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Ross Church

@rpc25.bsky.social
242 followers 435 following 24 posts

Astrophysical researcher and teacher based at Lund University, Sweden, working on stars and stellar clusters. Also hiking, cooking, Wikipedia. 🌈, he/him.

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Ross Church @rpc25.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We (Lund Observatory) have an open PhD position in theoretical astrophysics, to work with @astroandersj.bsky.social on studying how and where planets form in the Galaxy and the origin of interstellar comets. Application deadline December 1. lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
lu.varbi.com
Doctoral student in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Description of the workplace The Planet Formation Group at the Department of Physics (Division of Astrophysics) at Lund University is seeking a PhD student to work on models of planet formation on a g
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ESO @eso.org · 30/09/2026
There is still time for early career scientists to apply for the ESO Fellowship Programme 2026/2027! ➡️ Fellowships are available both at our Headquarters in Garching and Santiago. ➡️ Application deadline: 15 October 2026. Details: recruitment.eso.org 🔭 #ESOjobs
Graphic announcing that applications are open for the ESO Fellowship Programme 2026/2027 in Garching, Germany, and Santiago, Chile, with a deadline of 15 October 2026. The right side shows a telescope beneath the Milky Way, with laser beams extending into the night sky. Image by G. Hüdepohl (atacamaphoto.com)/ESO.
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Andy Arthur💃🏰⚓🦌 Threadinburgh 🧵 @threadinburgh.scot · 28/09/2026
Great moments in Scottish physics history: James Clerk Maxwell has the lads around to show off his new Ooni tabletop pizza oven and gets ready to slice and serve which is great cos Peter Guthrie Tait is starving
James Clerk Maxwell statue in Edinburgh. In how hand is his colour wheel, which looks rather like a pizza cutter
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ESO @eso.org · 03/09/2026
The first light of MOONS! Mounted on our VLT, the scientific instrument Multi-Object Optical and Near-infrared Spectrograph (MOONS) has successfully made its first observations. During its ten-year design lifetime, it is expected to observe up to ten million objects. 🔭 🧪 1/3
A view of the MOONS instrument at the VLT. The instrument is blue and grey, surrounded by platforms, cables and support structures inside an industrial facility. Pipes and ventilation ducts run across the ceiling above the equipment. Image by UK ATC/M. Black.
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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The narrator/Gardam on Hardy. Exactly right
And then I decided to read an Hand chose Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy.
I hope I never read another book so utterly terrible as this.
It is a marvellous book, and I didn't skip any of it, and I read on and on and on; but all the time I was thinking of Thomas Hardy, of the terrible sorrows and sadness of him. It seemed terrible to me that anyone who knew that he was a writer beyond all possible doubt should have not one glimmer, not one faintest trace of happiness in him. There was one thing that he said that beat in my head, over and over and over again. It was at the point where poor Jude just misses meeting someone who might have changed the whole terrible pattern of his life.
If he had, who knows, says Hardy, then all might yet have been well. Then he adds, but this did not happen, this good fortune,
BECAUSE IT NEVER DOES.
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Hull Maritime Museum is reopening this Saturday after six years of being closed to the public. The museum, which has undergone a £20m renovation programme, tells the story of the city's maritime heritage as a hub for trade, migration, fishing and whaling. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
A look inside Hull Maritime Museum ahead of its big reopening
Hull Maritime Museum will open its doors again this Saturday following six years of renovation.
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 07/08/2026
Antiques Roadshow xkcd.com/3281/
Comic. [Two people with tiny star floating above display on table.] PERSON 1 with ponytail: Now, your grandmother said this was a relic low-mass population III star, from the first generation of stars. Unfortunately, the high iron content shows that it formed much later, after several rounds of supernovas. I’m afraid it’s a population I star. PERSON 2: Aw, darn. Well, it still has sentimental value. [banner for Antiques Roadshow]
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Chris @chrsphr.uk · 25/06/2026
only Hull is spared
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K.E.M Lindblom @eggstronomer.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
So, another one of my articles for @popularastronomi.se made it to the front page! I'm deeply honoured! "Månen tur och retur" is by the way what the Tintin comic book "Destination Moon" is called in Swedish and my article is about Moon exploration and the #Artemis program.
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Dr. Holly Walters @manigarm.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
I'm sorry, what? In writing my first monograph, I spent six weeks trying to track down a citation in TWO languages I didn't know. And good thing too, because the citation was wrong. That's scholarship. That's research. You know, the thing we're trained to do?!?
The reactions of some researchers on Twitter finally being held responsible for not having read the very paper they submitted are... something. Mainly, they don't think they should have to check every citation or make sure the data is real and accurate. Because it's too hard, I guess.
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Linn Boldt-Christmas @nplinnspace.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
A really rare, cool (and permanent) position has just opened up in the Physics dept of my institute, Uppsala University @uu.se 🇸🇪 for an Associate Prof with specialisation in physics/astro education. An amazing chance to research your own topics *and* education as a topic! #scicomm #iTeachPhysics 🧪🔭
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Populär Astronomi @popularastronomi.se · 07/04/2026
Medan vi i Sverige har firat påsk, har fyra människor tillbringat de senaste dagarna med att resa till månen. Spana in de första bilderna från Artemis II 📸 www.popularastronomi.se/2026/04/fors...
popularastronomi.se
Första bilderna från månresan - Populär Astronomi
Medan vi i Sverige har firat påsk, har fyra människor tillbringat de senaste dagarna med att resa till månen. Under natten till idag, 7 april, rundade uppdraget Artemis II månen. För första gången på ...
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Kevin M. Gill @kevinmgill.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Crescent Earth as viewed by the Artemis II crew yesterday (April 4th). flic.kr/p/2s5Z9yc
Crescent view of Earth.

NASA/Artemis II/Kevin M. Gill
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Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 03/04/2026
This image of home just came down from the Artemis II crew. Taken after their translunar injection burn, there are aurorae at top right and lower left, and zodiacal light at lower right. Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman
That's home. That's us.
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Peter Coles 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇮🇪 @telescoper.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Loveliest of trees? Not yet, but soon there will be Bloom along the bough #Haiku on a theme by Housman
Blossom buds on a cherry tree.
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Ava Polzin @avapolzin.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Happy International Women's Day! Perfect time for me to (re)share our white paper on increasing the retention of women in professional astrophysics (really full of suggestions that broaden participation in academic science in general). arxiv.org/abs/2512.24465 🧪🔭☄️👩‍🔬
Cover of "Picture an Astronomer: Best Practices for Retaining Talent in Astrophysics", which features an illustration of a 19-year-old Vera Rubin looking through a telescope over a backdrop of a first light image of spiral galaxies from the Rubin Observatory.
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Peter Coles 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇮🇪 @telescoper.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
I do like it when students say "thank you" when they leave a lecture. It makes me feel like someone important, such as a bus driver.
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depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 22/12/2025
Telescope Types xkcd.com/3182/
Comic: Telescope Types. Prime focus, Herschelian, Newtonian, Galilean, Keplerian, Gregorian, Cassegrain, Cardboard tube, Kaleido, Liquid Mirror, Narcissism, Gravitational, Geological [arrow points to piece with label “TV playing THE CORE (2003).”
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4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) @4most-eu.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
We are delighted to share that Dr Lara Cullinane has been awarded a prestigious Leibniz Junior Research Group based at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (@aippotsdam.bsky.social). Image Credit: AIP/Spikermann #4MOST #astronomy #astrophysics
A picture of Dr Lara Cullinane.
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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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4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) @4most-eu.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Join Jessica Pilling from the University of Sussex for a day in her life commissioning the 4MOST instrument! Credit: J. Pilling #4MOST #astronomy #astrophysics #telescope #observatory 1. Arrival at Paranal observatory 🔭
A Paranal Observatory sign on the way to the observatory
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ESO @eso.org · 21/10/2025
1/ The 4MOST instrument installed on our VISTA telescope in Chile completed its first test observations. @4most-eu.bsky.social will help us unravel our galactic history, explore dark matter, and more. www.eso.org/public/annou... 🔭 🧪 #instrumentation 📷 AIP/A. Saviauk
A view of the VISTA telescope and its 4MOST instrument. The structure is grey, with several cables visible around it. The telescope is viewed from above and is located inside a building with metallic walls.
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4-meter Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) @4most-eu.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Welcome to the official 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) Bluesky account! Stay tuned for our first-light events coming very soon, and updates on all of the amazing science we will be completing over the years to come! 📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO #4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
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Edward Elderman @elderman.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
This only happens to you once
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Helen Czerski @helenczerski.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
The Swedish translation of Blue Machine, published this week. It’s a beautiful hardback. Do share the news with any Swedish speaking friends who need the ocean in their life! And thank you to the Voice of the Ocean foundation for hosting me in Stockholm today.
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Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Images from Palomar at 2 different infrared wavelengths last night - one that Saturn's methane atmosphere absorbs, and one the it reflects! (The faint point source is the moon, Tethys!) Taken by David Ciardi, Catherine Clark, @lowbacca.bsky.social and Miranda Felsmann; animated by me (and ezgif!)
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Ross Church @rpc25.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
This was an enormous amount of fun! And the bridge is so beautiful.
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Dr. Heloise Stevance @sydonahi.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
🍾FINALLY ON ARXIV! 🍾 Here are some lessons learnt from creating my Virtual Research Assistant for the ATLAS sky survey (And no it's not some bullshit black box with a call to OpenAI - this is STATISTICS 📊 baby!) So first, what is it? 1/14 arxiv.org/abs/2506.09778
arxiv.org
The ATLAS Virtual Research Assistant
We present the Virtual Research Assistant (VRA) of the ATLAS sky survey which performs preliminary eyeballing on our clean transient data stream. The VRA uses Histogram Based Gradient Boosted Decision...
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Emily Hunt @emily.space · 31/05/2025
This budget, if approved, would be an extinction-level event for NASA Astronomy. Awful. 🔭🧪
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Dr. Heather Hinam 🍁 🇨🇦 @secondnaturemb.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
I used to sit and watch beavers at this pond for hours a few years ago. Then the family moved out after they ate most of the birch and willow. However, there was at least one beaver there tonight. He wasn’t as happy to see me as I was him. 🌿🦊🦫
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 17/05/2025
My island of strangers: a poem | Michael Rosen
theguardian.com
My island of strangers: a poem | Michael Rosen
The prime minister warns that immigration could turn Britain into an ‘island of strangers’. Author and poet Michael Rosen responds
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Dr Jan Eldridge @astro-jje.bsky.social · 12/05/2025
So the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland is looking to hire a lecturer/senior lecturer in one of the following areas: - Physics education research, - Quantum optics and quantum information, - Biophotonics and/or medical physics, - Astrophysics and/or space technology. 1/2...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Physics
Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandKo te whare Pūtaiao | The Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland is the leading science faculty in New Zealand and one of...
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RCP museum @rcpmuseum.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
'Radioactive mud? Well, colour me intrigued...' In today's blog, rare books librarian Katie Birkwood explores the surprising history of radioactive mud being promoted as a treatment for medical conditions in the 1920s. Read now👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/radioac... #histmed @rcphysicians.bsky.social
Advertisement reading "MUD versus Rheumatism, Sciatica, Arthritis, Neuritis, Gout, Lumbago, etc. Apply for all particulars of the PISTANY radioactive MUD"  followed by reviews and accounts of success. In upper right corner an illustration of a man standing in shallow water, breaking a crutch over his knee. Beneath the advertisement are details for the supplier.
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iucounu @iucounu.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
I am a Data Karen, I demand to see the god damn file manager, not this coffee machine touchscreen-ass interface
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Rebecca Forsberg @rebeccaforsberg.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
Sightseeing i Västerbotten med besökande vänner!
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Linn Boldt-Christmas @nplinnspace.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
📢 *3* astronomy #PhD positions now open at 🇸🇪 Uppsala University studying stars with 2 incredible supervisors! I genuinely cannot vouch for our astro dept enough: supportive yet relaxed, fun yet challenging... PLEASE apply & feel free to ask me Qs! Deadline 4 April 🧪🔭🪐 uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
A photograph showing the Fyrisån river that flows through Uppsala, taken in the city centre with a view of the Cathedral in the backgroundA photograph of Ångströmlaboratoriet (the Ångström Laboratory) which is where the astronomy department is housed at Uppsala University. It is a modern glass building with pretty green space around it, and another brick building part also visible to the left.
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the bizzler @bizzo.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
fortran favors the old
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Mags @magnumificent.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
House roof tops in the background. Washing line in the foreground with a pair of black undies, a pair of black leggings and a black sock pegged in such a way to resemble a cat on the roof…(by Helga Stentzel)
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Tom Stafford @tomstafford.mastodon.online.ap.brid.gy · 10/01/2025
Wrote up my notes on proactively managing your workload Boundary Conditions idiolect.org.uk/notes/2025/01/10/bo…
idiolect.org.uk
Boundary Conditions
<p>I&#8217;m mid-career and I&#8217;ve just realised I have never received any mentoring on how to manage my workload, on how to explicitly recognise when I&#8217;ve taken on too much and how to proactively regulate the things I&#8217;m committed to.</p> <p>I have had conversations which touch on this, but the focus has tended to be productivity &#8211; how to manage your tasks. What about a system for working out when you should say No to more things? I asked the question on mastodon, and got some good replies. Here I&#8217;ll […]</p>
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Chaz Hutton @chazhutton.com · 15/01/2025
A little comic about desire paths.
Ok so…
There’s a nice little park on a corner, and a path running directly to one edge of the park. That’s the first image, but there’s 12 other images here. In the second image, there is now a desire path running diagonally across the park. Next image, the path has been blocked by a park bench that the council has put in as a deterrent. Unfazed, in image 4 the path now deftly avoids the park bench. In images 5 and 6 the process is repeated, this time with a strategically placed bin which the desire path also avoids. Presumably in a fit of rage, the council plants an entire hedge to stop people creating new desire paths but eventually this too is defeated and a new path find a way. Finally, the council admits defeat and turns the desire path into a proper paved pathway.  After a little while, a new desire path curving off this new paved pathway begins to emerge…
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Pat Thomson @patthomson.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
I’m starting a little series about writing post PhD. The first is about gift authorship. That’s when someone gets credit for writing without doing any work patthomson.net/2025/01/12/a...
patthomson.net
Authoring for post/PhDers – the problem of gift authorship
One of the most common questions I am asked, and that I hear being discussed in doctoral and ECR support groups, is whether to write with supervisors and former supervisors. Or most often, I read o…
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Linn Boldt-Christmas @nplinnspace.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
#Postdoc alert: come join us at Uppsala University 🇸🇪 to work on the first stars of the universe (Pop III) 🌟✨⭐️ Deadline Jan 20! aas.org/jobregister/... I can honestly *not* praise UU’s Astro dept and its work environment enough, it’s so lovely and kind. Please feel free to DM me if you have Qs! 🔭 🧪
aas.org
Postdoctoral fellowship in Population III stars | American Astronomical Society
Post-doctoral fellowship: The first stars – from our cosmic backyard to the distant UniverseDuration: 2 years
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Bibiana Prinoth @bibianaprinoth.ch · 06/12/2024
My supervisor, Jens Hoeijmakers, is advertising a 4-year PhD position in exoplanet atmospheres in Lund! 🪐🔭 I’ve absolutely loved working with Jens, and I’ll be very sad to leave after defending my PhD. Jens is an excellent supervisor and mentor! 🔗 lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/... Deadline: January 15
lu.varbi.com
Doctoral student in Astronomy and Astrophysics with focus on Exoplanet atmospheres
Division of Astrophysics, in the research group of Jens Hoeijmakers, on the topic high-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres. Work duties This doctoral project is part of a larger project i
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Katy's Shit Cartoons @cartoons.katymontgomerie.com · 28/11/2024
Atoms are binary. They are either intended to be hydrogen or helium. We can't just scrap this worldview just because of a handful of exceptions
Pie chart:
74% hydrogen
25% helium
1% other (in tiny font)
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Siobhan McAndrew @siobhanmcandrew.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
A great - saddening - essay:
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Ross Church @rpc25.bsky.social · 01/11/2024
A high school summer job in Hull University's chemistry department was my first experience of research – without it I doubt I'd have become an academic. This is really sad news, for the city and the university.
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Bibiana Prinoth @bibianaprinoth.ch · 31/10/2024
We have a PhD position in Lund! Shoot me a message if you have any questions ☺️ lu.varbi.com/se/what:job/...
lu.varbi.com
Doktorand i astronomi och astrofysik
Kravprofil Galaxcentrum som laboratorium för galaxbildning – spektroskopi och simuleringar Fältet inom astrofysik som forskar om galaxbildning och galaxutveckling lockar för närvarande stort vet
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CosmicRami 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @rami.spaceaustralia.com · 16/10/2024
Oh yeah, it's International Pronouns Day! (which always happens to be third Wednesday of October). Pronouns are great, and allow you to refer and converse with people in the way they wish to be. It's the very polite/respectful thing to do and people are more engaged when you use them properly. 1/3
A hand holding out several badges that feature pronoun choices such as they/them; he/him; she/her, etc. Some of the badges are black and white, whilst others are pride rainbow colours. All badges are fitting in the palm of the hand holding them.
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Peter Coles 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇮🇪 @telescoper.bsky.social · 03/10/2024
Fig 1 and Fig 2
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