Congratulations to Dr Tobias Meier (@tgmeier.bsky.social) on the publication of his paper "Mantle Convection and Nightside Volcanism on Lava World K2-141 b" featuring 12 former and current Oxoplanet members! You can read the paper here: arxiv.org/abs/2603.02408
04.03.2026 15:45 — 👍 15 🔁 7 💬 2 📌 3
An image of the speaker, Miki Nakajima. She is smiling and looking into the camera. She has long dark hair and is wearing earrings & a white striped shirt with a black blazer. She is stood outdoors, leaning against a fence, with some trees visible but blurred in the background.
A photo of... a magma ocean?! Not quite, because that would be a really difficult picture to take since we do not have any on hand. Instead, this is a photo that was taken in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, in May 1954 during the eruption of the Kilauea Volcano. The floor is literally lava, blackened and fragmented with what appears to be whirlpools of red and yellow lava in their centres. Close enough? Credit: Photo by J. P. Eaton, May 31, 1954
You've maybe heard of ocean planets 🌊🪐 but what about *electric magma* ocean planets?! 🔥⚡🌋
For our next #RockyWorldsDiscussion on Thu 5 March @ 14:00 UTC, Miki Nakajima will present exciting simulations on magma ocean dynamos in Earth and super-Earths
More: www.rockyworlds.org/event-detail...
🧪🔭
Here is a link to the letter. www.iop.org/about/news/o...
02.03.2026 11:21 — 👍 12 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
The ESO studentship was probably one of the best experiences of my academic career so far; recommend it 100%!
Please spread into your networks. Happy to answer questions or even host a student with one of my fellow #exoplanets people. Just get in touch!💙
📢 @astroroyalscot.bsky.social, Prof. Jon Butterworth, & our rep for Early-Career Researchers, Simon Williams @si-wills.bsky.social will meet the SITC Committee next week to talk about the STFC funding!
Let's all attend the hearing in person and online!🙎💻
committees.parliament.uk/event/26683/...
Me and @readdark.bsky.social are advertising aPhD position in our lovely group here at Surrey university. We're looking to understand unusual globular clusters and faint dwarf galaxies. Check out the advert and get in touch if you have questions 🔭🧪 www.surrey.ac.uk/fees-and-fun...
26.02.2026 12:43 — 👍 30 🔁 14 💬 2 📌 0
STFC CEO responds to @jonbutterworth.bsky.social
"it is important for all of our ... programmes ... to contribute to us making savings across our entire portfolio"
No mention that *all* is disproportionately falling on the particle-astro-nuclear programme 🤷♀️😡
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Very interesting Astrophysics colloquium given today by Prof David Kipping (@davidkipping.bsky.social) about the role of Bayesianism and Anthropics in searches for life. Excited to see the paper published! Much to think about when it comes to finding life with future space telescopes.
23.02.2026 14:59 — 👍 23 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 0
We'd love to gather amateur Jupiter imaging over the next few weeks to provide context for this Jupiter campaign from #JWST (plus Juno with be flying by Feb 25th on #PerijoveDay!). More details here:
leighfletcher.substack.com/p/supporting...
Hello HARPS3! Are you ready for some optics? OK then ... let the optical installation begin!⭐
15.02.2026 16:44 — 👍 16 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 1Cloud!
15.02.2026 19:46 — 👍 9 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
UK undergrads - UK Space Agency Internships Programme is running this summer. Is paid too (£5k for 8 weeks).
web-eur.cvent.com/event/2a6caf...
We’re bringing our mix of comedy and science to Oxford’s best basement next Thursday, the 19th. Tickets available here: wegottickets.com/f/15055/
Do come, it’ll be a blast.
Ad for the ESA Graduate Trainee Programme 2026. A person is standing in the middle of a road looking at a meteor in the sky. The person has a backpack and holds a mobile phone in the hand. The landscape looks desert-like. The Milky Way band is visible across the sky. An ESA logo is placed on the upper right-hand corner, whereas on the lower right-hand corner the name of the agency is written: European Space Agency.
The 2026 ESA Graduate Trainee positions are waiting for your applications!
Step into a unique role where you’ll contribute to inspiring space missions and work alongside leading professionals from across Europe.
Discover the available positions 👉 jobs.esa.int
#ESArecruits 🔭 🧪
Reposting to the astronomy and science feeds 🔭🧪
GPE's conclusion on STFC's savage cuts to astro/particle/nuclear physics research:
A blue sky, some patchy clouds, and a thin, bright crescent. That's Venus. The larger, dimmer crescent is the Moon.
This is a cool photo of crescent Venus.
And the Moon, too.
Image credit: Iván Éder
Early-career researchers are rightly worried about the road ahead, and have drafted an open letter to UKRI & #STFC, calling for a "strategic correction" to avoid irreversible loss of curiosity-driven UK research - an essential part of future discoveries, tech, & growth. bsky.app/profile/si-w...
05.02.2026 20:45 — 👍 6 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
‘We have a world-leading research base...but we’re about to throw it away.’
@oxfordphysics.bsky.social's Prof Chris Lintott responds to plans to cut University funding for astronomy and physics ⬇️
MPs for Cambridge and Milton Keynes Central represent institutions (Cambridge and OU) with astronomy groups. If you're in those please email Emily Darlington and Daniel Zeichner ASAP.
02.02.2026 12:42 — 👍 7 🔁 6 💬 1 📌 0That'll be MPs from Newcastle Central/West, Mid-Norfolk, NW Hants, Gravesham, Henley & Thame, Cambridge, MK, Stoke-on-Trent South, South Derbyshire, Erewash and Newton Abbot. If you're in one of those areas and would be willing to write to your MP today that would be amazing.
02.02.2026 12:38 — 👍 4 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 1Interesting. The head of UKRI is talking to the Commons Science, Innovation and Tech. Committee tomorrow: hope one of the MPs asks about his dramatic cuts to the astronomy budget.
02.02.2026 12:36 — 👍 29 🔁 8 💬 3 📌 4
I've updated my post on the funding crisis heading for British astronomy: docs.google.com/document/d/1.... UKRI made clear that astro and particle physics are being subject to unique cuts due to rising costs elsewhere. This looks like a deliberate decision not to fund fundamental physics. 🔭 🧪
02.02.2026 10:32 — 👍 57 🔁 30 💬 2 📌 0
Me, on astronomy funding crisis, on the @ox.ac.uk website: www.ox.ac.uk/news/2026-02... 🔭🧪
02.02.2026 12:55 — 👍 86 🔁 24 💬 3 📌 4
You may have seen pictures, but have you ever seen video of a gigantic jet #TLE from space?
Astronaut Jeanette Epps captured this incredible sequence on July 20th, 2024 for the DTU/@science.esa.int Thor-Davis experiment. 🧪🔭
youtu.be/xN2J7_rOBJY
Credit: ESA/NASA/J. Epps
Processing: Simeon Schmauß
Cecilia Payne Gaposchkin’s autobiography is just amazing. Every astronomer should read it.
Here she is talking about her memories of Annie Jump Cannon.
That image just blows my mind
21.01.2026 15:34 — 👍 9 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 1Thanks for visiting and for an excellent talk! Very exciting data ahead 😀
20.01.2026 18:17 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A reminder that I and a bunch of awesome people are doing stand-up about science in Kings Cross on the 28th. This will be excellent. Tickets here: wegottickets.com/event/684234.
19.01.2026 16:45 — 👍 19 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0Congratulations Harrison! 🥳 Very much deserved, can’t wait for all the exciting work you’ll be doing in Cambridge!
18.01.2026 11:37 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
