Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Two of my JWST proposals are exactly 1300 PIDs apart. Tired enough that I saw the last two numbers and thought I had resubmitted the first on accident. 241
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 30/08/2026I will be announcing a Cycle 1 Call for Proposals for using my pixel shortly 1204
Reposted by Sierra GrantProf Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 18/06/2026Don’t trust LLMs with your literature searches. Horrible gender biases as found in this paper (from later in the thread below) arxiv.org/abs/2508.02740 🧪🔭arxiv.orgWho Gets Cited? Gender- and Majority-Bias in LLM-Driven Reference SelectionLarge language models (LLMs) are rapidly being adopted as research assistants, particularly for literature review and reference recommendation, yet little is known about whether they introduce demogra... 19148
Reposted by Sierra GrantMichael D. Green, PhD @michaeldgreen.phd · 28/05/2026President of MIT not mincing words today in @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/s... 447188346433
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 17/04/2026This is exactly how I feel. I didn't get into this job, with low salary and a rootless existence well into my 30s (away from my husband!), to outsource the work. I want to do the work, I really REALLY want to do the work. 091
Reposted by Sierra GrantJohanna Teske @johannateske.bsky.social · 07/04/2026www.hsfoundation.org/fellow/marbe... We are so excited to host and get to know and work with Marbely! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻hsfoundation.orgMarbely Micolta - Heising-Simons Foundation“I’m excited to find a clear connection between the rocky composition of other planetary systems and our own. If we see the same kind of separation Jupiter created in the solar system, that could tell... 171
Reposted by Sierra GrantEliot Halley Vrijmoet @eliothalley.bsky.social · 03/04/2026"A slow, comfortable drift toward not understanding what you're doing" -- this is exactly the problem. This should be required reading for everyone in our field, especially those earliest-career students. 082
Reposted by Sierra GrantMichael Wong @miquai.bsky.social · 30/01/2026#OverheardAtCarnegie: “To zeroth order, the Solar System is the Sun and some dust. To first order, the Solar System is the Sun, Jupiter, and some dust.” 0123
Reposted by Sierra GrantSpace Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 31/12/2025What a year for the James Webb Space Telescope! From identifying frozen water in a young star system to wowing us with great images of the distant universe, Webb has exceeded our expectations in 2025. 🔭 youtube.com/shorts/kf-mjdxK6KMyoutube.comYouTubeShare your videos with friends, family, and the world 0363
Reposted by Sierra GrantSETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · 17/12/2025In a recent SETI Live, @goastromo.bsky.social spoke with @sierragrant.bsky.social and @gcugno.bsky.social about their analysis of CT Cha b – a distant, planetary-mass companion surrounded by a compact moon-forming disk. 🧪 🔭 👩🔬 Learn more: www.seti.org/news/baby-mo... 072
Reposted by Sierra GrantSETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · 06/12/2025#ICYMI: During our latest #SETILive, Moiya chatted with Sierra Grant and Gabriele Cugno about the potentially moon-forming disk around exoplanet CT Cha b and its high carbon molecule content. Watch the full episode: youtube.com/live/t1pz56F... 082
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 04/12/2025@gcugno.bsky.social and I had a wonderful discussion with @goastromo.bsky.social for @setiinstitute.bsky.social LIVE about our work on the circumplanetary disk around CT Cha b! 094
Reposted by Sierra GrantSETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Next #SETILive: Baby Moons in the Making? TODAY, 4 December, 11:00 am PST @goastromo.bsky.social welcomes two leading researchers—Gabriele Cugno & @sierragrant.bsky.social—to dive into a carbon-rich, moon-forming disk around the distant exoplanetary object CT Cha b, some 625 light-years away. 🧪 🔭 👩🔬 1102
Reposted by Sierra GrantEmily Rauscher @astronemly.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Why? NASA is a crown jewel of US science and an international inspiration. Its logo adorns hoodies worn by young and old. The most famous telescopes could not have existed without Goddard and shutting down parts of it, even temporarily, cuts off the life blood for future missions. Why kill NASA?!? 3214
Reposted by Sierra GrantAAS Nova @aasnova.org · 03/10/2025AAS Nova turned 10 this year! For our 2,000th post, we’re looking back on the past decade of astronomy research. aasnova.org/2025/10/03/a... @aas.org 🔭🧪aasnova.orgAAS Nova Celebrates 10 Years of Astronomy Research NewsAAS Nova turned 10 this year! For our 2,000th post, we're looking back on the past decade of astronomy research. 0218
Reposted by Sierra GrantESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 29/09/2025Moon formation drama, a bit more understood 🌚 The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has found evidence of a ‘construction yard’ for moons around a large exoplanet, CT Cha b, which lies 625 light-years from Earth. Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭 🧪 ☄️ 218843
Reposted by Sierra GrantMatthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 30/09/2025Cugno and Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social with “A Carbon-rich Disk Surrounding a Planetary-mass Companion” detected using #JWST - an impressive detection of several different carbon molecules that are very promising for #exomoon formation around the directly imaged #exoplanet CT Cha b ☄ 0145
Reposted by Sierra GrantAAS Press Office @press.aas.org · 29/09/2025Space Telescope Science Institute: NASA’s JWST Studies Moon-Forming Disk Around Massive Planet science.nasa.gov/science-rese...science.nasa.govNASA’s Webb Telescope Studies Moon-Forming Disk Around Massive Planet - NASA ScienceNASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disk 061
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 29/09/2025SO PROUD OF MY (FUTURE*) WIFE @sierragrant.bsky.social *FUTURE MEANING SUNDAY 1222
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 29/09/2025PRESS RELEASE DAY! Could not be prouder of this result and so happy that it's now out!!! 🤩✨ Thanks to the team at @stsci.edu for the wonderful write-up and image! 2518
Reposted by Sierra GrantCarnegie Science @carnegiescience.bsky.social · 24/09/2025TOMORROW: Two talks, one big night of discovery! Join Earth & Planets Laboratory postdocs Sierra Grant & Shubham Kanodia as they reveal how planets are born—and the giants that defy the rules. #NeighborhoodLecture 📅 Sept 25 | 6:30 PM ET | DC & Online 🔗 RSVP: carnegiescience.edu/birth-worlds...carnegiescience.eduBirth of Worlds, Rise of GiantsJoin Carnegie postdocs Shubham Kanodia and Sierra Grant as they explore the secrets of distant worlds—from the birth of new planets to giant rule-breakers that defy expectations—in a special double… 012
Reposted by Sierra GrantMichael Wong @miquai.bsky.social · 21/09/2025The best part of my job is the people I get to work with 🪐💙 0104
Reposted by Sierra GrantLinn Boldt-Christmas @nplinnspace.bsky.social · 19/09/2025🤯🤯🤯 circumstellar disk chemistry? No, circumPLANETARY disk chemistry! What an INCREDIBLE result! Check it out below ⬇️🧪🔭🪐 181
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 19/09/2025🪐🔭 JWST is letting us learn about disks around PLANETARY-MASS OBJECTS!!! 1255
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 19/09/2025Today is a special paper day for me: for the first time we can do chemistry in a circumplanetary disk around a planetary-mass companion! Gabriele Cugno and I used JWST to tease out the signal of CT Cha b, finding a rich carbon chemistry (7 molecules + 1 isotopolog detected)! arxiv.org/abs/2509.15209 5374
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 04/09/2025Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about Carnegie! It's an amazing place to be a postdoc! 040
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 07/08/2025Another MINDS JWST paper! We explore the stark transition from H2O-dominated spectra in Sun-like systems to the carbon-rich chemistry seen for low-mass objects. We don't know exactly what is driving this trend, but we explore the possibilities that may be acting in concert. arxiv.org/pdf/2508.04692 0144
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 05/08/2025New MINDS paper from Nicolas Kurtovic, focused on binary systems. Spectra, extended emission, variability, multi-observatory analysis -- there's something for everyone! arxiv.org/pdf/2508.02576 0104
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 16/06/2025A spotted star, a (very!) misaligned planet, and awesome gifs, what more could you want?! 🤩 020
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 13/06/2025Now published in AJ! We used Tierras to measure the 23-day rotation period of a K dwarf and found that the orbit of its transiting planet is aligned with the star's spin axis. Stay tuned as we measure true obliquities for a larger sample! iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3... 131
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 11/06/2025Great work by Kielan Hoch and team on this incredible two-planet system!! We will revisit this target with MIRI-MRS next year to hunt for molecules in the disk around planet b, in a program led by Gabriele Cugno and me, and with Kielan's expertise on the system 🥳🪐 0141
Reposted by Sierra GrantMike Okuda @mikeokuda.bsky.social · 01/06/2025Save NASA Science: Please join me in signing this petition from The Planetary Society, urging Congress to reject the deep cuts to science that have been proposed by the administration. www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...planetary.orgAdvocacy Action CenterThe Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud. 16021
Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 07/05/2025〰️〰️〰️〰️ New paper from @tamburo.bsky.social! 🤩 000
Reposted by Sierra GrantTom Megeath @megadeath.bsky.social · 17/04/2025The data produced by this group has been an essential resource for so much great science. We use their data and websites to interpret our JWST spectra of protostars. It is exactly the kind of foundational investments the US should be making to advance science. www.change.org/p/oppose-the...change.orgSign the PetitionOppose the layoff of the NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Group 0108
Reposted by Sierra GrantMichael Wong @miquai.bsky.social · 29/03/2025I received a heartbreaking email today: A paper in a special issue I’m editing is being retracted because one of its authors is afraid of losing their job and their legal status in the U.S. if they publish a scientific study on evolution. Yes, on evolution, nature's engine of diversity. 10934311312000
Reposted by Sierra GrantMax-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 28/01/2025Here is a highly recommended thread that summarizes what has happened in scientific landscape in the US since Trump's inauguration. It makes for dystopian reading ⬇️ 25629
Reposted by Sierra GrantChris Carchedi, PhD @drrockdoctor.bsky.social · 27/01/2025Hey New England friends! You might’ve just felt an earthquake. If you did, please fill out the form below for science! earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/... 1153
Reposted by Sierra GrantKamber Schwarz @theschwarz.bsky.social · 15/01/2025The accepted version of my SY Cha winds paper is now on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2409.11176! And if you are at #AAS245 I will discuss the results TODAY at 2 pm in Potomac 3-4 🧪🔭arxiv.orgMINDS. JWST-MIRI Observations of a Spatially Resolved Atomic Jet and Polychromatic Molecular Wind Toward SY ChaThe removal of angular momentum from protostellar systems drives accretion onto the central star and may drive the dispersal of the protoplanetary disk. Winds and jets can contribute to removing angul... 1247
Reposted by Sierra GrantSpace Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 20/12/2024Ever wonder what the secret ingredient is in your favorite dessert? We can’t answer that, but we can share this planet formation recipe! It takes a high degree of precision and a lot of patience, but the result is pretty spectacular: bit.ly/3Cv3k2e 🔭 🧪 29417
Reposted by Sierra GrantAndrew Sellek @andrewsellek.bsky.social · 18/12/2024The latest protoplanetary disk study by the MINDS collaboration using JWST-MIRI is out now! arxiv.org/abs/2412.127... Led by Leiden PhD student Marissa Vlasblom, it focusses on CX Tau, a disk for which the dust emission is much more compact than gas, suggesting dust grains have drifted inwards. 1/4 152
Reposted by Sierra GrantDr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 04/12/2024There will be some amazing speakers and discussion leaders. Some are here on 🦋: @sethajacobson.bsky.social, @malenarice.bsky.social, @planetplanet.bsky.social, @astrojoanna.bsky.social, @lavainspace.bsky.social, @catherineespaillat.bsky.social, @meteoritegirl.bsky.social, @sierragrant.bsky.social 161
Reposted by Sierra GrantDr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 04/12/2024One of my favourite #planetaryScience conferences, which I only discovered in 2023, is the Gordon Conference on "Origins of Solar Systems." It brings together observers, theorists, cosmochemists, planetologists, and astronomers. The next one is in 2025! 🧪 Registration: www.grc.org/origins-of-s... 2406
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 25/11/2024Meteor caught on Whipple Observatory sky cameras last night 🪐🔭 2231
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 21/11/2024Recently implemented Sicko Mode™ on Tierras 🔭🪐 1175
Reposted by Sierra GrantDr. Sarah Biddle Leslie (they/she) @extragalactic.bsky.social · 18/11/2024I'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.ioastro-outlist.github.ioAstronomy and Astrophysics OutlistOutlist and ally list for LGBTQIA+ members in the astronomy and astrophysics community 0268
Reposted by Sierra GrantPatrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 17/10/2024Comet C/2023A3 as seen by the Tierras Observatory! 🪐🔭 1425
Reposted by Sierra GrantIlaria Pascucci @pascucci.bsky.social · 04/10/2024Excited to share our latest results on NatureAstronomy! JWST/NIRSpec gives an unprecedented view of disk winds from young stars, with key implications for planet formation and evolution: rdcu.be/dVZ9Crdcu.beThe nested morphology of disk winds from young stars revealed by JWST/NIRSpec observationsNature Astronomy - JWST observations of outflows from four young stars reveal in each case a molecular wind with a central cavity surrounding a fast jet. These results point to disk winds driving... 073
Reposted by Sierra GrantKamber Schwarz @theschwarz.bsky.social · 18/09/2024New paper alert! Using JWST MIRI we resolve a molecular disk wind from a transition disk! arxiv.org/abs/2409.11176 🔭arxiv.orgMINDS. JWST-MIRI Observations of a Spatially Resolved Atomic Jet...The removal of angular momentum from protostellar systems drives accretion onto the central star and may drive the dispersal of the protoplanetary disk. Winds and jets can contribute to removing... 192