Dr./Prof. Meredith MacGregor

Schedule from the 2025 ExoJamboree at JHU and STScI

Today is the ExoJamboree at @jhuartssciences.bsky.social and @stsci.edu - How cool is that we are such a powerhouse of exoplanet research here that we can have an awesome conference with just local people?!?!

Another wonderful article about our RZ Psc work!

Believe me I had that same thought writing that paper 😂

This! Here's a slide pulled from my class lecture notes this semester. Comets have two clear tails - one from dust and one from ions. They point in different directions because one feels the solar wind while the other feels radiation pressure.

A host of ‘exocomets’ swarms a distant star Dimming of the starlight from RZ Piscium reveals that 24 unseen bodies are whizzing around the star.

Nature published a research highlight on our RZ PSc exocomet paper: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Flying to Rochester today to give the colloquium. Can confirm that most of security at BWI is shut down and people aren’t happy about it 🫠

So excited that our paper is finally out! We analyzed archival TESS observations of RZ Psc and detected 24 transiting exocomets. And, Adalyn is an amazing undergrad applying for grad school this year!

Never hurts to reach out! It helps you figure out whether you actually want to work with that person. And, it can help you make a better justification for the host institution.

Ugh that all sounds terrible! (The fact that I started my new biologic injections the same week is definitely not helping... So far, Mom is the hardest hit. Dad is fine. Dogs are fine. Little one had the sniffles and bounced back within a few days.)

Our little one started daycare last week, and I have been sick ever since... My immune system is clearly no match to school germs!

Calling the Astronomy hive mind! Who is your favorite deceased astronomer that deserves to have something named after them posthumously? And why?

Neighboring Star’s Warped Ring Shaped by Evolving Planets - National Radio Astronomy Observatory Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the highest resolution image to date, revealing new insights...

National Radio Astronomy Observatory: Neighboring Star’s Warped Ring Shaped by Evolving Planets public.nrao.edu/news/neighbo...

ALMA Reveals an Eccentricity Gradient in the Fomalhaut Debris Disk We present evidence of a negative eccentricity gradient in the debris disk of the nearby A-type main sequence star, Fomalhaut. Fitting to the high-resolution, archival ALMA 1.32 mm continuum data for ...

Paper #2 led by Center for Astrophysics postdoctoral fellow Joshua Lovell: arxiv.org/abs/2509.02884

High Resolution ALMA Data of the Fomalhaut Debris Disk Confirms Apsidal Width Variation We present long-baseline observations of the Fomalhaut outer debris disk at 223 GHz (1.3 mm) from ALMA Cycle 5, which we use along with archival short-baseline observations to produce a 0".57 resoluti...

Paper #1 led by @jhuartssciences.bsky.social graduate student Jay Chittidi here: arxiv.org/abs/2509.02825

Neighboring Star’s Warped Ring Shaped by Evolving Planets - National Radio Astronomy Observatory Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the highest resolution image to date, revealing new insights...

Super excited that these results are finally out! This is the highest resolution ALMA image of Fomalhaut ever, and we can learn new things about the structure of the disk and the planet that is likely shaping it. Press release here: public.nrao.edu/news/neighbo...

a sign that says " what is even happening " next to a dumpster ALT: a sign that says " what is even happening " next to a dumpster

It's the first day of classes and I spent the weekend in the hospital with a sick little one who needed emergency surgery... Let's do this! (Also, please send coffee!)

Perfect evening for the department welcome crab feast @jhuartssciences.bsky.social! 🦀

Challenge: post your last photo taken in DC to show what a hell-hole it is.

Ugh that's annoying! (Typed as I wait for my insurance company to decide if they want to approve the new biologic my doctor prescribed for me...)

Picture time! #HWO25

Back for another day of #HWO25 at the stunning at the @jhuartssciences.bsky.social Bloomberg Center!

That’s such an encouraging story! The last flight I was on I felt like I was the only one on the flight wearing mask… (annoying since I’m also riding the autoimmune medication bus) Also, looking forward to seeing you this week!

Wow wow wow 🤩 It’s just amazing what we humans can do when we support scientific research and funding

Dogs are the most wonderful creatures and I'm so sorry you have to say goodbye to such a very good boy ❤️

Great article, @hannah-richter.bsky.social!

AAS Graduate Admissions Task Force: Final report and recommendations In March of 2024 the AAS formed our Graduate Admissions Task Force (GATF), asking us to produce recommendations aimed at improving the state of graduate admissions in astronomy. The task was a timely ...

The report from our AAS Task Force on Graduate Admission is out! This has become a complicated problem in recent years, and is made even worse with the recent federal budget. You can read the report here: arxiv.org/abs/2505.09759

I don’t think that all of the ones selected in the last call have actually received full funding yet. POEMM has its CSR this fall.

I'm so sorry Jessie...

So far I've parsed that it eliminates AAPF and ASCEND. ALMA will still be support by Green Bank Observatory will start close out. Cuts to a bunch of other facilities as well.

nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/00-NSF...