Michelle Collins

Ease into the weekend by catching up on the @starxiv.bsky.social podcast! In our latest episode, we talk about forecasting coronal mass ejections from the Sun ☀️🔭☄️🧪

Can confirm, I love this little scope! 😍

How do intermediate mass black holes form? I talked about this paper which investigates formation channels by environment using semi analytical models 🧪☄️🔭

😂 that is a unique reason for a delay!

Train conductor is great today! He welcomed us to Thursday morning, told us to hang on and that Friday was coming to save us. At the next stop he reminded us that a warm smile can go a long way, so we should try it 😂

More context on one of the papers we discussed this week. #journalclubforyourears 🧪☄️🔭

Thanks for sharing! One great thing about publicly sharing the papers we read is getting the feedback from the expert community. Like one big online club for the field 😊

Loved this paper that @payeldas.bsky.social discussed. Are type 1a supernova the standard candles we think they are? And is the universes expansion accelerating or decelerating?!! Exciting times in cosmology! 🧪☄️🔭

Are some high alpha abundance stars genuinely young? Some of them might be, as @payeldas.bsky.social discusses in our latest episode 🧪☄️🔭

What was the Sun's birth cluster like? I loved reading about this method which uses the Sednoid objects in the outer solar system to investigate this 🧪☄️🔭

Hopefully not! Sounding great is fine, but we don't aim to be late 😊

Slightly late, but sounding great, episode 24 of @starxiv.bsky.social has dropped! Tune in for gravitational lenses, black holes and forecasting solar flares! 🔭🧪☄️

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I've just subscribed to support Benty Fields, my go to resource for looking at the arxiv and organising journal clubs (including our @starxiv.bsky.social one). Support them if you can! www.benty-fields.com/support

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This excellent press release about a paper favouring dark matter over MOND came out a few days ago. A great primer to get you excited for dark matter day and the power of tiny galaxies 🔭🧪 bsky.app/profile/8min...

a logo for dark matter star atlas dac is displayed Alt: Are you afraid of the dark? DARK MATTER!

Is everyone excited about tomorrow? It's the coolest day of the year. Where we all discuss the spooky goings on of DARK MATTER! That's right, it's dark matter day again. What is it? What does it do? And how do we study it, given it's invisible? Get excited! #darkmatterday

Have you heard of the MEGATRON simulations? They're trying to understand the metallicity plateau in the faintest galaxies. Download our latest episode to find out more 🔭🧪☄️

How did the proto galaxy form? Nicole took us through this paper that discussed the importance of compaction events in shaping the early Galaxy 🔭🧪☄️

A second epoch of velocity data on the Ursa Major III/unions 1 system reveals that it is likely a star cluster! A suspected binary turned out to be a binary after all! Listen to the episode to learn more 🔭🧪☄️

Are quasi stars responsible for the mysterious little red dots found by JWST? And do all supermassive black holes pass through this phase? Find out by tuning into our latest episode! 🔭🧪☄️

Feeling like you need to ease into this half-term week? Start your day by listening to us discuss recent astronomy papers! Our latest episode is live, check it out wherever you get your podcasts! 🧪🔭☄️

Episode 23 – Failed galaxies, faint galaxies, and the proto-Galaxy In this episode, Michelle and Nicole explore the chemistry of faint galaxies and RR-Lyrae stars, tracing the proto-Galaxy, discussing the failure of some galaxies, examining quasi-stars in relation…

Episode 23 has dropped! Tune in to hear about faint galaxies, failed galaxies and how binaries are always causing trouble. 🔭☄️ starxiv.com/2025/10/27/e...

New press release about our new paper led by my PhD student Mariana Pouseiro Júlio! 🔭🧪☄️

English version here: www.aip.de/en/news/dark...

Exams are stupid! But if you must do them, it helps to lower the stakes! Very neat results. Because I enjoy being angry I think I’ll bring this up at the next faculty meeting and watch all the middle aged white men get upset!

New Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network Starts Call for Applications for its Ph.D. Program The Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network is a Ph.D. Program that provides doctoral researchers with fully funded Ph.D. fellowships and a pool of outstanding faculty comprising directors and inde...

Seeking PhD candidates that want to do a thesis on exoplanet atmosphere retrieval + machine learning inference. Please apply by 31 October to Dr. Max Dax's and my shared project here: is.mpg.de/news/new-max... . Abstract for the thesis project is attached to this thread below!

Exciting stuff covered in the latest episode of the Starxiv! Have we found true, intermediate age RR Lyrae? Check it out! Links in @starxiv.bsky.social bio 🔭🧪☄️

Episode 22 – ORCs, rings, and Galactic histories In this episode, Payel and Nicole discuss what happens to the metallicity gradient of a satellite galaxy after it merges with its host, the existence of intermediate-age RR lyrae and radio rings, t…

Episode 22 of the StarXiv is live! As I was away last week, I had to wait to listen until this morning, and it's a great line-up of papers from @payeldas.bsky.social and @nbuckley0810.bsky.social. Check it out on our website or wherever you get podcasts 🔭🧪☄️ starxiv.com/2025/10/13/e...

A short video of our space musicians and astro simulation stands