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Elisabeth Matthews

@elisabethastro.bsky.social
367 followers 161 following 63 posts

Exoplanets, disks, and everything in between 🪐💫 ecmatthews.github.io she/her

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Reposted by Elisabeth Matthews
Bruce Macintosh @bmacastro.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This graph represents probably more than a hundred thousand hours of work by our community. Every year when I look at it I think our current proposal model is broken.
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Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie @mpi-astro.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
1/4 Eiswolken auf einem fernen „Super-Jupiter“: Mit dem #JWST hab @elisabethastro.bsky.social Hinweise auf Wassereiswolken in der Atmosphäre von Epsilon Indi Ab gefunden! 🌌 Die Entdeckung zeigt, dass die Atmosphären kalter Gasriesen viel komplexer sind als bisherige Modelle.
mpia.de
Astronomen entdecken einen Exo-Jupiter, der offenbar Wolken besitzt
Auf den Punkt gebracht: • Neue Beobachtungen: Astronomen haben mithilfe des James-Webb-Weltraumteleskops die Atmosphäre eines massereichen Jupiter-Analogons untersucht. • Hinweise auf Wolken: Überrasc...
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Happy to share that my latest paper is published in ApJL today 🪐 we study the closest and coldest imaged exoplanet, with a particular focus on ammonia and clouds in its atmosphere. @mpi-astro.bsky.social wrote up an article explaining our findings here: www.mpia.de/news/science...
mpia.de
Astronomers find an exo-Jupiter, and it seems to have clouds
To the point ● New observations: Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of a massive Jupiter-analogue. ● Evidence for clouds: Surprisingly, the observations ind...
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JWST Observer @jwstobserver.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
The #JWST Cycle 5 General Observer Program selections have been made. Find out what JWST will study in its fifth year of science, which begins July 1, 2026: ow.ly/M4UQ50YtvP4
Illustration of Webb's hexagonal mirror segments each showing a different space image centered on a starry background
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Beautiful new direct imaging of the exoplanet Eps Ind Ab with the #JWST MIRI coronagraphs by Elisabeth Matthews of @mpi-astro.bsky.social et al - confirming previous detection of ammonia in its atmosphere, and suggesting the presence of water ice clouds. Great work! 🔭 arxiv.org/abs/2603.08780
arxiv.org
A second visit to Eps Ind Ab with JWST: new photometry confirms ammonia and suggests thick clouds in the exoplanet atmosphere of the closest super-Jupiter
With JWST, we are directly imaging cold (~200-300K), solar-age giant exoplanets for the first time. At these temperatures many molecular features appear and water-ice clouds may condense and affect th...
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Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie @mpi-astro.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
Are you a bachelor or master student anywhere in the world, and would like to come to us to work full-time on a supervised research project? Applications for the 2026 MPIA Summer Internship are open now!
mpia.de
Summer internships
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Bibiana Prinoth @bibianaprinoth.ch · 17/12/2025
The application for the ESO Summer Research Programme 2026 has just opened! It‘s a six week programme in Garching close to Munich where pre-Ph.D students can work on a hands-on project. Working at @eso.org is a fabulous experience, so please help me spread the word ✨ 🔗 eso.org/sci/meetings...
eso.org
ESO - SummerResearch2026
ESO is the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. It operates the La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile and has its headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany.
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
The MPIA call for summer interns is now live! This is a great opportunity for bachelors & masters students from anywhere in the world to come an complete a three month, fully funded research project in beautiful Heidelberg. Check it out here: www.mpia.de/en/careers/i...
mpia.de
Summer internships
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Laura Kreidberg @lkreidberg.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Update on the atmosphere vs no atmosphere debate for TRAPPIST-1 b and c -- here's a nice and (IMO) conclusive result from Gillon and Ducrot et al.: no thick atmosphere on either planet. arxiv.org/pdf/2509.02128
arxiv.org
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paulmolliere.bsky.social @paulmolliere.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Our paper on PSO J318 is finally out 💪 . I want to thank all of my coauthors who made this study possible 🙇 !! It could be that we see the first cloud seeding nuclei forming at the top of the atmosphere…? arxiv.org/abs/2507.18691
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Johanna Vos @johannavos.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
It’s a beautiful day in Cork to kick off our symposium on giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs #EAS2025
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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 10/06/2025
NEWS: #NASAWebb has directly imaged a cold exoplanet in an extremely misaligned orbit for the first time. The observations have surprised researchers in more than one way: webbtelescope.pub/3ZSctun #AAS246 🔭 🧪
This image shows the exoplanet 14 Herculis c. The view is mostly black, with very faint red splotches in the central region of the image. At the center of the image, there is a black circle, and in the center of that, there is a star symbol representing a real star. This black circle blocks the light from the host star. To the lower right of the circle is a fuzzy bright orange circle, which is the exoplanet.
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Ethan Siegel @startswithabang.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
The evidence for biosignatures on K2-18b is flimsy, at best Last week, Cambridge scientists announced the discovery of DMS and DMDS on K2-18b: what they call a "surefire biosignature." Now, cut through the hype and get to the truth. bigthink.com/starts-with-... #space #astronomy #science
bigthink.com
The evidence for biosignatures on K2-18b is flimsy, at best
A Cambridge-based team claims to find molecules on an exoplanet that are only produced by life on Earth. Don't fall for the unfounded hype.
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Dr Ryan MacDonald @distantworlds.space · 17/04/2025
𝗡𝗼, 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝟮-𝟭𝟴𝗯'𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. K2-18b is back in the news, now with a bold claim that biosignature molecules (DMS and/or DMDS) have been 'detected at 3σ'. Most exoplanet astronomers are extremely sceptical about these claims, let's see why (1/n). 🔭🧪🪐 #exoplanet
Artist's impression of the exoplanet K2-18b.
Credit: A. Smith, University of Cambridge.
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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
At some point we need to have a discussion about the ethics of participation in press releases as scientists. From today’s K2-18b saga, Nikku Madhusudhan in the press release says ‘The signal came through loud and clear’ (1/n)
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Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
A direct imaging claim by Lagrange+ [arxiv.org/abs/2502.15081](“Evidence for a sub-jovian planet in the young TWA7 disk”) - a very clear point source but only one epoch… but it’s in the gap in the disk around the star. Will be exciting to see follow up. 🔭🪐 #astrodon
An image with a black circle in the middle that represents the blocked out light of the central star, with a bright point source to the upper left of the star at about 1 arcsecond. To the right is another point source, a background star and a galaxy.An image taken in polarized scattered light, showing the circumstellar disk around the star. The disk is face on and symmetric, apart from a wide faint gap in the upper left. The position of the gap is identical to the location of the candidate companion.
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Delighted to share that my latest paper is finally out 🔭🪐 find it here arxiv.org/abs/2502.13610. This has been a real team effort -- huge thanks to my co-authors and the whole of the MIRI GTO team ✨
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 25/09/2024
Nice writeup from @yollevoreloj.bsky.social of our recent paper, peering at a nearby exoplanet -- check it out! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Oldest and coldest: JWST claims a first for exoplanet imaging
JWST has opened a window on exoplanet imaging by observing the planet ε Indi Ab directly. The planet’s existence had been inferred, but its age and temperature made the discovery difficult to confirm ...
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Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 30/08/2024
With astronomy job season approaching, if you’re a PhD or early postdoc, PLEASE make a webpage and put your current contact details on it, so that searching for “< your name > astronomer” finds you first - more explanation how and why here: Unsolicited Advice #astrodon 🔭🪐
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Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie @mpi-astro.bsky.social · 24/07/2024
A team of researchers led by MPIA's @elisabethastro.bsky.social used JWST to image an old cold gas giant exoplanet. The measurement opens the door to studying cold Jupiter-like planets on wide orbits around old stars to test model 🔭 www.mpia.de/news/science...
mpia.de
Webb images nearest super-Jupiter, opening a new window to exoplanet research
James Webb Space Telescope delivers image of the coldest exoplanet ever observed, opening a new chapter in exoplanet research.
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 24/07/2024
What’s the coolest exoplanet you’ve ever seen?
JWST image of the planet Eps Ind Ab. Faint blue starlight is scattered in the center, and the planet appears as a bright red blob in the left of this image.
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 04/06/2024
Hello astronomy hive mind! I'm looking for examples of exoplanet systems where a planet has been found - say at period A - and then a later paper claims that there is no planet at period A but there *is* a planet at period B that explains the data for the original planet claim. Any pointers?
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Emily Hunt @emily.space · 20/02/2024
One of the most useful little websites is symbolsalad.com, which has a huge range of mathematical and scientific unicode characters (like ¹ ₆ ≈ × ∞ + all Greek letters) on a simple webpage that doesn't have ads. There's something so nostalgic about simple websites that just... work.
symbolsalad.com
Symbol Salad
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Caroline Morley @astrocaroline.bsky.social · 26/01/2024
Hi Bluesky! I'm advertising a position to join our modeling efforts to bring GPUs and machine learning/AI into both self-consistent and retrieval models for exoplanets. If you have interest in either ML/AI or in modeling brown dwarfs/exoplanets, please apply! due 2/12 jobregister.aas.org/ad/0395a595
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Astrobites @astrobites.bsky.social · 28/11/2023
November 30th is approaching 👀
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Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 23/11/2023
A paper on the exoplanet #BetaPictoris b led by Leiden student Rico Landman showcasing CRIRES+ on the VLT - arxiv.org/abs/2311.13527 precise measurements of CO and water, P_rot=8.7hr and a RV precision of 0.3km/s. Hmm, 0.3km/s precision.... now there's an interesting thought! 🔭🪐
Cross correlation plots showing a clear detection of water and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere of Beta Pictoris b. The signal appears as a clear yellow dot in a sea of dark purple and black.
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Beatriz Campos Estrada, PhD @exobeatriz.bsky.social · 22/11/2023
If you are thinking of applying to the postdoc position in exoplanet atmospheres at the University of Copenhagen, please feel free to reach out to me and ask any questions about my experience there 🙃
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Johanna Vos @johannavos.bsky.social · 20/11/2023
🚨🚨I'm hiring !!🚨🚨 I’m looking for a Research Fellow to join my team at Trinity College Dublin to work on Extrasolar Atmospheres ☘️🪐☁️🔭 Deadline: December 31st  Ad: jobregister.aas.org/ad/c1a19f23 Please share widely!
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Laura Lopez @ohdearz.bsky.social · 30/10/2023
Reminder that the Big Ten Academic Alliance Fee Waiver program gives waivers for 15 schools' PhD programs (including OSU astro and OSU physics) for US citizen students w/ 3.0+ GPAs and diverse backgrounds! Easy form to complete due by Nov 15. btaa.org/resources-fo...
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 23/10/2023
HR8799 JWST data 👀 the inner disk is detected! and all four planets! what a beautiful dataset, congrats Anthony Boccaletti and team 🪐🔭🧪💫 arxiv.org/abs/2310.13414
JWST MIRI coronagraphic images of HR8799. Top row shows data, and bottom row shows model, for wavelengths 10.65micron, 11.40micron, 15.50micron and 23.0micron. All four planets are seen at 10.65micron, and the inner disk is clearly seen at 15.5micron and especially 23micron.
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Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie @mpi-astro.bsky.social · 10/10/2023
Am kommenden Samstag ist es soweit – dann gehen bei uns eine ganze Menge Türen auf. Wer in der Gegend ist: schaut doch mal vorbei, bei unserem Tag der Offenen Tür! 14. Oktober von 10 bis 17 Uhr. Es gibt viel zu sehen, zu hören und zu machen – z.B. auch für Kinder! www.mpia.de/tdot2023
Überblick des MPIA-Campus mit Beschriftung "Tag der Offenen Tür, 14.10.2023, 10 bis 17 Uhr"
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 10/10/2023
so much cool science so little time 🪐🔭🧪
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Caroline Morley @astrocaroline.bsky.social · 04/10/2023
I am hoping to hire a postdoc to start in the summer or fall, to work on exoplanet or brown dwarf atmospheres! Details here: jobregister.aas.org/ad/c0d2c3a8 Join us here in beautiful Austin!
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 26/09/2023
and relax
a screeshot of the ESO proposal interface, showing two proposals with the status "submitted"
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Dr Ryan MacDonald @distantworlds.space · 13/09/2023
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 '𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲'. Ok, probably everyone has seen the headlines about K2-18b by now. I've put together this thread to collate some thoughts on why many exoplanet astronomers are pretty sceptical about these claims - THREAD (1/N)
Transmission spectrum graphic of the exoplanet K2-18b made by NASA
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András Gáspár @andrasgaspar.bsky.social · 11/09/2023
Just a little over 6 weeks until JWST Cy3 GO proposals are due! 🔭
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 08/09/2023
Excited to spend the day thinking about JWST proposal ideas at STSci - thanks @astrorickman.bsky.social for hosting! 🪐💫🔭
The entrance to the space telescope science institute in baltimore, which features a large sign reading "go, webb, go!"
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Jonathan McDowell @planet4589.bsky.social · 08/09/2023
Kudos to Rachel Bowens-Rubin (who I don't know) for the best paper title of the week ( arxiv.org/abs/2309.03402 ) : "A Wolf 359 in sheep's clothing". (ST:TNG fans will appreciate)
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 01/09/2023
We had a great time hosting some debris disk experts at the MPIA this week for a JWST proposal workshop! Also really enjoyed the seminar from Tim Pearce and the MPIA colloquium from Sasha Hinkley - lots of good science to come for exoplanet and debris disk imaging 🪐
Sasha Hinkley presents a slide titled "direct imaging of exoplanets", with images of the well-known beta pictoris and PDS 70 systemsTim Pearce presents a slide with a cartoon of a debris disk around a star
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Emily Hunt @emily.space · 22/08/2023
And if you do... maybe send them the astronomy feed details too? 😇🔭 bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jcoy7v3a2t…
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Elisabeth Matthews @elisabethastro.bsky.social · 16/08/2023
Had such a nice time last week at the UK Exoplanet meeting - thanks again to all the organizers! 🔭 Some personal highlights for me was learning about young transiting planets from Ed Gillen, and SO2 from @drjovian.bsky.social (watch out for a very cool result soon 👀). It's also always ... (1/2)
A welcome slide featuring the UK Exoplanet Meeting 2023 logo, presented by Vincent Van EylenA slide from Ed Gillen, showing the distribtion of known young planets and nearby young stars, as well as the timescales for various planet evolution processesA slide from Joanna Barstow highlighting the chemical reaction that converts H2S into SO2 via photochemistryThe conclusion slide from Ares Osborn's EDI talk, highlighting various ways to make change - eductaing yourself, volunteering your time, or joining advocacy groups such as Black in Astro and Astronomers for Planet Earth
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András Gáspár @andrasgaspar.bsky.social · 16/08/2023
Astrofriends and followers! Remember our beautiful JWST image of the Fomalhaut system that was published a few months ago? Well, our program to observe the nearest debris disks will obtain data on our next target in three days: Vega!
JWST image of the Fomalhaut debris disk
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 15/08/2023
TIL that the European Space Agency have updated their branding strategy to allow brands & retailers to use its logo more easily - good stuff www.esa.int/About_Us/Corporate_news…
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 13/08/2023
Teachers of bluesky! Caltech/IPAC has a paid opportunity for educators to do authentic research with NASA astronomers. Travel is covered! Come hang out!!!
nitarp.ipac.caltech.edu
NITARP - NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program
NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program
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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 13/08/2023
Oh look, it's me, interrupting your evening with another outrageous climate graph. Higher resolution available at zacklabe.com/global-sea-ice-extent-… 🧪
Line graph time series of 2023's daily global sea ice extent in red shading compared to each year from 1979 to 2022 using shades of purple to white for each line. There is substantial interannual and daily variability. Seasonal cycles are visible.
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 07/08/2023
Huddle up. We gotta get word out to teachers that @skypeascientist.bsky.social is a FREE program that matches their classrooms with scientists. During recruitment season we try to make sure we hit every US State. We're in 39 so far! Spread the word! www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
A teal and white and gray and navy blue graphic all about "How to Skype a Scientist" with the following list "Step 1: Sign up on SkypeAScientist.com

Step 2: Pick a category of science your group would like to talk about (e.g. marine biology, chemistry, astronomy)

Step 3: Get a match via email

Step 4: Connect with your scientist, discuss your class's needs, and pick a time to chat

Step 5: Talk to your scientist!"

Also there is the Skype a Scientist logo in the bottom left corner and little graphics of a test tube, and microscope and DNA
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Jonathan Huie, PhD @jmhuie.bsky.social · 05/08/2023
Sorry I can’t come to the phone right, I’m too busy looking at fish in the Great Barrier Reef 😎🧪
Big wrasse being cleaned by a cleaner wrassePuffer fish, some coral, and some smaller fishMantis shrimp looking at youA remora stuck to a larger fish
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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 05/08/2023
🔭 the AAS published this informative article about virtual participation at their meeting. Tl;dr: uptake is low, it’s financially unsustainable. aas.org/posts/news/2023/08/future-v…
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Hannah Wakeford @stellarplanet.bsky.social · 26/07/2023
JOB ADVERT for a Research/Senior Research Associate in Exoplanet Atmospheres to interpret spectroscopic data from JWST using theoretical models and/or analytical models - Come join our team at Bristol UK
bristol.ac.uk
Details | Working at Bristol | University of Bristol
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