Will have a thread soon about our new paper. I never thought I would do a HZ paper but it turns out the literature had missed some key points of the problem. LPL grad student Kayla Smith led our effort (and her first brown dwarf paper).
JWST image at 11.3 micron, with starlight blocked. You can nicely see the planet (with Airy ring).
JWST image at 25.5 micron, with starlight blocked. You can nicely see the planet.
Happy eps Ind Ab day! Possible water clouds on this cool (also literally) planet from JWST images in the near- and mid-infrared.
Sanghi+ arxiv.org/abs/2603.08787
Matthews+ arxiv.org/abs/2603.08780
π§ͺπ #exoplanets
Bumped into a guy who was at the volcano when it started. He was cleaning out the wiper well of his rental car.
This was in Hilo by the way.
Sadly we ran into a closure from too much tephra.
I ended up having to pull a few strings ahead of my visit in a few hours.
It was 20 years ago today...
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived at Mars with the best camera ever sent to another planet: HiRISE! A massive thanks to all our team @uarizona.bsky.social , JPL and @baesystems.com who keep this adventure going on strong. π #uahirise
Running my home scope tonight. Bumped into Potentially Hazardous Asteroid 89830 up near Ursa Major. It was discovered in 2002 by the LINEAR survey. This is a huge PHA, with a diameter of ~5km. π
Being on vacation in Hawaii from Arizona while everyone complains about arrival of DST.
The undergraduate textbook:
An Introduction to Planetary Astrophysics: Exoplanets and the Solar System in Context,
has now been sent to my editor! 4+ years in the making so far. 270 pages (good for a 1-semester class). Now on to peer review! Hoping for the printing press in Spring/Summer 2027.
When the US govt terminated the National Nature Asst, @phillevin.bsky.social + the author team were determined not to let that stop them.
They re-organized, set up an advisory committee, found fundingβ¦and now the brand new Nature Record is open for public comment. ππ³ππ²
Check it out (link below)!
Special event to be attacked by a quail!
We're hiring a Research Engineer at the U. Arizona's Imaging Technology Lab (ITL; itl.arizona.edu). If you have hands-on lab experience and are interested in working on cutting-edge tech development for astronomy / scientific sensors, I encourage you to apply!
arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Hey, so, we have some news about something that won't be happening in 2032.
I poked an ice pick in my eye in 3rd grade. Every eye doctor exam since includes the phrase βyou have no idea how lucky you wereβ.
Brown dwarfs.
My color observations of the Total Lunar Eclipse of March 3, 2026, painted in Photoshop. I used a 10 inch Dobsonian telescope to watch the shadow's progress and the colors that I saw inside the shadow. I furiously sketched on printed Moon images the areas where distinct colors appeared, writing them on the sketch within their borders. I also made some tonal sketches, and obtained telephoto photos to help establish the tonal values within the shadow. The idea is to preserve a visual impression, as most photography of these events is processed to make the shadow colors too saturated and bright compared to how they appear. This was even more true in the days of film, when virtually all Lunar eclipses photographed a saturated red orange. I was busy every moment, enjoying the view but dedicated to recording my visual impression. All the while I'm listening to WWV on a portable short wave radio, the digital voice of the Time God. Each sketch had the time noted, and after Totality ended the Moon proceeded to leave the round Earth shadow and steadily return to normal as dawn broke. After the telescope, chairs tripods etc were put away I then started reducing my sketches and photos to a set of digital paintings of the event. I worked in this digital painting for 11 hours. I have been paying attention to and making color records of Lunar eclipses since 1975, when I saw what is still the reddest bright totality I have ever seen. From oil paint to acrylic to digital painting I have carried on this tradition. #Sciart
This morning's Lunar Eclipse was fairly typical, with orange tan predominating in the shadow through binoculars and to the naked eye. Through the telescope the variety of regional colors could be examined as they came and went. This is my painted portrayal of the colors seen inside the Earth shadow.
My long largely hypothetical textbook manifests!
No path to purchase physical copies in the US yet unfortunately (these are author copies), but you can buy the e-book anywhere!
Today's arXiv has a notable preprint: humanity's latest direct imaging attempt of the nearest Jupiter analogue exoplanet!
arxiv.org/abs/2602.23423
It's a non-detection. Which implies it may be similar to Jupiter (high-Z or water clouds)!
Also the star is expected to be older (1.1 Β± 0.1 Ga) now.
I asked someone who knows Vought if he had ever been outside or to a National Park and basically got a shrug as an answer.
Coyote biting a garden hose.
Coyote sniffing a pipe fitting.
Iβve been surprised at how little interest the critters have shown in my Rube Goldberg watering hole equipment. Coyote today is first to check it out, including giving the hose a bite for good measure.
Great point! Going to use this.
Hey #sciart! This is "Punching Above (Normalized)". This piece is a view of the Earth from space through the lens of my plasma physics research. The piece reveals Earth's true intention is to become the next Jupiter. It won 2nd place at the Art of Planetary Science show, open this weekend!
'Fire in the Sky' reveals the core of Earth's ionosphere and the dynamics that result when unstoppable forces meet. Come check it out in person at the Art of Planetary Science show this weekend at the U. of Arizona! #sciart lpl.arizona.edu/art/
My daughter is a βclimate change adaptation specialistβ for an environmental consulting firm. She does things like tell counties what infrastructure will need to be rebuilt to handle bigger floods or sea level rise etc.
Oh boy. My friend is a fellow alum. How could it be otherwise?
I appreciate your support!
Mathematically inclined friend texts to congratulate me on upcoming "last ever" power of 2 birthday, "medical miracles not withstanding".
Art show flyer
OH DANG. Tonight is the night. See you at the Art of Planetary Science! Come say hi, I have stickers. π #Tucson #Arizona
