Author | Lightnews

A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · 6d

Or have a play with our interactive optical/radio viewer and watch our video about it here: www.icrar.org/gleam-x-gala...

A new, expansive view of the Milky Way reveals our Galaxy in unprecedented radio colour - ICRAR

Astronomers from the International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have created the largest low-frequency radio colour image of the Milky Way ever assembled.

www.icrar.org

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · 6d

Read about it in The Conversation: theconversation.com/new-images-r...

New images reveal the Milky Way’s stunning galactic plane in more detail than ever before

The things we can see with our eyes are just one layer of the richness of the night sky.

theconversation.com

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · 6d

We used the Murchison Widefield Array telescope to make these observations back in 2013 to 2018, but it's taken until the last few years for the computers and algorithms to catch up with the data! This view won't be bettered until the low-frequency part of the SKA observatory is complete.

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · 6d

The map is ten times more sensitive than and covers twice the area of my previous efforts with GLEAM, and was created by my amazing PhD student Silvia Mantovanini! She worked with a supercomputer at @pawseycentre.bsky.social for a whole year of her thesis to create this.

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · 6d

Today in PASA we published a new image of our Milky Way at low radio frequencies, in unprecedented colour and detail. Here's just a tiny piece of it -- the whole thing is ten times bigger!

We're seeing high energy electrons whirl around cosmic magnetic fields from exploded stars, and more!

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Sep 1

Congratulations @tamarastro.bsky.social on your election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science @science.org.au ! #ShineDome25

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jun 16

At the #SKAO 2025 Science Meeting in Gorlitz, Germany. And I'm in the Gods! Enough astronomers to fill a theatre ✨

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · May 31

The US budget cuts to NASA and the NSF are horrifying. Anyone in the world can sign this petition to reverse them - consider adding your name? www.congressweb.com/PlanetarySoc...

Tell Congress: Save NASA Science

The current administration's 2026 budget request includes a staggering 47% cut to NASA's science programs as part of a 25% cut to NASA overall. This is an extinction-level event for the Earth and spac...

www.congressweb.com

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Reposted by A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker

Trajan Hammonds @starlord37.bsky.social · Feb 8

Last night I found out that the NSF math postdoctoral fellowship I applied for is being deleted because it does not comply with Trump’s executive orders on DEI in the federal government. I’m going to answer some FAQs and share some thoughts about this ordeal in this thread 1/n

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 23

Perth folks, I will be chatting with Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer, at the FRINGE Festival! This is a huge first for me -- next year, maybe I can do the same while fire juggling?! In all seriousness come and support me and other scientists :D Tickets here: fringeworld.com.au/whats_on/aus...

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 21

The slide with that moon certainly provoked some nervous laughter. A lot of audience members with Majora's Mask childhood trauma 😆

A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 21

I only had room for the Akkala Ancient Tech lab, but duly noted for next time :D

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 20

Loving all the requests for slides and recordings, but it was a very participatory experience, where I had folks make measurements, pitch ideas, and generally argue just like a real academic conference. Happy to run it again -- DM me!

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 20

*I* would be interested in the historical influences on video games! I'm sort of embarrassed to say that I learned about the Muslim conquest of Spain in the 700s because I went down an internet rabbithole of trying to find out why the Gerudo Valley theme tune is so amazing.

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 20

Not my usual research topic, but a bit of fun for a local SFF convention :) I analysed the astrophysics of the Legend of Zelda games -- using the same techniques real astronomers use! Good fun, educational, and the audience loved it!

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Jan 16

Fabulous to see this new long-period radio transient published! The longest period yet -- and it has interpulses, strongly implying a 'lighthouse' of radio waves passing over our line-of-sight.

Manisha Caleb @manishacaleb.bsky.social · Jan 15

🎉 Exciting News 🎉

I’m thrilled to share that PhD student Joshua Lee’s paper on the discovery of a radio transient with a 6.45-hour rotation period has been published in Nature Astronomy! 📡💥 - www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Read the Conversation article here - theconversation.com/blinking-rad...

The emission of interpulses by a 6.45-h-period coherent radio transient - Nature Astronomy

Coherent radio emission with a long (nearly 6.5 h) period has been detected from both magnetic poles of a rotating compact object, offering insights into the evolution and emission mechanism of compac...

www.nature.com

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 12

Is it a selection effect?

A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 12

May you add me too, please?

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Reposted by A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · Dec 10

Beautiful writing from the wonderful @aussiastronomer.bsky.social. Sort of about our Stargazing Live exoplanet hunt, but also not.

🎃 Dr. Jessie Christianstein 🎃 @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · Dec 10

One year ago I got Some Medical News. Writing down *why* I was so scared seemed the rational thing to do at the time. It helped, a bit, and a year later I'm ready to share it with you. Part personal history, part exoplanet lesson, all me.

But you have to read it without knowing the answer.

False Positives

How can you rationalize daunting medical news when you understand statistics too well? When your professional and personal worlds collide?

medium.com

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 10

I think I've worked out why the timeline in For All Mankind is divergent -- no, it's not Korolev surviving his surgery. It's that their Moon is completely different from our Moon ;)

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 10

It's always reassuring to hear that data reduction rabbitholes are extant all across astronomy and not just one's own domain 😅

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 6

Seconded!

Jayne Persian @drjpersian.bsky.social · Dec 6

I nominated @arc-tracker.bsky.social for keeping the Australian Research Council accountable to researchers 😍

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 5

Starter packs are such a great way of getting your BlueSky community off the ground! I am so grateful for these as I rebuild from the ashes of Twitter.

Here is a starter pack for female and other minority astonomers 🔭 put together by @kanaya-malakar.bsky.social :

bsky.app/starter-pack...

bsky.app

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A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social · Dec 5

I was today years old when I realised that NASA/ADS have deprecated the "^" for first author, and it's not just my internet connection.

Reposted by A/Prof Natasha Hurley-Walker

SpaceAustralia.com @spaceaustralia.com · Dec 3

An emerging class of objects in #RadioAstronomy, mostly discovered in the last few years, still can't be explained.

Two new multi-wavelength studies might have answers.

www.spaceaustralia.com/feature/mult... by @cosmicrami.com

#SpaceAustralia 🔭🧪

📸 @colourfulcosmos.bsky.social /MWA/Curtin/ICRAR

Looking out across the red desert region of Western Australia. In the distance is a hill, and the ground has a red Earth colour. In the foreground is a large square metal mesh placed on the ground. Atop it are 16 spider-looking dipole antennas, arranged in a 4 x 4 grid. This is one of the MWA stations.

graphic showing a single magnetar that has beams coming from its poles and is surrounded by magnetic field lines

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