigan faculty overwhelmingly vote to establish mutual defense compact with other BIg 10 schools (93% in favor). But will the Administration listen?
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
An amazing result out of Ben Setterholm’s PhD thesis hit the arxiv. Using sub-au imaging of the inner disk of HD163296 using CHARA, Ben found a hot spot at the dust destruction wall orbiting 2x slower than expected, possibly shepherded by an unseen giant planet. More at: arxiv.org/abs/2504.12046
arxiv.org
The Dynamic Inner Disk of a Planet Forming Star
Planets are a natural byproduct of the stellar formation process, resulting from local aggregations of material within the disks surrounding young stars. Whereas signatures of gas-giant planets at lar...
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Channelling my favorite bluesky Starfleet Officer @georgetakei.bsky.social : “Oh Myyy!”
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Ben Ross @benross.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Steve Kerr wore a Harvard basketball shirt after the Warriors’ win tonight: “Yes, this is me supporting Harvard. Way to go. Way to stand up to the bully.”
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 16/04/2025
Yes. This.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Let’s even hope that a University that made an earlier politically-expedient decision will find new Courage to join the forces defending free inquiry and academic freedom.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
Amazing courage. Thank you!
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Nature @nature.com · 13/04/2025
Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway go.nature.com/4jNRukb
go.nature.com
Science’s big problem is a loss of influence, not a loss of trust
Nature - Evidence shows that science and scientists remain highly trusted. But genuine scientific voices are not shouting loud enough over the noise to hold sway.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
AOC: We must acknowledge the terrifying moment we are in right now. What we are hearing and seeing with our own eyes is, in fact, happening. We are watching our neighbors, students, and friends being fired, targeted, and disappeared. It is real.
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Michael Yarbrough (he/him) @mwyarbrough.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Local news coverage of Indiana University-Bloomington's Faculty Council endorsing a Mutual Academic Defense Compact (MADC). Faculties of three state flagships so far have called for a united front: Rutgers (whole system), IU-Bloomington, UMass-Amherst. Michigan starts voting this week Who's next?
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
We now seem to be on a course for record-high deficits coupled with record-low investments in basic science research. Neither bode well for the future.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 09/04/2025
Breaking News: The Trump administration has frozen more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell University and $790 million for Northwestern, two officials said.
nytimes.com
Trump Officials Freeze $1 Billion for Cornell and $790 Million for Northwestern
The funding pause amid civil rights investigations into both universities sharply escalates the Trump administration’s campaign against elite colleges.
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AstroMonnier @astromonnier.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Well.. glad we aren’t in a nuclear missile crisis….
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