iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Le mystère des petits points rouges ✨ 🔭🧪☄️ #extragalactic

janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

💙 the cover of the HWO-J workshop proceedings✨ iral2.ess.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp/~sumi/HWO_Ja... 🔭🧪☄️ #exoplanet #galactic #extragalactic

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 15/09/2026

#NASARoman activated the Wide Field Instrument—a 300-megapixel infrared camera that will allow it to explore wide swaths of the cosmos quickly. This test image captures the very first photons of starlight to reach the instrument—taken as an initial performance assessment: go.nasa.gov/4rg4qEc

$At the top, a grid of 21 panels shows a series of blue images with tiny neon green and yellow circles. A larger image highlights a section of the grid with circular patterns, and an inset presents a detailed star-like diffraction pattern. The colors consist of blue, green, and yellow.$

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Brett Morris @brettmorr.is · 30/08/2026

I’ve been working at @stsci.edu to give everyone access to data from NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Our treasure chest is open for anyone, anywhere, anytime. And today, the telescope is IN SPACE. 🧪🔭🚀 #astrocode

Brett and a 5 year old watching a Falcon Heavy launch NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from a pier.

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Tod Lauer @todlauer.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

The launch of the Roman Space Telescope

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

30 minutes to go until launch - GO #ROMAN! 🔭✨🧪☄️

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NASASpaceflight.com @nasaspaceflight.com · 29/08/2026

NASA and SpaceX are set for the launch of the next great space observatory — the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Falcon Heavy is set to liftoff from LC-39A at 7:26 AM EDT (11;26 UTC). Weather is currently 50% “go.” More on this incredible mission ⬇️ www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/08/roma...

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Sarah Kendrew @sarahkendrew.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Tune in in 90 mins! 🚀

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Update! NASA's live countdown to "launch" is actually a live countdown to when their live coverage of the event will commence 🤷‍♀️ So coverage starts 11:20 UK, but the moment we all want to tune in for (i.e BLAST-OFF!) isn't until 12:26 UK... 👍🔭🛰️

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

At today's UKRI board meeting, the fate of UK particle physics and astronomy will likely be decided. Have we done enough to convince the powers-that-be to halt the proposed funding cuts? 🤞 Read Prof. Hiranya Peiris in Nature today eloquently explaining why these cuts are wrong.🧪🔭⚛️ 📖: rdcu.be/friwM

Restructuring research funding as a choice between discovery and application gets the economics wrong, the evidence wrong and the people wrong.

A premise is gaining traction in science policy on both sides of the Atlantic: that fundamental and applied research are competing claims on the same budget, and that the balance must shift towards application. In the USA, the current administration has proposed cuts of billions of dollars to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. In the UK, the national funding agency UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is restructuring its portfolio around government growth priorities, with curiosity-driven research nominally protected but the grant lines that actually fund investigators under severe pressure. The language varies — ‘doing fewer things better’, ‘aligning research with industrial strategy’ — but the underlying logic is the same. Fundamental science, the argument goes, is a luxury that becomes dispensable when budgets are tight. This premise is wrong, and the consequences of acting on it are already visible.

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

(1/3) 🔭🧪☄️ #extragalactic PHANGS-HST DR5 is now available on MAST, delivering the largest #hubble catalog to date of star clusters & associations with ages, masses, E(B-V): ~100,000 sources across 39 nearby spiral galaxies! archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/phangs (scroll to Galaxy Sample and Data Access)

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

(1/n) 🧵 Now published in Part 1 of the HWO25 conference proceedings, this collection of 60 science cases illustrates the extraordinary scientific reach of the #HabitableWorldsObservatory from... 🧪🔭☄️ #extragalactic #exoplanets #galactic

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John F Wu @jwuphysics.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

To what extent are star cluster ages encoded in their environments? Congrats to my coauthors Javier Viaña, Janice Lee, Andrew Vandenburg, and the PHANGS collaboration on this paper! (and be on the lookout for a part two 👀) arxiv.org/abs/2603.07289

Figure 1 of the paper, showing 112x112 HST NUV//U/B/V/I image cutouts that are used for age-dating clusters (in this case, all around ~100 Myr).

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory 🔭 has issued its first scientific alerts, marking a historic milestone in astrophysics. Expected to increase to seven million alerts per night (!!!), these first alerts start a new era of dynamic, real-time observation of the night sky. More: noirlab.edu/public/news/...

Countless star trails appear as colorful brushstrokes spread across the night sky above the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. This mesmerizing image was created using long-exposure photography, a technique in which a photographer allows light to enter their camera lens for a period of several minutes to several hours. The camera captures the subject’s movements, and the resulting image shows the flow of time in a single shot.

During its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Rubin will use a technique known as difference imaging: equipped with the largest camera ever built, Rubin will image the southern sky every few nights. Scientists will stack the best images in each filter each year into ultra-long exposures and create template images of the southern sky. When this template is compared to individual images, scientists will be able to identify ‘movements’ in the night sky, such as new supernovae or the 'pulsations' of variable stars. After 10 years and thousands of exposures, Rubin will produce an unprecedented ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of our Universe — the ultimate movie of the night sky.

This image was captured by Hernán Stockebrand, a NOIRLab Audiovisual Ambassador.

Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/H. Stockebrand

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

This galaxy is one of the most enigmatic in our PHANGS survey✨🔭🧪☄ Today's @apod.shinyakato.dev compares our Webb infrared and Hubble optical images... (Find these color-composite images, science-ready imaging data, plus catalogs of star clusters at archive.stsci.edu/hlsp/phangs ) #extragalactic

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Alexis Quintana @alexis-space.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

A new census of OB associations with Gaia! In this study, we took advantage of my OB stars map to find new OB associations within 1 kpc. The goal was to create a useful reference catalogue for this era, and to trace the star formation and structure of the local Milky Way. #stellarastro #galactic

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Hamid Hassani @hamidhassani.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

My recent PhD paper, titled “The Hidden Life of Stars: Embedded Beginnings to AGB Endings in the PHANGS-JWST Sample. I. Catalog of Mid-IR Sources”, is out! The paper presents a catalog of JWST MIRI 10 µm and 21 µm sources across 19 nearby galaxies. arxiv.org/abs/2509.16459

arxiv.org

The Hidden Life of Stars: Embedded Beginnings to AGB Endings in the PHANGS-JWST Sample. I. Catalog of Mid-IR Sources

We present a multiwavelength catalog of mid-infrared-selected compact sources in 19 nearby galaxies, combining JWST NIRCam/MIRI, HST UV-optical broadband, H$α$ narrow-band, and ALMA CO observations. W...

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

so grateful to everyone who showed up and made the case for sustaining science and discovery 🔭✨🧪

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Josef Aschbacher @josefaschbacher.esa.int · 27/11/2025

22.1 billion euros subscribed. A record. A first. And a clear message that Europe is serious about space and that @esa.int is the agency it trusts to deliver. A historic Ministerial. A united Europe. A stronger ESA. www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor...

esa.int

ESA Member States commit to largest contributions at Ministerial

The largest contributions in the history of the European Space Agency, €22.1 bn, have been approved at its Council meeting at Ministerial level in Bremen, ...

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Nature Astronomy @natastron.nature.com · 18/11/2025

Our special November issue, celebrating 30 years of exoplanets, is now here! bit.ly/483MH9I #astronomy #exoplanets

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

NASA's #habitableworldsobservatory building a #superhubble in the race to answer fundamental questions about life in the Universe, the place of humanity in the cosmos, and where explorers could dare to go next✨🧪🔭☄️ #exoplanet #extragalactic

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 19/06/2025

Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

post-JWST deadline reflections... the ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week returns to the galaxy that started our PHANGS team journey with JWST ✨🔭🧪 iopscience.iop.org/collections/... and so much still to be learned 🤞 #extragalactic

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Lee Billings @leebillings.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Now on @sciam.bsky.social: NASA’s next-gen Habitable Worlds Observatory may be our best chance to find alien life. But can a nation busy ripping itself apart unite to launch a mission to solve life’s cosmic mysteries? By @nadiadrake.bsky.social (and me). www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-...

scientificamerican.com

NASA’s First-Ever Alien-Hunting Space Telescope Could Enlighten Our New Dark Age

The Habitable Worlds Observatory is poised to tell us whether Earthlike planets are common—if it can get off the ground

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janiceleeastro @janiceleeastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

One of my faves, among the galaxies that we're studying. Uncommonly beautiful because of its striking "flocculent" spiral morphology. We've learned its star clusters tell a story of gas accreted from a neighbor, rejuvenating the disk🧪🔭 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3... #extragalactic #astrosci

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German Aerospace Center (DLR) @dlr-en.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

🥳PLATO, @esa.int's planet-hunting space telescope, has arrived at their ESTEC facility in the Netherlands, after its successful integration in Germany in June. We're looking forward to the next steps, when its solar panels and sunshield are fitted ahead of the planned launch in 2026! 🔭 #Exoplanets

PLATO loaded onto ship for transport to ESTEC

A lorry delivers PLATO to ESTEC after unloading from the ship

PLATO being moved after being unloaded at ESTEC

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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 11/09/2025

Today, we mourn the memory of those we lost on September 11, 2001. We also come together to honor the brave heroes, like our first responders, who risked their lives that tragic day to save countless others. Their sacrifice can never be repaid. We will never forget.

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

Heads up to attendees of #epscdps2025 - there will be a splinter session about Solar System planning for the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) in the Ganymede Room TODAY (Weds) at 3 pm!

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John F Wu @jwuphysics.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Another fantastic paper that arose from our @kitp-ucsb.bsky.social GalEvo23 program. This one is from the inimitable Kartheik Iyer, who also shared a fantastic takeaway figure on how simulated feedback affects galaxy star formation histories. #AstroSci #extragalactic

Cartoon showing how galaxy SFH is affected by different things at different epochs: (a) galaxies assemble in overdensities at early times, dominated by cosmological parameters; (b) galaxies and BHs grow along with their host halos, impacted by SNe feedback and halo accretion at high-z; (c) star formation regulated by feedback until quenching, dominated by SNe/AGN feedback and baryon cycling processes.
Image by Kartheik Iyer, who also led the paper.

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 29/07/2025

The Habitable Worlds Observatory is early in its development as a large infrared/optical/ultraviolet space telescope. Many designs are under consideration, including this artist's concept animation. More about the planned observatory: go.nasa.gov/HWO #HWO2025 #HWO25 🔭 🧪 ☄️

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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

There was a photographer for the first two days of the Habitable Worlds Observatory conference in Washington DC a few weeks ago - it's so rare to actually get a nice photo dressed up and giving a talk!

A photo of Jessie in a grey suit and pink shirt in front of a giant black screen with the NASA meatball on it.

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Kara B @karabrug.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

Next Friday 8/15 is the deadline to endorse #HabitableWorldsObservatory science cases. If you think it is important to consider whether a planet has the right geology in place to host life as we know it _before_ looking for life there, please endorse our case: bit.ly/GeochemHab_endorse #HWO25

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John Debes @johndebes.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

I said this recently at #HWO2025, but I'll also say it here in light of the upcoming @nancyromansci.bsky.social call for white papers for the coronagraph: If you don't do planets and disks, please put a white paper in! I'm happy to give advice #astrosci 🔭

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Dr./Prof. Meredith MacGregor @mmacgreg.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

Back for another day of #HWO25 at the stunning at the @jhuartssciences.bsky.social Bloomberg Center!

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Lee Feinberg - principal architect for the Habitable Worlds Observatory - discusses various options for the telescope 🔭 and the possible rockets 🚀 that will launch it at #HWO25

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Jessie Christiansen provides historical and scientific context for exoplanet studies “the ‘Neptunes’ are the primary test bed for testing algorithms and tools for exoplanet research” 🔭

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Dr. Giada Arney kicks off the Habitable Worlds Observatory science and technology conference in Washington DC 🔭 with a great talk about habitability writ large

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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

Lookout DC, we’re on the way!!! #HWO25

Selfie of Jessie in a blue collared shirt and a black KN95 mask on a plane.

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Heidi B. Hammel @hbhammel.bsky.social · 30/05/2025

Witness the *proposed* devastation of NASA science. If this concerns you, consider exploring the tools provided to make your opinions known: www.planetary.org/save-nasa-sc...

planetary.org

Save NASA Science - Action Hub

NASA science faces record cuts. Take action to stop it—we'll show you how.

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