Pete Smith, Space Wizard Candidate

Wooooo congrats!!!!

I have some cross-correlation cartoon animations on my website! petercbsmith.github.io/gallery.html

for sale:

mines,

never swept

for sale:

crypt,

never kept

In fantastic 4 Galactus passes by Jupiter without notice, finally giving us a much awaited confirmation that there is no life on MCU Europa

Hello World! A new chapter of Astronomy on Tap just dropped in sunny Tempe, AZ ☀️. We’re so excited to announce that starting this August, we’ll be hosting FREE monthly events at Four Peaks Brewing with professional astronomers who love talking about space! Follow for event details and sneak peaks 👀

I did a lot of Vibe Physics in undergrad, especially during exams. I also failed a lot of exams

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

exoplanet lottery - everybody gets assigned a random hydrocarbon and if you can show it fits K2-18 b MIRI data at 4 sigma you get a faculty job offer

as it turns out the trans service people were in charge of putting on the parking brakes for the jets

as an exoplanet astronomer I feel uniquely qualified to remind everyone this Earth Day that Earth is literally the best planet in the universe. every other planet is a shithole. its true.

nice. these posteriors imply K2-18 b's atmosphere could be anywhere from 0 to 100% DMDS (and same for the other molecules)

second case - when comparing models with DMS+DMDS+CH4+CO2 to models with only CH4 and CO2. interesting choice however to not compare to a model including other sulfur bearing molecules 3/3

first case - when comparing a simpler model including only DMS, DMDS, CH4, and CO2 to a flat line (i.e., is there an atmosphere at all). However, the model preference here is correlated with the size of the prior on a vertical offset. offset from what other instrument? who's to say... 2/3

3 "sigma" is quoted in the abstract and press releases. However a model including DMS and DMDS is only preferred by ~2 sigma compared to a complicated model including many other gases except these two. the 3 sigma shows up in two other cases.. 1/3

New Constraints on DMS and DMDS in the Atmosphere of K2-18 b from JWST MIRI The sub-Neptune frontier has opened a new window into the rich diversity of planetary environments beyond the solar system. The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H$_2$-rich atm...

will read this in more detail in the morning but a quick thread of some technical quirks:

for context, "sigma"/confidence intervals here describe the preference of one model/hypothesis over another, not a signal strength over noise as in most types of "detections"

0/3

arxiv.org/abs/2504.12267

unfortunately due to tariffs we had to pay 2 sigmas on that DMS detection

you’re telling me this data is based?

we’re speedrunning the Cultural Revolution which famously went Extremely Well for China

if I don’t publish again soon They will Take me

Just announced: 10% tariff on spectra from K2-18b

returning to all the neglected projects and responsibilities after submitting proposals

I know it’s pi day because you’re spinning my head right round

I got 11 unconstrained hyperparameters call that kernel sanders

Astronomy Slack Pro Tempore General What’s up y’all crazy that slack is down -P Random

hey astronomers while slack is down we can use this google doc instead :) docs.google.com/document/d/1...

slack is down

while you were writing a finesst proposal I was studying the blade

when the world (me) needed him (my windows laptop) most, he vanished (restarted for no reason)

I went to lovely person island and they had an idol built in your likeness

this whole time I’ve been thinking “but don… the science victory… the cultural victory…”