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Sierra Grant

@sierragrant.bsky.social
187 followers 128 following 38 posts

Carnegie Fellow at the Earth and Planets Laboratory. Protoplanetary + circumplanetary disks. Formerly at MPE, BU, and University of Michigan. She/her. #BiInSci 🏳️‍🌈✨🔭 Opinions are my own. sierragrant.com

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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Two 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.
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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I will be announcing a Cycle 1 Call for Proposals for using my pixel shortly
A certificate from Roman's Adopt a Pixel program. My pixel is #00016807.
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Prof Stephen Serjeant @stephenserjeant.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Don’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.org
Who Gets Cited? Gender- and Majority-Bias in LLM-Driven Reference Selection
Large 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...
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Michael D. Green, PhD @michaeldgreen.phd · 28/05/2026
President of MIT not mincing words today in @statnews.com www.statnews.com/2026/05/27/s...
So let me say it as clearly as I can: Without basic scientific research, supported by the kind of farsighted public investment that allows large-scale, undirected, curiosity-driven inquiry, the scientific pipeline will run dry.
In daily life, people may not feel the effects right away, or even in 10 years. But we will feel it. And when someone we love needs therapies that could have emerged but didn't or when other countries now
investing in science can launch new science-based industries or run their societies on vast resources of fusion energy or reap the benefits of quantum computing power or advanced medical breakthroughs, America will wish it sustained its leadership in scientific research here and now.
Sally Kornbluth is the president of MIT.
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
This 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.
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Johanna Teske @johannateske.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
www.hsfoundation.org/fellow/marbe... We are so excited to host and get to know and work with Marbely! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
hsfoundation.org
Marbely 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...
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Eliot 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.
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Michael 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.”
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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 31/12/2025
What 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-mjdxK6KM
youtube.com
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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SETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
In 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...
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SETI 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...
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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!
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SETI Institute @setiinstitute.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
Next #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. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬
SETI Live record button logo. Text: Baby moons in the making? with Moiya McTier, Gabriele Cugno, and Sierra L. Grant. Background: Artist's impression of an exoplanet with a swirling disk of dust around it. Inset: Photos of Gabriele Cugno and Sierra Grant.
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Emily Rauscher @astronemly.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Why? 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?!?
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AAS Nova @aasnova.org · 03/10/2025
AAS 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.org
AAS Nova Celebrates 10 Years of Astronomy Research News
AAS Nova turned 10 this year! For our 2,000th post, we're looking back on the past decade of astronomy research.
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ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 29/09/2025
Moon 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... 🔭 🧪 ☄️
This is an illustration of a young planet with a surrounding disc of dust and gas, potentially forming moons. The planet, which appears red, is shown at lower right, enveloped by a cloudy disc. The host star appears at upper left, and glows yellow, with its own reddish disc of debris. The black background of space is speckled with stars. At the bottom of the illustration, graphics of molecules are listed in the following order: Acetylene, Carbon Dioxide, Ethane, Benzene, Hydrogen cyanide.
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Matthew Kenworthy @mattkenworthy.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Cugno 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 ☄
An image of the planetary companion CT Cha b shown as a red dot next to its parent star, with a spectrum from 12 to 16 microns from JWST showing several rotational and vibrational bands in emission for several carbon molecules.
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AAS Press Office @press.aas.org · 29/09/2025
Space Telescope Science Institute: NASA’s JWST Studies Moon-Forming Disk Around Massive Planet science.nasa.gov/science-rese...
science.nasa.gov
NASA’s Webb Telescope Studies Moon-Forming Disk Around Massive Planet - NASA Science
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has provided the first direct measurements of the chemical and physical properties of a potential moon-forming disk
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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
SO PROUD OF MY (FUTURE*) WIFE @sierragrant.bsky.social *FUTURE MEANING SUNDAY
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
PRESS 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!
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Carnegie Science @carnegiescience.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
TOMORROW: 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.edu
Birth of Worlds, Rise of Giants
Join 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…
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Michael Wong @miquai.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
The best part of my job is the people I get to work with 🪐💙
Three planeteers look through a mockup of a Curiosity rover wheel
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Linn Boldt-Christmas @nplinnspace.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
🤯🤯🤯 circumstellar disk chemistry? No, circumPLANETARY disk chemistry! What an INCREDIBLE result! Check it out below ⬇️🧪🔭🪐
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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
🪐🔭 JWST is letting us learn about disks around PLANETARY-MASS OBJECTS!!!
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Today 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
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about Carnegie! It's an amazing place to be a postdoc!
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Another 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
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
New 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
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Our cat, but now in spherical form 😍
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
A spotted star, a (very!) misaligned planet, and awesome gifs, what more could you want?! 🤩
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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
Now 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...
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 11/06/2025
Great 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 🥳🪐
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Mike Okuda @mikeokuda.bsky.social · 01/06/2025
Save 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.org
Advocacy Action Center
The Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud.
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Sierra Grant @sierragrant.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
〰️〰️〰️〰️ New paper from @tamburo.bsky.social! 🤩
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Tom Megeath @megadeath.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
The 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.org
Sign the Petition
Oppose the layoff of the NIST Atomic Spectroscopy Group
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Michael Wong @miquai.bsky.social · 29/03/2025
I 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.
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Johanna Teske @johannateske.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Framed copy of 2002 Gruber Cosmology Prize awarded to Vera Rubin, which reads, “Her pioneering studies of the deviations of galaxy motions from classical a Hubble theory demonstrated that large scale structure existed in the universe. Her discovery that most of the universe is unseen dark matter derived from her exploration of the rotation of spiral galaxies. By example and gentle voice she has championed equal rights and revealed the incredible beauty of the universe.”
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Max-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 28/01/2025
Here 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 ⬇️
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Chris Carchedi, PhD @drrockdoctor.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Hey 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/...
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Kamber Schwarz @theschwarz.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
The 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.org
MINDS. JWST-MIRI Observations of a Spatially Resolved Atomic Jet and Polychromatic Molecular Wind Toward SY Cha
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 angul...
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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 20/12/2024
Ever 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 🔭 🧪
A horizontal infographic illustrates a loose recipe for planet formation. Title text at top left reads “Recipe for Planet Formation, with star and nebula.” Below the headline are two lists: Ingredients, which lists four ingredients, and Methods, which is threaded throughout the infographic in numerical order. In the Methods section, gas, dust, and ice in a nebula contracts under gravity to form a star, surrounded by a flattened disk. Inside the disk, dust and ice stick together to form planetesimals and then planets, leading to a planetary system.
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Andrew Sellek @andrewsellek.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
The 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
The spectrum of CX Tau showing how bright the disc emission is as a function of infrared wavelength. The disc gets brighter going from shorter wavelengths on the left to longer wavelenghts on the right, with a large bump at 10 micron due to Silicate dust grains. On top of the smooth continuum are a few weak lines, the most prominent ones being due to atoms such as HI and Ne or CO2. Inset panels show zoom-ins that demonstrate the presence of weak water features.
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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 04/12/2024
There 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
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Dr. Raphael Marschall @spacemarschall.net · 04/12/2024
One 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...
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captured this image of the iconic Pillars of Creation, a small region filled with newly formed stars within the vast Eagle Nebula about 6,500 light-years away.
Photograph by NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/origins-of-the-universe
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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Meteor caught on Whipple Observatory sky cameras last night 🪐🔭
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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Recently implemented Sicko Mode™ on Tierras 🔭🪐
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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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Patrick Tamburo @tamburo.bsky.social · 17/10/2024
Comet C/2023A3 as seen by the Tierras Observatory! 🪐🔭
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Ilaria Pascucci @pascucci.bsky.social · 04/10/2024
Excited 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/dVZ9C
rdcu.be
The nested morphology of disk winds from young stars revealed by JWST/NIRSpec observations
Nature 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...
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Kamber Schwarz @theschwarz.bsky.social · 18/09/2024
New paper alert! Using JWST MIRI we resolve a molecular disk wind from a transition disk! arxiv.org/abs/2409.11176 🔭
arxiv.org
MINDS. 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...
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