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Daniel Williams

@daniel-williams.co.uk

1.1K followers 300 following 620 posts

I'm an astronomer at @uofgravity.bsky.social working to understand ripples in the Universe (gravitational waves) made when dead stars (black holes and neutron stars) crash into each other. (he/him | e/esan) Tha mi nam neach-ionnsachaidh. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏳️‍🌈🏉⛰️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️🚣‍♂️

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 1d

Career goals.

A headline reading that the Nobel prize committee was unable to contact a winner as he was living his best life hiking off-grid.

Reposted by Daniel Williams

James Chalmers @jameschalmers.bsky.social · 2d

Have we considered the possibility that one of Macron’s negotiating tactics over the years has been to say “don’t tell anyone but if you do me this favour I’ll make you Prime Minister one day” and this is all working out very well for him?

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 3d

It was definitely one of the takeaways.

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 3d

"Why are there no photos Daniel?"

I figured I'd save bandwidth and let you imagine a white rectangle rather than include any of the views we had.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 3d

Last weekend I tried to help a friend do a thing where he'd run over quite a lot of mountains in not a lot of time.

I did not die in the process.

But that was probably a valid option.

daniel-williams.co.uk/2025/09/28/r...

#Munros #RamsayRound #Scotland ⛰

The Mamores in a Gale: Leg 1 Support on an Autumn Ramsay Round

This summer I’ve written “my biggest day in the hills so far” or something of that sort more than in any previous year. To some extent this has been the choice of tough route, big days in Fisherfield ...

daniel-williams.co.uk

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 12d

I'll take "things which will ultimately not happen, but we'll spend almost a decade agonising about" for $100 please.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Keir Starmer to announce plans for digital ID scheme

The prime minister believes a new scheme would help crack down on illegal working in the UK.

www.bbc.com

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 18d

Regrettably not, but I will make sure to have some for next year.

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 18d

Unquestionably the best AI artefact I've ever encountered in real life is this calendar my mother was given this year, which, among other things, states that the first Sunday in advent should be celebrated on the Wednesday following Cyber Monday, which itself will be celebrated on a Thursday in 2025

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Reposted by Daniel Williams

LIGO Magazine @ligomagazine.bsky.social · 23d

As well as looking back at the last decade, we take a peak at some recent results with behind the scenes stories about the latest #GravitationalWave catalog with Lucy Thomas, @daniel-williams.co.uk and @michaelpuerrer.bsky.social

#GW10Years
#GWTC4

A page of LIGO Magazine article "GWTC-4.0 Catalog Paper". The page includes an image showing the gravitational wave observations so far which are indicated by circles at different distances from a central point signifying the Earth. Image created by: Derek Davis/Rhiannon Udall/Caltech/LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
The page also includes a photo of one of the authors, Lucy Thomas.

A page of LIGO Magazine article about GWTC-4.0. The page includes a photo of one of the authors, Daniel Williams.

A page of the LIGO Magazine article about GWTC-4.0. The image at the top of the page is called the "masses in the stellar graveyard plot". It summarises the gravitational wave observations of neutron stars and black holes so far. Each object is represented by a circle and they are ordered vertically by mass. The image is full of circles representing many observations. The horizontal arrangement is purely aesthetic and appears like the spread wings of a bird. Image credit: LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA/Aaron Geller/Northwestern.
The page also shows a photo of one of the authors, Michael Pürrer.

A page of the LIGO Magazine article about GWTC-4.0. The image at the top of the page shows an older version of the masses in the stellar graveyard plot from 2017. This older version has far fewer observations compared to the current version (described in another image within this post). Image credit: LIGO-Virgo/Frank Elaysky/Northwestern University.

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 23d

In 2015 I was in the right place at the right time when the first gravitational wave was detected.

daniel-williams.co.uk/2025/09/14/t...

#GravitationalWaves 🔭

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 24d

Ten years ago the echoes of the most extreme astrophysical event ever measured shook the world.

Unbeknownst to me (for a few hours at least!) it would set the path of my career for the next decade.

Happy birthday GW150914_095045, and many happy returns @ligo.org.

Reposted by Daniel Williams

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 25d

A new mini-documentary by our colleagues at @uofgravity.bsky.social celebrating the 10th anniversary of our first detection and the progress in #GravitationalWave astronomy

youtu.be/SqhFtkQ4f2c

#GW10Years 🔭🧪⚛️🎢

University of Glasgow celebrates 10th anniversary of first gravitational wave detection

YouTube video by University of Glasgow

youtu.be

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 25d

I like Duolingo as I can learn Gaelic in a fantasy setting.

A screenshot of Duolingo showing "Tagh fiosageachd. Gheibh thu airgead gu leòr"

Translated as "Choose Physics you will get plenty of money"

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 26d

Next time I bump into our HoS I'm definitely pitching this as an away day idea!

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 26d

Time for a @uofgravity.bsky.social away day?

UofGNews @uofgnews.bsky.social · 26d

Hillwalkers setting out to bag a Munro are being asked for their help to bag a meteorite too, as scientists from @uofgges.bsky.social and the UK Fireball Network race to recover samples of a space rock which lit up the skies over Scotland this summer.

Read more here: gla.ac.uk/news/headlin...

A map showing the likely fall zone of the July meteorite, which dropped fragments across Stob Coire Easain, Chno Dearg, and Ben Alder.

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 27d

We're not quite done with the Big Gravitational-wave Summer just yet!

IFLScience @iflscience.com · 27d

"An Unimaginable Breakthrough": Loudest-Ever Gravitational Wave Collision Proves Stephen Hawking Correct

www.iflscience.com/an-unimagina...

"An Unimaginable Breakthrough": Loudest-Ever Gravitational Wave Collision Proves Stephen Hawking Correct

The black holes went from having an area the size of Oregon to the size of California!

www.iflscience.com

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 28d

👀

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 28d

(More on that later, when I've had a chance to write up a bit of a blog post, but you can find the one I wrote on the day we announced the discovery here: daniel-williams.co.uk/2016/02/11/g...)

Riding the Wave

I don’t think I’ve ever written a blog post under an embargo before, but it’s a crisp, sunny Glasgow afternoon, and in 24 hours’ time I’ll be heading across to the main building of the university, for...

daniel-williams.co.uk

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 28d

Genuinely one of the most exciting things to ever have an accidental front-seat for.

University of Glasgow @uofglasgow.bsky.social · 28d

Researchers from @uofgphysastro.bsky.social & @uofgravity.bsky.social are celebrating the 10th anniversary of @ligo.org's historic first detection of gravitational waves.

Learn more the team’s role in the detection and their ongoing research: gla.ac/45Yeusr

University of Glasgow celebrates 10th anniversary of first gravitational wave detection

YouTube video by University of Glasgow

youtu.be

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 28d

It's really exciting to see this detailed investigation of the loudest signal from #GWTC4 appear on the arxiv.

Super-loud, super-clear signals like this allow us to probe fundamental physics in great depth, and this paper investigates this binary black hole with surgical precision.

LIGO Scientific Collaboration @ligo.org · 28d

Our detailed study of #GW230814 is out

arxiv.org/abs/2509.07348

We can precisely test general relativity with this loud signal. Most tests show agreement with Einstein's theory, but some…

The deviations can be explained by detector noise. Having multiple detectors is important!

🔭🧪⚛️☄️ #GWTC4

The typical evolution of a gravitational-wave signal from a merging binary system. This illustrative plot shows the signal amplitude (vertical axis) against time (horizontal axis). The different phases of the signal are the inspiral (orange), the plunge-merger (light-green) and the ringdown (yellow). Also shown are the technical names of different tests of general relativity performed, and the parts of the signal they consider. Most tests show excellent agreement with general relativity, but some tests of the post-merger signal were found to show deviations. This is consistent with how these tests can perform with real data.

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 28d

Can you rock people not be trusted with knives?

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Reposted by Daniel Williams

Dr Alfredo Carpineti @drcarpineti.bsky.social · 29d

To mark the 10th anniversary of the discovery of gravitational waves, I spoke to researchers at institutions across the world about the last decade, the most recent data, and their hopes and expectations for the decades to come. 🧪🔭

www.iflscience.com/the-unfoldin...

The Unfolding New Astronomical Revolution – Gravitational Waves Discovery Turns 10

In just a decade, the field has dramatically changed. The best is yet to come.

www.iflscience.com

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · 29d

I got interviewed, and I am very aware of how famous and important everyone else interviewed in this piece is compared to me...

#GravitationalWaves 🔭

www.iflscience.com/the-unfoldin...

The Unfolding New Astronomical Revolution – Gravitational Waves Discovery Turns 10

In just a decade, the field has dramatically changed. The best is yet to come.

www.iflscience.com

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Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · Aug 30

I am once again getting adverts for a "new AI-powered platform for scientific research" which has called itself "scite", and continue to wonder why AI didn't realise why advertising that name to someone in Glasgow is not getting the reaction you want.

Daniel Williams @daniel-williams.co.uk · Aug 29

Detected by the most sensitive instrument ever built by humanity.

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