iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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OzGrav @ozgrav.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

🎉 Congratulations to OzGrav’s Dr Laura Driessen, a 2026 NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award winner! A fantastic recognition of Laura’s research and commitment to science communication. Congratulations, Laura! 🌟 🔗 aips.org.au/tall-poppies... #OzGrav #TallPoppyAwards #Astronomy #WomenInSTEM

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

We are offering a new round of 4 Physics Foundation PhD scholarships @sydney.edu.au Available in any area of #physics or #astronomy. Please send to any students (domestic and international) who may be interested. Deadline 18th October. ⚛️ ☄️ www.sydney.edu.au/scholarships...

sydney.edu.au

Physics Foundation Scholarship

A stipend scholarship to support PhD students who are undertaking research within School of Physics, Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney.

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OzGrav @ozgrav.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Congrats to OzGrav Chief Investigator Prof Susan Scott, awarded the 2026 Harrie Massey Medal and Prize for her groundbreaking contributions to general relativity, cosmology and gravitational wave science. 🔗 Read more: www.ozgrav.org/awards/profe... #Physics #AustralianScience #WomenInSTEM #ANU

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

We are advertising a Lecturer in Radio Astronomy continuing position at @sydney.edu.au! Looking for someone to broaden and complement our existing research in #RadioAstro, and teach undergraduate #Physics. usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-GB/USYD_E... Deadline October 11th

usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com

Lecturer in Radio Astronomy

A full-time Level B continuing position, located on the Camperdown Campus at the School of Physics Exciting opportunity to join one of the leading physics schools in the country, with outstanding staf...

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com

Lecturer in Radio Astronomy

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Fun Fact Science with Kovi @funfactscience.com · 14/08/2026

Thrilled to share that we made the cover of @natastron.nature.com!!! 🔭💥☄️ The artwork, designed in collaboration with @ozgrav.bsky.social, features a rendering of the magnetic field simulation from our white dwarf binary paper. Check it out here: www.nature.com/natastron/vo...

Journal cover for Nature Astronomy, August 2026 issue. The background is a textured deep teal field filled with faint white grid lines and loops depicting magnetic fields. On the upper left, a large, textured reddish-orange star is shown. On the lower right, a small, bright white-blue dwarf star is encircled by a dense, flower-like array of magnetic field lines. A stylised, ribbon-like stream of white and blue light connects the two celestial objects across the centre. Bold white text in the lower-left corner reads "White dwarf binaries as long-period radio emitters."

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Reposted by Tara Murphy

Andy Baker @andy-baker.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

A cluster hire here at UNSW Science, looking for cross-disciplinary Level B/C academics. Come and work in Sydney! www.unsw.edu.au/science/abou... Crossposted with @openvibe.social

unsw.edu.au

Recruitment | Science - UNSW Sydney

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

New images of the Sun so detailed you can almost see its face! Textbook Kelvin–Helmholtz instability patterns in images with resolution of ~20 km. With quotes from @manicule.bsky.social and @hannahschunker.bsky.social www.abc.net.au/news/science... ☄️ ⚛️ 🔭 🧪

abc.net.au

We've never seen the Sun in this much detail before

The highest-resolution imagery of the Sun's surface ever taken reveals dizzying currents, and clues about our star's magnetic fields.

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Dr Laura Driessen @astrolaura.com · 05/08/2026

Thrilled to be one of this year's NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award recipients! 🥳 aips.org.au/2026-young-t... 🧪

A woman wearing a navy blue cap and sunglasses is taking a selfie. She's standing in front of two radio dishes, these look like bit TV dishes. She's in the western Australian outback. The dirt behind her is orange and there are low shrubs and bushes. The sky is blue with some fluffy white clouds

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

We've discovered two more long period transients! A new @pasajournal.bsky.social paper by Yuanming Wang and collabs introducing the VASTER pipeline running on ASKAP. As soon as we switched it on we started finding new things (star and LPT below) dx.doi.org/10.1017/pasa... #radioastro ☄️

Image caption from paper. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/pasa.2026.10232

Examples of transient detections in the time-averaged deep images and short-timescale residual images, plotted from the VASTER outputs, for two sources: the flaring star ASKAP J051629.6–313543 (top row) and the LPT ASKAP J165130.3–450520 (bottom row).

From left to right in each row: the time-averaged deep image, the residual image prior to the flare, the residual image during the flare, and the residual image after the flare. The white circle marks the target source position, with a radius of 20 arcsec.

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The Australian Institute of Physics @aip.org.au · 31/07/2026

🎲 Does God play dice? Join renowned cosmologist Dr Luke Barnes for the 2026 Einstein Lecture exploring randomness, cosmology and the nature of reality. 📍Sydney 4 Aug www.mq.edu.au/faculty-of-s... 📍Hunter 5 Aug www.lakemac.com.au/Events-direc.... Free, bookings are essential. #Physics #ScienceWeek

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

In Sydney for National Science Week? You might be interested in this @sydney.edu.au talk with astrophysicist Geraint Lewis @cosmichorizons.bsky.social and chemist Haihui Joy Jiang. Thursday 20 Aug 6:00 pm Register here: www.sydney.edu.au/science/news... 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭

sydney.edu.au

The Impact Factor: Matter of origin

Have you ever wondered how we got here? How our Universe formed? And how life on Earth began? Join University of Sydney researchers, astrophysicist Professor Geraint Lewis and chemist Dr Haihui Joy Ji...

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National Radio Astronomy Observatory - NSF NRAO @thenrao.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Using the NSF Very Large Array, astronomers detected polarized light from a gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow + Faraday rotation in a GRB (a phenomenon in which magnetic fields cause the polarization of light to twist as it travels through space) for the first time at radio wavelengths! #RadioAstro

bit.ly

Magnetic Fingerprint of a Cosmic Explosion for the First Time

NSF VLA radio telescope reveals polarized light and a powerful magnetic environment in a gamma-ray burst afterglow

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Phil Plait @philplait.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Astronomers turned to public crowdsourcing to help them find brown dwarfs in space. It, um, worked. REALLY well. badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/citizen-sc... 🧪 🔭

badastronomy.beehiiv.com

Citizen scientists find over 3,000 nearby brown dwarfs

No kidding, that’s a lot of brown dwarfs

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

We've discovered another long period transient with ASKAP! Source #15 in this small but growing population. It repeats every 36 minutes, but despite many observations (see plot) we're not sure what it is. New paper by Joshua Pritchard: doi.org/10.1017/pasa... #radioastro

Lightcurves from all ASKAP, ATCA, and MeerKAT radio observations of a long period transient: ASKAP J142431.2–612611

They are phase-folded to the radio period of 2 147.27 s. Green shading indicates the range of uncertainty in predicted pulse time around the expected pulse phase of 0.5.

Credit Joshua Pritchard

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Zooniverse @zooniverse.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Zooniverse has reached an extraordinary milestone: 1 BILLION classifications contributed by volunteers! Want to learn how 1 billion classifications have made a real-world impact? Read our blog post and learn why we’re excited for what’s next: blog.zooniverse.org/2026/06/29/o...

blog.zooniverse.org

One BILLION Classifications!

We are SO happy to announce that Zooniverse has reached an extraordinary milestone: 1 BILLION classifications contributed by volunteers!To give you a sense of what an extraordinary milestone this i…

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Come to Sydney for Cool Stars 2028 (and an eclipse) #astrosci #radioastro

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Three days left to apply for our 3-year postdoctoral position in #RadioAstro transients at Sydney. Deadline June 14th! ☄️ 🔭

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Australian Research Council @arc-gov-au.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Nominations now open: ARC College of Experts 2027. We’re seeking leaders in research and peer review from across academia, industry and the public sector — with strong encouragement for multidisciplinary expertise and diverse nominations. Find out more: www.arc.gov.au/news-and-pub...

Graphic with a dark blue background featuring a minimal white line drawing of two people seated side by side—one holding a document and the other with arms crossed. Below the illustration, bold text reads “College of Experts” with smaller text underneath stating “Nominations open.”

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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 01/06/2026

Seeing a signal in different kinds of light is like having a text written in several forms of writing – it makes it easier to decipher.

theconversation.com

Mysterious signals keep coming from space. We have found their ‘Rosetta stone’

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Hot off the press! A new #RadioAstronomy discovery by @sydney.edu.au PhD student Kovi Rose (@funfactscience.com) A new long period radio transient identified as a white dwarf binary system (with great graphics from @ozgrav.bsky.social's Carl Knox) theconversation.com/mysterious-s... ☄️ 🔭

theconversation.com

Mysterious signals keep coming from space. We have found their ‘Rosetta stone’

Seeing a signal in different kinds of light is like having a text written in several forms of writing – it makes it easier to decipher.

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

theconversation.com

Mysterious signals keep coming from space. We have found their ‘Rosetta stone’

Seeing a signal in different kinds of light is like having a text written in several forms of writing – it makes it easier to decipher.

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

Congratulations to @ozgrav.bsky.social and @sydney.edu.au researcher Iris de Ruiter who has been awarded an IAU Gruber Foundation Fellowship for her work in #radioastronomy. www.iau.org/IAU/News/Ann... 🔭 ☄️

iau.org

Gruber Fellowship Awards 2026

Announcement: The Gruber Foundation (TGF) Fellowships 2026 have been awarded to Iris de Ruiter, Ignas Juodžbalis, and Mor Rozner.

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

An exciting opportunity to join our fun, productive and diverse #RadioAstronomy group @sydney.edu.au A 3-year postdoctoral position working on fast radio bursts and long period transients with @manishacaleb.bsky.social ! Deadline June 14th ☄️ 🔭 🧪 usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/USYD_E...

usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com

Postdoctoral Research Associate / Fellow in Radio Astronomy

Full time, 3 years fixed term, located on the Camperdown Campus at the School of Physics Opportunity to contribute to research focused on fast radio bursts and long-period radio transients using the A...

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

A great blast-from-the-past video about #RadioAstronomy in Australia. Includes a nice long section on "radio stars", none of which were radio stars :) Of course now we do have radio stars: radiostars.org There's a bit more of the history of radio transients here: doi.org/10.1017/pasa... 🔭 ☄️ 🧪

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

Excited to announce the first data release from our ASKAP Variables and Slow Transients survey is now available! doi.org/10.1017/pasa... This is a database of 6.4 million measurements of 0.5 million radio sources in our survey footprint. (By @ozgrav.bsky.social Iris de Ruiter) #RadioAstronomy

The VAST Extragalactic Survey footprint, showing the number of observations of each field. The sky map is plotted with J2000 equatorial coordinates in the Mollweide projection. The VAST Galactic survey is plotted in grey for reference. Typically, each field has been observed 10–11 times to date.

Image from de Ruiter et al. (2026)

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

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OzGrav @ozgrav.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Congrats to OzGrav’s Dr Cullan Howlett - awarded the 2026 Pawsey Medal 👏 His research, focused on assembling the largest & most complete map of our universe ever made, has shaped our understanding of the fundamental forces & ingredients that make up the world around us. vimeo.com/1164875635/b...

vimeo.com

Dr Cullan Howlett - 2026 Pawsey Medal

This is "Dr Cullan Howlett - 2026 Pawsey Medal" by Australian Academy of Science on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

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Mike Kuhn @mikeakuhn.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Looking for a postdoc in radio astronomy? We have an opportunity at @herts.ac.uk. Please share with anybody interested. Extreme Radio Flares from Young Stellar Objects (closing date: 2026-04-16) Apply here: ce0997li.webitrent.com/ce0997li_web... 🔭 #RadioAstronomy #highenergyastro #stellarastro

ce0997li.webitrent.com

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

We have a great opportunity to research optics or photonics @sydney.edu.au #physics Two postgraduate scholarships for international or domestic students www.sydney.edu.au/scholarships... Also comes with a $2000 pa research allowance. Deadline April 24th

sydney.edu.au

Dr Peter Domachuk Postgraduate Research Stipend Scholarship

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Fun Fact Science with Kovi @funfactscience.com · 10/03/2026

New LPT who dis? #radioastro We've found a new long-period radio transient to add to the small but growing population! 📡🔭🧪 In a recently accepted @pasajournal.bsky.social Letter, Joshua Pritchard details the bursts detected from this system during a brief active period. arxiv.org/abs/2603.07857

Lightcurves from all ASKAP, ATCA, and MeerKAT radio observations phase-folded to the radio period of 2147.27 s. Green shading indicates the range of uncertainty in predicted pulse time around the expected pulse phase of 0.5. Pulses are only detected in the ASKAP and ATCA observations between 2025-01-09 and 2025-01-17.

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Interesting result from my talented @ozgrav.bsky.social + @sydney.edu.au PhD student Ashna Gulati. Strong evidence for radio detection of an orphan afterglow from a gamma-ray burst OR... a tidal disruption event from an intermediate mass black hole. 🔭 ☄️ 🧪 theconversation.com/a-cosmic-exp...

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 25/02/2026

The largest spot-the-difference effort EVER has begun!🚨 On the night of Feb 24, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory officially released its first ~800,000 public alerts of detected changes in the night sky!🔍 A new era of discovery is here✨ 🔭🧪☄️ 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/first-a...

A 3-by-4 grid of grayscale astronomical images zoomed in on single objects. From left to right, the columns are labeled Template, New image, and difference. From top to bottom, the rows are labeled supernova, variable star, active galactic nucleus, and solar system object.

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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 22/02/2026

A new map offers new perspective on the city, revealing the steady, ever-present natural radiation emerging from the ground beneath our feet. 👉 Read the full story: theconversation.com/the-gro...

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

A very interesting article about radioactivity levels in Sydney (mainly due to the different rock types underneath the city). Mapped in detail for the first time by Laura Manenti @sydney.edu.au and undergraduate students Tengiz Ibrayev and Matilda Lawton. www.smh.com.au/national/nsw... ⚛️

Cartoon summarising a new article about radioactivity levels in Sydney, by physicist Laura Manenti.

The full article is: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0265931X2600024X

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LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 10/02/2026

Tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of the announcement of our first detection! Back in 2016, excitement was building with everyone getting into the spirit with #ChirpForLIGO (thank you @astrokatie.com!) Reminisce with this supercut www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uzi... #GW10Years ⚛️🧪🔭

youtube.com

Chirp for LIGO Supercut Trailer

YouTube video by Unruly Curiosity

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Tara Murphy @taramurphy.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

This is fun, and I am... in my expected location, amongst #Astronomy people. Two of my closest neighbours are @astrolaura.com and @cosmicpudding.bsky.social - very appropriate! And is that @funfactscience.com just out of view... 🔭 ☄️ 🧪

Screenshot of a section of the bluesky map from: http://bluesky-map.theo.io/

There are coloured dots showings clusters of people who follow each other, grouped by interest.

I am in a group called "Professional Astronomers and Astrophysicists"

Zoom in of the previous image. This shows the names and small images of individual people in the cluster.

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

In this photo, taken #OTD in 1984, Bruce McCandless is an *football field away from the space shuttle with no safety tether.* No astronaut, before or since, has been that far away from their ship while in orbit. (2/n)

Astronaut Bruce McCandless about 100 yards from the space shuttle during an EVA, with no tether. The Earth is bright and blue below him, with a scattering of feathery white clouds across the surface. McCandless is suspended above, small and white against the black backdrop of space.

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Bruce McCandless and Robert Stewart, mission specialists on the Space Shuttle Challenger during STS-41-B, used nitrogen-propelled maneuvering units to perform the first untethered spacewalks #OTD in 1984. 🧪 🔭 🚀 (1/n) Images: NASA

Another shot of Bruce McCandless during an EVA, this time much closer to the shuttle. The Earth below him is covered in clouds. Space above the Earth is black and featureless; any stars that would be visible are washed out by the bright surface below. McCandless is in his white, clunky spacesuit with its reflective copper-colored visor and a large, blockish maneuvering unit on his back.

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