iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Tarantula's Heart (May 2026) [acrylic on canvas]. I started working on this piece in August 2025. It was inspired by the JWST NIRCam image mosaic of the Tarantula Nebula's star-forming region. I have changed the colour palette to show more pinks and purples. 🐡🔭🎨

Canvas hanging on a wall with the label Tarantula's Heart. Vivid colours on a black background show the nebula.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Last year I had the pleasure of designing the cover for Stefan van der Giessen's thesis titled "The resolved lifecycle of metals and dust in nearby galaxies." For his PhD, Stefan combined multiwavelength observations of nearby galaxies with hydrodynamic simulations and chemical evolution models. 🔭🐡

Photo of a hand holding a book. The book has a dark background with half a red/orange spiral galaxy in the foreground. The title reads "The resolved lifecycle of metals and dust in nearby galaxies". The author is Stefan Anthony van der Giessen.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

Are you a Southeast Asian student (3rd-year undergrad and above) interested in astronomy research and STEM careers? Join an international virtual astronomy program featuring lectures, discussions, hands-on projects, and mentorship! July–Sept 2026 Register: bit.ly/IVC2026ast Deadline: 17 June 🔭

Text that reads, "International Virtual Course (IVC) 2026. International Virtual Course (IVC) 2026 – Southeast Asian STEM Through Astronomy Research (SEASTAR)."
"This collaborative course and project, offered by ITB, CfA Harvard & Smithsonian, NARIT, Mahidol University, Universiti Malaya, and International Islamic University Malaysia, includes lectures on fundamental concepts, paper discussions, hands-on projects, and student presentations."
Profiles of lecturers and mentors.

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Dr Emma Muhlack @dremmamuhlack.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Well to the surprise of absolutely NOBODY, the Australian University Census on Staff Wellbeing found that the sector is (to put it mildly) a bit fucked when it comes to psychosocial safety climate, with 44% of respondents in a very high risk environment. #AcademicSky

a figure displaying survey respondents and their placement in low, medium, high, or very high risk environments. Benchmark figures are between 54 and 62% low, and 11-12% very high. The census in question has a low risk placement of 18%, and a very high risk placement of 44%.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

New frontiers 🔭🎨 This art was inspired by one of the first images released by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The Rubin Observatory will capture images of the entire sky every few days using the 3200 megapixel LSST camera, allowing astronomers to identify and study targets that move or change. (1/5)

digital art with an orange, yellow gaseous background, a central pink elongated nebula, and a top right pink and blue circular nebula. Lanes of dark brown dust clouds are across the image.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Thank you Jonathan for your decades of work shaping such an amazing program! Very cool to think about/see how many people's lives you've influenced.

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Jeyhan Kartaltepe @jeyhan.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

It's finally here! We've just released all of our COSMOS-Web images and catalogs, along with an interactive viewer where you can explore the data! Check it out at: cosmos2025.iap.fr

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Today, my colleague Christian at Leiden University successfully defended his PhD thesis, "Galaxy Clusters in the Decameter Sky"! In it, he mapped the sky at a relatively unexplored range of radio frequencies—10–30 MHz—using the LOFAR telescope. I had the honour of designing Christian’s thesis cover!

Cover of a PhD thesis titled "Galaxy Clusters in the Decameter Sky" by Christian Groeneveld. The background features real decameter-wavelength radio data in glowing green tones, filled with faint point-like sources. At the center is an abstract, swirling digital illustration representing the Perseus galaxy cluster, with luminous filaments and a bright central core, evoking the turbulent energy of radio halos.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

My mini painting of the Pillars of Creation was inspired by the JWST NIRCam image. This region of active star formation lies ~6,500 lyr away. Glowing red lines near the edges of some pillars reveal where stars are ejecting material as they form. 🔭🧪 🎨

painting of the "pillars of creation". The three pillars are brown, but also have red and yellow colours

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

The Neuroverse Initiative @neuroverse-tni.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Hi bluesky 👋🏻 We're a brand new 501(c)3 non-profit that works at the intersection of neurodiversity 🧠 and space science 🚀 If you're neurodivergent and in space aligned fields/interests, then we are here to help you!! FOLLOW US here so you're the first to know when we roll out our programs!

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Astronomers for Planet Earth @a4e.org · 20/12/2024

Dear all! Come celebrate A4E's 5th Anniversary! Thursday, January 23, 2025, UTC 0800-1100 & UTC 1800-2100; Zoom + Spatial VR. Will you discuss with us where A4E can be in another 5 years? All info and registration at astronomersforplanet.earth/5th-annivers...

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

James Trayford @trayford.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

...and here's the sonified video of a prototype COLIBRE test simulation - conveying star formation and cosmic thermodynamics with sound! More info in the YT description... 🧪🔭⚡ ⚛️🎵🐡 #extragalactic #musicianfeed #philsci #art #stellarastro #cosmology #EduSky youtu.be/4BPFHTVMmbQ?...

youtu.be

Galaxy Formation - A Sonification

YouTube video by Audio Universe

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

James Trayford @trayford.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Check out this article from STFC about our sonification of astronomical data, and beyond! including a new sonification at the end - perceive multi-scale information about galaxy formation in our cosmological simulations... 🧪🔭⚡🐡. medium.com/big-science-...

medium.com

The sound of silence: how sound brings space to life

The vacuum of space is famously silent, but what if you were able to use sound to help you visualise the Universe? What would a black hole…

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

I'm a #QueerinSTEM astronomer. Having queer communities and safe spaces, especially in the workplace, is so important! Which reminds me of the asto outlis, which can help you find queer astronomers and allies near you astro-outlist.github.io

astro-outlist.github.io

Astronomy and Astrophysics Outlist

Outlist and ally list for LGBTQIA+ members in the astronomy and astrophysics community

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 09/10/2024

I'm excited to take part in Dragonfly Mental Health's Global Migration on October 10th, celebrating World Mental Health Day and raising awareness about #MentalHealth in #academia. I'll be delivering a Basics of Burnout Seminar at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, USA

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 29/09/2024

Mixed media Witch Head Nebula. The Witch Head Nebula, also known as IC 2118, is a reflection nebula located about 900 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. 🐡🔭 #Sciart #spaceart #witch 1/4

Photo of a square canvas surrounded by fairy lights. On the canvas is the artwork of the witch head nebula.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 23/08/2024

I really enjoy watching videos of acrylic pours and it was very fun to incorporate the technique for these paintings 1. Impressions of a gas giant 2. Impressions of an exo-moon 3. Impressions of Mercury 4. Impressions of Mars. #SciArt 🔭🐡 #spaceart #planet #acrylicpouring

Photo of a painting of a planet with gold, red, white, hues on a square canvas. Stars in the background.

Photo of a painting of a circular object, the exo-moon, with purple, blue, red, orange circles blending together. Gold flecks are scattered across the surface.

Photo of a painting of a planet with silver, grey, and white colors.

A photo of a painting on a square canvas of a planet that is orange and red, reminiscent of Mars. Gold flecks are also on the surface.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 14/08/2024

Multiwavelength view of NGC 2207 and IC 2163 #spaceart 🔭 #sciart The larger and more massive galaxy in this image is NGC 2207, while the smaller one is IC 2163. (1/7)

Photo of a painting showing two spiral galaxies merging

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 11/07/2024

This is my digital art of NGC 1360, the robin's egg nebula, inspired by the Astronomy Picture of the Day Aug 5, 2023: apod.nasa.gov/apod/a... 🔭 #procreate #digitalart #spaceart 1/3

Digital art: black background and a turquoise egg shaped nebula with pink in the centre and some dark cloudy dust lanes across it. A few stars spattered across the image.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 21/06/2024

Yesterday my dear friend and colleague Marta Frias Castillo defended her thesis on measuring cold molecular gas across cosmic time. I had the pleasure of designing her thesis cover. Congratulations Dr Frias Castillo 🎉

Thesis front cover. Star forming regions in subtle orange colours with the title "measuring cold molecular gas across cosmic time" and the author "Marta Frias Castillo"

Back cover: orange coloured star forming regions with a hidden Mickey Mouse cloud.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 25/04/2024

It's not too late to fill out @remo-cost.bsky.social's STAIRCASE survey! It aims to understand the impact of working conditions on mental health and well-being in academia, enabling evidence-based recommendations for impactful change. projects.tib.eu/remo/remo-co...

projects.tib.eu

STAIRCASE Survey

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

Was it just me or was most of that image blank? Trying again! 🔭🧪🎨

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 16/04/2024

Digital Art: The Penguin Galaxy, aka Arp 142. 🎨🔭 🐧 I first encountered the Penguin Galaxy through the Galaxy Zoo Project, one of the most successful citizen science initiatives (imo). 1/7

Digital art of two merging galaxies. The top galaxy looks like a penguin with its beak pointing left and the bottom left galaxy looks smooth and round like an egg.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 15/04/2024

April is both PMDD and Autism awareness month. It was cool to see a man talk about this topic! youtu.be/qPhWVC9vjl4?... If you think you might have PMDD, I highly recommend the IAPMD (international association for pre menstrual disorders) website for more resources and latest research.

youtu.be

Understanding the Impact of PMDD on Autistic Women

Hi! I'm Orion Kelly and I'm Autistic. On this video I explore the topic of PMDD and it's impact on neurodivergent women. #orionkelly #autism #asd #autismsign...

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 09/04/2024

Painting of a fictional star system. I used an image of our sun's solar flares for reference. I also played with impasto - making a 3d effect by layering the paint thickly on the canvas. What should I name this one? 🎨 #spaceart

Photo of a painting with a star on the left and two planets on the right.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 05/04/2024

"Heart Nebula" This 20x20cm acrylic painting captures the beauty of the Heart Nebula (center) and the Fishhead Nebula (bottom right). The Heart Nebula gets its name from its resemblance to a heart when observed in visible light. 🔭 1/4

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 03/04/2024

New art: Southern Ring Nebula. Despite its name, the Southern Ring Nebula appears like a bubble or an hourglass due to its complex structure. A handful of stars are responsible for the formation of this breathtaking nebula. 🔭

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 01/04/2024

New art: galaxy on an abstract acrylic pour I call "Electric Disk Formation". The fluid flows remind me of the cosmic web from which gas flows into galaxy haloes. The galaxy in the centre is inspired by the Hubble Space Telescope images of M81 - a grand design spiral galaxy.

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Astrobites @astrobites.bsky.social · 27/03/2024

From the Astrobites collaboration: The genocide in Gaza demands our attention and our action. As astronomers and members of the global scientific community, we cannot ignore the immense suffering and devastation inflicted upon our colleagues. 🔭 astrobites.org/2024/03/27/a...

astrobites.org

Astrobites Statement on the Educational Siege in Gaza

The genocide in Gaza demands our attention and our action. As astronomers and members of the global scientific community, we cannot ignore the immense suffering and devastation inflicted upon our c…

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 21/02/2024

For Valentine's Day last week, I painted the Antennae Galaxies, also known as NGC 4038 and NGC 4039 - a pair of interacting galaxies located in the constellation Corvus. #spaceart 🔭

A painting of a heart made of two galaxies merging.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 20/02/2024

The Ring Nebula, also known as M57, is a stunning planetary nebula located ~2,000 ly away in the constellation Lyra. 🔭 The distinctive colourful ring was formed by a dying star, once similar in size to our Sun, shedding its outer layers as it entered its final stages of life.

Painting of an eye-like nebula with outer layers in red and inner area in blue. Photographed on a wooden bench

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 11/02/2024

New digital art: The Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex is a nebula of gas and dust visible from both hemispheres. At a distance of 360 ly it is one of the closest star forming regions. Rho Ophiuchi is the group of stars in the blue area. 🔭 #spaceart

Digital art showing a blue nebula (top), red (right), and yellow (bottom) with stars at their centre and dust lanes connecting them. Many sma stars are in the background. And a globular cluster is bottom right.

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Extinction Rebellion Nederland @xrnl.bsky.social · 21/01/2024

Scientist Rebellion (SR) heeft samen met Extinction Rebellion (XR) zondagochtend meerdere standbeelden in onder andere Weesp geblinddoekt en met een oproep behangen. De tekst op deze standbeelden luidde: “Kijk niet weg. Dit is een klimaatnoodtoestand”. [1/6]

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 19/01/2024

Excited to talk alongside Pía, a professional psychologist, with astronomers in Chile about mental health in academia on Monday!

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 27/12/2023

Together, the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Cluster make up NGC 2264 - my inspiration behind this digital artwork I did over the past 3 days. #spaceart 🔭 🎄✨

Digital space art - a bright young star at the top, surrounded by gas, a star cluster in the middle, and the cone nebula at the bottom.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 23/12/2023

The Vela Constellation. Vela means sails (of a ship) in Latin. I designed this for my mother's family who are all sailors.

Digital artwork. A constellation of white stars, with the main stars connected by cyan line. Dark blue clouds behind the stars on top of a white background.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 14/12/2023

I painted the Andromeda (Messier 31) galaxy (and satellite galaxies Messier 32 (left of the galactic nucleus) and Messier 110 (bottom)) using acrylic on canvas, inspired by what it looks like in visible light.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 07/12/2023

Digital art made in Procreate, inspired by the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope image of the North America Nebula. In visible light, the nebula resembles the continent, but here, in infrared light, we see young stars and dusty cocoons enveloping them. 🔭

Digital painting of a nebula. Gas and dust clouds in red and many stars across the background in blues, cyans, whites, yellow and red.

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Dr. Laci Brock 🪐 @stellerarts.com · 30/11/2023

Hey fellow space nerds, my shop is now live for everyone! Spectrum of Stardust limited edition prints are available until December 4th 🔭🧪🐡 stellerarts.com/pages/spectr...

Me holding a fine art print of my Pillars of Creation painting

Close up of my print in a white frame at an angle with a white background

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 29/11/2023

The horsehead nebula is a dark/reflection nebula in the Orion molecular cloud complex. This digital art was inspired by one of Euclid's first full colour images - capturing this detailed panoramic view of the horsehead in just 1 hour. 🔭

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

The Emu in the Sky is a well-known Aboriginal Astronomical constellation that’s outlined by dark areas (dust) of the night sky, not the stars. The story is familiar to many different Aboriginal communities.

Acrylic painting of the emu in the sky, showing dark dust patches on the Milky Way

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Reposted by Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she)

Erin M. May, PhD @astronomay.bsky.social · 25/11/2023

As you start planning your holiday gifts consider supporting small creators! I make educational sticker sheets about space and also have notepads, bookmarks, and waterproof stickers ☺️ Find my Etsy linked in my bio!

A hand holding two notepads of different sizes. Both have a black and white outline drawing of JWST in the top left, say "notes" on the top and are followed by lines for note taking

A hand holding two sticker sheets about the planets in the solar system. One has the rocky planets and one has the gas planets. The sticker sheets have little facts about each planet near the cartoon drawing.

A hand holding two sticker sheets about Jupiter. The sheet has cartoons of Jupiter, the four Gallilean moons, and the Juno spacecraft with various facts about the Jupiter system around it.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 27/11/2023

Continuing my planet collection with Mars. Digital painting inspired by @esa OSIRIS camera true color image (during Rosetta's swing-by of Mars). Fun fact: although the diameter of Mars is about half that of Earth, the land area of Earth is similar to that of Mars.

Image of digital artwork. Mars on a black background.

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 24/11/2023

This was a galaxy painting I did for my friend @JayJovianMusic 's birthday last year. Did you know it features in the music video for Jay Jovian’s first single “Flavours”!?

Photo of a canvas with a black background and a spiral galaxy painted in white, pink, yellow blue

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Dr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 23/11/2023

Digit art inspired by MESSENGER probe images. #sciart #space #planet. Mercury's surface is covered in craters and rays from impact events and their ejecta because it is not geologically active and has almost no atmosphere, so the features are well preserved.

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