Emma Chapman
@dreochapman.bsky.social
Author of ‘First Light’, astrophysicist at University of Nottingham, radio astronomer, Royal Society research fellow.
My book should have had this stamped on the front cover
September 23, 2025 at 1:25 PM
My book should have had this stamped on the front cover
I am giving a rescheduled talk from last year, and I had to remind myself of the title. Yeaaaaah... I was clearly feeling a bit despondent when I wrote that.
August 27, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I am giving a rescheduled talk from last year, and I had to remind myself of the title. Yeaaaaah... I was clearly feeling a bit despondent when I wrote that.
Me reading Bluesky to catch up on the Comet 3I/ATLAS = aliens drama.
☄️👽🔭
☄️👽🔭
August 27, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Me reading Bluesky to catch up on the Comet 3I/ATLAS = aliens drama.
☄️👽🔭
☄️👽🔭
The 'Infinity Galaxy' is a marvel of both destruction and creation: a violent collision of two galaxies forming a unique black hole not born from the death of a star. It reminds me of Buzz Aldrin's words upon stepping onto the lunar surface: "Magnificent Desolation" 🔭
July 29, 2025 at 11:49 AM
The 'Infinity Galaxy' is a marvel of both destruction and creation: a violent collision of two galaxies forming a unique black hole not born from the death of a star. It reminds me of Buzz Aldrin's words upon stepping onto the lunar surface: "Magnificent Desolation" 🔭
Yesterday afternoon was spent chatting with two local amateur radio astronomers from @sherwoodobs.bsky.social. Experts in electrical engineering, they suggested a tweak to an antenna I was fiddling with, and I explained a weird sky signal that had stumped them. The perfect collaboration 🥰 🔭
July 18, 2025 at 9:26 AM
Yesterday afternoon was spent chatting with two local amateur radio astronomers from @sherwoodobs.bsky.social. Experts in electrical engineering, they suggested a tweak to an antenna I was fiddling with, and I explained a weird sky signal that had stumped them. The perfect collaboration 🥰 🔭
Fueled by dark matter, these stars have the potential to grow to such immense proportions that when gravity eventually takes over and they do collapse, they might become the seeds of the supermassive black holes dispersed across the universe, whose size we cannot otherwise explain.
July 3, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Fueled by dark matter, these stars have the potential to grow to such immense proportions that when gravity eventually takes over and they do collapse, they might become the seeds of the supermassive black holes dispersed across the universe, whose size we cannot otherwise explain.
It's wild to think how much home computers have changed since SETI@home began in 1999. No wonder they needed so many working together.
June 19, 2025 at 9:16 AM
It's wild to think how much home computers have changed since SETI@home began in 1999. No wonder they needed so many working together.
Remember SETI@home? Over 100,000 personal computers contributed to analysing two decades of telescope data in the quest for alien life. Now, scientists are utilising FAST, a 500-meter dish in China, to investigate the 92 most intriguing signals. Fingers crossed! 🔭 #SETI
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14737
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14737
June 19, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Remember SETI@home? Over 100,000 personal computers contributed to analysing two decades of telescope data in the quest for alien life. Now, scientists are utilising FAST, a 500-meter dish in China, to investigate the 92 most intriguing signals. Fingers crossed! 🔭 #SETI
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14737
arxiv.org/abs/2506.14737
What a lovely day, thank you Universe!
March 29, 2025 at 8:21 PM
What a lovely day, thank you Universe!
Using my trusty Dwarf II telescope to capture this morning's partial solar eclipse. Such an awesome sight 🔭 😍 😎
March 29, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Using my trusty Dwarf II telescope to capture this morning's partial solar eclipse. Such an awesome sight 🔭 😍 😎
This is what a physicist looks like when they get to hold a first edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia. Not only that, it is the only know edition inscribed with a hand-written note from Einstein. I genuinely didn’t know whether to cry with joy or faint.
March 24, 2025 at 11:24 AM
This is what a physicist looks like when they get to hold a first edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia. Not only that, it is the only know edition inscribed with a hand-written note from Einstein. I genuinely didn’t know whether to cry with joy or faint.
Bravo to this paper title:
"JWST-TST High Contrast: Living on the Wedge" Balmer et al.
"JWST-TST High Contrast: Living on the Wedge" Balmer et al.
March 20, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Bravo to this paper title:
"JWST-TST High Contrast: Living on the Wedge" Balmer et al.
"JWST-TST High Contrast: Living on the Wedge" Balmer et al.
A positive message for Friday…
March 7, 2025 at 9:55 AM
A positive message for Friday…
I’ve been a professional astronomer for over ten years and still there is a little part of me that finds it weird when I see the moon in the day.
February 6, 2025 at 2:05 PM
I’ve been a professional astronomer for over ten years and still there is a little part of me that finds it weird when I see the moon in the day.
I am in love with the VR teaching lab at @uniofnottingham.bsky.social - I spent the morning walking across Mars!
The applications for astronomy 🔭 teaching (especially in a cloudy country) are so exciting.
Anyone got a VR model of a telescope control room?!
The applications for astronomy 🔭 teaching (especially in a cloudy country) are so exciting.
Anyone got a VR model of a telescope control room?!
January 24, 2025 at 2:13 PM
I am in love with the VR teaching lab at @uniofnottingham.bsky.social - I spent the morning walking across Mars!
The applications for astronomy 🔭 teaching (especially in a cloudy country) are so exciting.
Anyone got a VR model of a telescope control room?!
The applications for astronomy 🔭 teaching (especially in a cloudy country) are so exciting.
Anyone got a VR model of a telescope control room?!
I am thinking about moving to another planet following recent political events. TRAPPIST-1e looks nice. 40 lightyears away, tidally locked so one side always faces its red dwarf star, but the twilight zone in between the halves might just be habitable. A fresh start anyone? 🔭🪐
January 21, 2025 at 10:54 AM
I am thinking about moving to another planet following recent political events. TRAPPIST-1e looks nice. 40 lightyears away, tidally locked so one side always faces its red dwarf star, but the twilight zone in between the halves might just be habitable. A fresh start anyone? 🔭🪐
This is not what I expected to find when looking for Airbnb properties with a telescope...🫣🔭
January 16, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This is not what I expected to find when looking for Airbnb properties with a telescope...🫣🔭
Another huge piece of space junk landed on Earth, right next to a Kenyan village.
Launches by SpaceX etc… means this is going to get way more common, but companies currently have no legal responsibility for damage, and so no motivation to stop littering the sky.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Launches by SpaceX etc… means this is going to get way more common, but companies currently have no legal responsibility for damage, and so no motivation to stop littering the sky.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
January 12, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Another huge piece of space junk landed on Earth, right next to a Kenyan village.
Launches by SpaceX etc… means this is going to get way more common, but companies currently have no legal responsibility for damage, and so no motivation to stop littering the sky.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Launches by SpaceX etc… means this is going to get way more common, but companies currently have no legal responsibility for damage, and so no motivation to stop littering the sky.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
What you are seeing here is the 'startup screen' of a new radio telescope so versatile and powerful it will be able to look back in time to the first stars while spotting extraterrestrial radio signals from planets ten lightyears away. I am one proud radio astronomer! 🔭
September 13, 2024 at 1:54 PM
What you are seeing here is the 'startup screen' of a new radio telescope so versatile and powerful it will be able to look back in time to the first stars while spotting extraterrestrial radio signals from planets ten lightyears away. I am one proud radio astronomer! 🔭
Intense solar radiation makes shelters essential for #MoonExploration.
Radio waves dig deeper than optical light 🔭, probing beneath the surface before we even get there. This week, radio astronomers found the entrance to an old lava tunnel - the perfect hideout!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Radio waves dig deeper than optical light 🔭, probing beneath the surface before we even get there. This week, radio astronomers found the entrance to an old lava tunnel - the perfect hideout!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
July 18, 2024 at 11:09 AM
Intense solar radiation makes shelters essential for #MoonExploration.
Radio waves dig deeper than optical light 🔭, probing beneath the surface before we even get there. This week, radio astronomers found the entrance to an old lava tunnel - the perfect hideout!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Radio waves dig deeper than optical light 🔭, probing beneath the surface before we even get there. This week, radio astronomers found the entrance to an old lava tunnel - the perfect hideout!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Attempting to style out a regrettable choice of hair colour by comparing myself to images of star clusters and nebulae 🔭
July 17, 2024 at 9:47 AM
Attempting to style out a regrettable choice of hair colour by comparing myself to images of star clusters and nebulae 🔭
The radio telescope ASKAP has observed just how violent it is in a galaxy cluster. As the "Corkscrew Galaxy" heads into the turbulent environment, its gas is stripped away into a long helical tail almost 20 times the length of the Milky Way. What exquisite detail 🔭
May 9, 2024 at 8:43 AM
The radio telescope ASKAP has observed just how violent it is in a galaxy cluster. As the "Corkscrew Galaxy" heads into the turbulent environment, its gas is stripped away into a long helical tail almost 20 times the length of the Milky Way. What exquisite detail 🔭
There are signs of croissants and circuit building in the breakfast clear-up - evidence of our crystal radio kit in action. Who doesn't love to start a bank holiday with a spot of soldering?!
May 6, 2024 at 2:22 PM
There are signs of croissants and circuit building in the breakfast clear-up - evidence of our crystal radio kit in action. Who doesn't love to start a bank holiday with a spot of soldering?!
I love this story, for its 'science can bridge any dichotomy' feel.
Kip Thorne is an American forefather of black holes.
Igor Novikov is a former Soviet forefather of white holes.
When Igor fell ill, Kip made sure Igor had somewhere to stay and money to pay for heart surgery 🔭
Kip Thorne is an American forefather of black holes.
Igor Novikov is a former Soviet forefather of white holes.
When Igor fell ill, Kip made sure Igor had somewhere to stay and money to pay for heart surgery 🔭
May 4, 2024 at 6:43 AM
I love this story, for its 'science can bridge any dichotomy' feel.
Kip Thorne is an American forefather of black holes.
Igor Novikov is a former Soviet forefather of white holes.
When Igor fell ill, Kip made sure Igor had somewhere to stay and money to pay for heart surgery 🔭
Kip Thorne is an American forefather of black holes.
Igor Novikov is a former Soviet forefather of white holes.
When Igor fell ill, Kip made sure Igor had somewhere to stay and money to pay for heart surgery 🔭