Planets @ Oxford

Congratulations Shubham on your successful PhD viva! Here's to a bright future exploring #Venus
#planetsci

JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec G395H Transmission Spectrum of Radius Valley-Dweller TOI-260 b We present a JWST/NIRSpec G395H transmission spectrum of TOI-260 b, a $T_\mathrm{eq}\sim 490$ K, $R_\mathrm{p} = 1.76\,R_\oplus$ planet. The transmission spectrum is derived by combining two transit o...

Congratulations to Dr Annabella Meech (@annabellameech.bsky.social) on the publication of her paper "JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec G395H Transmission Spectrum of Radius Valley-Dweller TOI-260 b", read it here: arxiv.org/abs/2602.22329

Exo Skryer: A JAX-accelerated sub-stellar atmospheric retrieval framework Contemporary exoplanet and brown dwarf atmospheric research relies heavily on retrieval frameworks to recover thermal and chemical properties and perform model comparison in an observational data-driv...

Elsie’s the best in the game. arxiv.org/abs/2602.19687 🔭 #astrocode

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.

Today we had a wonderful seminar given by Dr Clémence Fontanive about brown dwarf binaries and how they can tell us about the formation and evolution of substellar objects!

Want to learn more about #space and #solarsystem research going on at Oxford?
Join us Feb 24 at Jesus College for our big public outreach event:
www.jesus.ox.ac.uk/digital-hub-...
We'll have short talks, opportunities to ask an expert, and service by the Market Tap!
@oxfordphysics.bsky.social
🔭🧪

Today’s Astrophysics colloquium was given by Dr Johanna Vos (@johannavos.bsky.social) about exoplanet weather! Very cool learning how we can study clouds, winds, and aurora on exoplanetary worlds!

Congratulations, @nichollsh.bsky.social! Your thesis was a joy to read, and it was great to get to know you over the past 1.5 years. I look forward to seeing the research that you and Oli get up to at Cambridge. Perhaps almost as impressive was your AOPP champagne cork shot! Video below.

Very pleased to share that I have been awarded a Pass, with no corrections, following my DPhil defence at Oxford AOPP (@oxoplanets.bsky.social).

My thanks go to Paolo Sossi and @tadkomacek.bsky.social for their valuable input on my thesis, and their thoughtful suggestions for future directions.

Four Oxford researchers honoured in the Royal Astronomical Society’s Four Oxford University academics have been honoured in the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS)’s 2026 Awards, announced today. Each year the RAS Awards recognise significant achievements in the fields

Four Oxford researchers have been honoured in the Royal Astronomical Society’s 2026 Awards.

Congratulations to:

Prof Suzanne Aigrain
Dr Deaglan Bartlett
Prof Andrew Bunker
Associate Prof. Paula Koelemeijer

Find out more ⬇️

ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission moves up launch A delay in one European Space Agency mission is creating an opportunity for an earlier, and more capable, launch for another ESA spacecraft.

With Ariel facing delays, @esa.int Comet Interceptor has found a new ride with a commercial Arian 6 launch customer.
Comet Interceptor will carry MIRMIS being built by @oxfordphysics.bsky.social
🔭🧪 #planetsci

spacenews.com/esas-comet-i...

Oxford physicists found iron-rich asteroids are stronger than expected, tolerating massive energy without breaking. This discovery significantly impacts future planetary defense.
Read article in full: https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/news/asteroid-impact-simulation-reveals-hidden-strength-space-rocks

Mass estimates of the young TOI-451 transiting planets: Multidimensional Gaussian Process on stellar spectroscopic and photometric signals The young TOI-451 planetary system, aged 125 Myr, provides a unique opportunity to test theories of planetary internal structures and atmospheric mass loss through examination of its three transiting ...

Congratulations to Dr Oscar Barragán (@exoscar.bsky.social) on his latest publication that has been accepted to the journal MNRAS! He uses multi-GP techniques to obtain mass estimates of the transiting planets around the young star TOI-451. Read more here: arxiv.org/abs/2601.09438

To kick off the year, we had our first astrophysics colloquium given by Dr Anne-Marie Lagrange from the Observatoire de Paris. No pictures as most of the work is under review, however, lots of exciting results using Gaia to characterise cool giant planets!

New study simulates asteroid impact – and reveals the hidden strength Physicists at the University of Oxford have contributed to a new study which has found that iron-rich asteroids can tolerate far more energy than previously thought without breaking apart - a

NEW: Oxford physicists have contributed to a study finding that iron-rich asteroids can withstand far more energy than previously thought without breaking apart - a breakthrough with direct implications for planetary defence.

Find out more ⬇️

And finally, the awarding of this year's lectureships!

Professor Suzanne Aigrain, of @oxfordphysics.bsky.social, is awarded the George Darwin Lectureship. 🥳
⤵️

Congratulations to Prof Suzanne Aigrain (@airbornegrain.bsky.social), who has been awarded the George Darwin Lectureship!

This week we are hosting the @terrahunting.bsky.social science team in Oxford. Terra Hunting will use HARPS3 which is right now being installed on the Isaac Newton Telescope in La Palma to search for nearby Earth analogues. Exciting times! @oxfordphysics.bsky.social @oxoplanets.bsky.social

The physics-based realities of Santa’s Christmas Eve present-delivering extravaganza by Dr George Dransfield! 🦌🛷

Afternoon of Astrophysics - YouTube In 2025 the sub-department of Astrophysics started a new series of alumni & guests events, known as 'Afternoon of Astrophysics'.On this playlist you will fin...

Oxford hosted the first “Afternoon of Astrophysics” with talks by Prof Aigrain (@airbornegrain.bsky.social) & Prof Birkby (@jaynebirkby.bsky.social), followed by a panel with Dr Taylor (@astrojake.bsky.social) & Prof Lintott (@chrislintott.bsky.social), watch on YouTube: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Congratulations to Prof Patrick Irwin! The mastermind behind the NEMESIS code that many of us use to study the atmospheres of solar system planets and exoplanets! More information about the code can be found here: nemesiscode.github.io

Lots of fun work out from APEx postdocs in the past week! first up was Sophia Vaughan @sophiavaughan.bsky.social on a deep search for reflected light from a hot Neptune w/ the VLT. This summed up light from ALL FOUR 8m telescopes over 2 nights- a preview of ELT-like data! arxiv.org/abs/2511.08691

Interested in finding transiting planets at long periods, e.g. with the @platomissioncon.bsky.social?

We just published a Research Note led by Geert Jan Talens, showing that such transits can be much longer or shorter than usually assumed iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Prof Patrick Irwin won the prestigious David Bates Medal from the EGU 2026, recognizing his exceptional contributions to planetary and solar system sciences. Irwin shared, "I am humbled to be joining such a list of laureates...I am absolutely thrilled and very thankful to my colleagues and the EGU."

JWST NIRSpec finds no clear signs of an atmosphere on TOI-1685 b Determining the prevalence of atmospheres on terrestrial planets is a core objective in exoplanetary science. While M dwarf systems offer a promising opportunity, conclusive observations of terrestria...

Congratulations to Dr Chloe Fisher (@astrochloe.bsky.social) on the publication of her study "JWST NIRSpec finds no clear signs of an atmosphere on TOI-1685 b", read about it here: arxiv.org/abs/2512.15338

Water versus land on temperate rocky planets Water and land surfaces on a planet interact with gases in the atmosphere and with radiation from the star. These interactions define the environments that prevail on the planet, some of which may be ...

Congratulations to Dr Claire Guimond on her review concerning water versus land on temperate rocky planets. It will appear in Space Science Reviews, topical collection 'The Geoscience of Exoplanets: Going Beyond Habitability' arxiv.org/abs/2512.09785

We are hiring a new Assistant Professor in Astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin!! ☘

Job ad here: aas.org/jobregister/...
Deadline: Jan 02 2026

Please share widely! 🪐🔭

Great Astrophysics colloquium today given by Prof Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social about interstellar objects and what we know so far about 3I/ATLAS

On Saturday we held the inaugural Afternoon of Astrophysics in @oxfordphysics.bsky.social. Myself, Prof Suzanne Aigrain @airbornegrain.bsky.social and Prof Jayne Birkby @jaynebirkby.bsky.social discussed the cutting edge of exoplanet research with the public, moderated by @chrislintott.bsky.social

Interesting seminar today by Jonathan Grone, a PhD student at the University of Bern. He discusses how we can use polarisation to detect biosignatures. He also shows how space science is helping with medical science, the same polarisation techniques can detect cancerous tumours!