Maurice is a menace!!
28.02.2026 19:13
👍 2
🔁 0
💬 0
📌 0
Maurice is a menace!!
Green and red aurora over Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh
Beautiful aurora tonight! Don’t forget to look outside. Arthur’s seat in the background.
In this figure we show the comparison of electron temperature measurements based on the observed line ratios of emission lines of different ions (O++ on the x-axis and S++ on the y-axis). We show that measurements of the electron temperature based on these different ions are in fairly close agreement. (This is not necessarily the case for other ions that are not plotted here.)
Many of the galaxies in our sample have multiple auroral line detections. This allows us to compare measurements of the electron temperatures of different ions! 🤓 Interested in more? Read the paper on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2601.02463
Direct abundance measurements rely on a direct constraint on the electron temperature of the ionised gas in the HII regions of galaxies. To get this constraint we rely on the detection of very faint auroral emission lines!
We show a plot with the metallicity on the x-axis and nitrogen-to-oxygen ratio on the y-axis. The data in this figure shows a large scatter with the average N/O ratio constant at low metallicity and a rising N/O ratio at higher metallicity. In the top left corner of the figure we highlight a number of galaxies with low metallicity but high N/O abundance ratios. These galaxies have similar abundance patterns to extreme nitrogen emitters observed in the early Universe with JWST.
We also find a bunch of galaxies with very high N/O abundance ratios. This rare population is reminiscent to extreme nitrogen emitters found in the early Universe. (Have a look at the paper to find out what we measure for the neon, sulfur and argon abundances.)
A plot showing the electron temperature (of the high ionisation zone) on the x-axis and metallicity on the y-axis. The data shows a strongly anti-correlated relation. The lowest metallicity galaxies are highlighted. These galaxies also have some of the highest electron temperatures. An inset plot shows the comparison of our metallicity measurements to other literature works for galaxies that have been observed by other surveys. This shows that our measurements are in good agreement.
Our measurements include two galaxies that have lower metallicities than any previous direct measurements. Their oxygen abundances are at ~1.2% of the oxygen abundance in the Sun.
Using the latest data from @desisurvey.bsky.social DR2, we measured the chemical abundances of nearly 50k galaxies using direct measurements. It is the largest dataset of direct chemical abundances to date. Which lead us to finding some pretty interesting galaxies!
New Paper! 🔭🧪✨ The direct N, O, Ne, S and Ar abundances of 49959 star-forming galaxies in DESI DR2. arxiv.org/abs/2601.02463
Image of the night sky taken in Teide National park on Tenerife. Near the horizon the Andromeda galaxy is visible. Some of the Milky Way visible on the right hand side of image. Contours of the Roques de Garcia in the foreground.
Managed to pack in some amateur astronomy on holiday. Not often you get the chance to see the night sky in its full glory.
Look out for the andromeda galaxy at the bottom of the image, even visible to the naked eye. Taken in Teide national park (Tenerife) after moonset around 3am. 🔭
#andromeda
🔊Announcing a new Physics/Astro PhD scholarship scheme in Edinburgh, for students from a Black heritage, inc mixed Black background. Please help me spread the word. The scholarship covers all tuition fees, living costs & research travel. #blackinSTEM 🔭👩🔬⚛️
ℹ️: www.ph.ed.ac.uk/studying/pos...
I was not expecting to find my face in the RAS A&G magazine this month 😂
But it was great to read the article on @orbyts.bsky.social ! It’s such an impactful initiative! All credit to the great people who make it happen!
Figured I would get in on this whole starter pack thing and list (in whatever order bsky chooses) scientists working on studying galaxies (broadly defined, including galaxy formation/evolution + near-field cosmology). If I missed you and you'd like to be added, let me know!
🧪🔭
go.bsky.app/5ZZtqDy
The sun setting over Edinburgh, Scotland.
It’s bad enough the sun gives up at 3:30pm, but now it’s freezing too?! At least it's pretty! 🌄
A picture of the Mayall 4-m telescope illuminated by moonlight beneath a starry night sky. The dome of the telescope is open.
DESI in the 2024 list of best inventions! Nice to see this beautiful instrument and experiment get some praise 🔭
time.com/7094947/desi...