Sarah E Moran
@offallingstars.bsky.social
1.4K followers 600 following 140 posts
she/her. (Exo)planetary clouds/hazes. Sagan Fellow at NASA GSFC/STScI --> Asst. Prof of Astro at UMD starting Fall 2026. Opinions all me and only me. Still screaming inside my heart. https://tx.ag/moran
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offallingstars.bsky.social
✨✨✨Another Virga advert✨✨✨

Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.

Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).

arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Fractal Aggregate Aerosols in the Virga Cloud Code I: Model Description and Application to a Benchmark Cloudy Exoplanet
We introduce new functionality to treat fractal aggregate aerosol particles within the Virga cloud modeling framework. Previously, the open source cloud modeling code Virga (Batalha et al. 2025), the ...
arxiv.org
offallingstars.bsky.social
Congratulations, Doctor!!!
offallingstars.bsky.social
B5 reference makes me happy 😎
offallingstars.bsky.social
I'm actually fully saturated with students already, but I'd be happy to host postdoc fellows for the NHFP, the 51 Peg b, NSF AAPF, etc. Please feel free to reach out!
offallingstars.bsky.social
Life news -- starting Fall 2026, I'll be an Assistant Prof in University of Maryland, College Park's Astronomy Department!

I'll be starting up a lab to measure all the substellar cloud things 🌤️🪐✨ and continuing alllllll the atmospheric model things

Lowkey obsessed with the mascot #FeartheTurtle
the seal of the University of Maryland. It has the red, white, black, and gold banners of the Maryland flag in a circle and with the year 1856 on either side.
Reposted by Sarah E Moran
gspeng.bsky.social
Some people would rather bring back acid rain and disrupt global wind/weather patterns instead of installing protected bike lanes & bus priority lanes/signals so we drive less and emit less CO2.
This is why I fight so hard for bike lanes and transit
globalecoguy.bsky.social
A piece in the New York Times brings up a “zombie” proposal to combat climate change — basically using smoke & mirrors to cool the planet.

No matter how many times people kill the idea, it seems to come back to the headlines.

Don’t let it. It’s not a good idea.

globalecoguy.org/solar-geoeng...
Solar Geoengineering: Ineffective, Risky, and Unnecessary
Some people are proposing to counteract climate change by artificially dimming the Sun. But it’s ineffective. It’s risky. And it’s…
globalecoguy.org
Reposted by Sarah E Moran
luxalptraum.com
IMO it is completely and totally ethical to lie about comorbidities to get a COVID vaccine. This is not like 2021 where supply was limited and you were jumping the line in front of someone more vulnerable. We have enough vaccines! The restrictions are fake and purely anti-vax bullshit.
Reposted by Sarah E Moran
ohdearz.bsky.social
NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoc Fellowship apps are OPEN! 🔭 However, app only appears on research.gov if your role "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"! Click "Proposals", "Prepare and Submit Proposals", then "Prepare New". If you do not see NSF 22-621, change role to "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"!
Screenshot of research.gov after logging in, showing link for "Prepare and Submit Proposals" on the left in a red oval. Screenshot of "Prepare New Full Proposal" on research.gov, with "add a new role" and "NSF 22-621" circled in red. In order to see the listing of the NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship, one must change role to "Proposed Postdoctoral Fellow"!
Reposted by Sarah E Moran
asrivkin.bsky.social
Congrats to @joneskuma.bsky.social, co-winner of the DPS Urey Prize for early career researchers! #EPSCDPS
A blond woman stands behind a lectern, with a slide reading “2025 DPS Awards ceremony” with a list of prizes and names. To the left of the lectern, a tall man holds a certificate, while a shorter bespectacled woman smiles and waves, also holding the certificate.
offallingstars.bsky.social
If you're at #EPSCDPS2025 come to the Aerosols session happening now to hear me talk about this brand new paper!

(My talk is in an hour but cool Titan aerosol science currently in progress 🪐)
offallingstars.bsky.social
✨✨✨Another Virga advert✨✨✨

Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.

Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).

arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Fractal Aggregate Aerosols in the Virga Cloud Code I: Model Description and Application to a Benchmark Cloudy Exoplanet
We introduce new functionality to treat fractal aggregate aerosol particles within the Virga cloud modeling framework. Previously, the open source cloud modeling code Virga (Batalha et al. 2025), the ...
arxiv.org
offallingstars.bsky.social
Many thanks also go to the team, which is rounded out by Natasha Batalha, @kzohno.bsky.social , Sanaz Vahidinia, @markmarley.bsky.social , @stellarplanet.bsky.social , and Zoë Leinhardt
offallingstars.bsky.social
Look for Part 2 coming soon (paper just submitted), where Matt expands to look at aggregates in other atmospheres with clouds made of other materials!
offallingstars.bsky.social
✨✨✨Another Virga advert✨✨✨

Introducing V2.0, with fractal aggregate clouds! Restricted to spheres no more! We handle the dynamics and the optics self consistently.

Led by me and PhD candidate extraordinaire Matt Lodge (who is looking for a postdoc 👀 and is amazing).

arxiv.org/abs/2509.06708
Fractal Aggregate Aerosols in the Virga Cloud Code I: Model Description and Application to a Benchmark Cloudy Exoplanet
We introduce new functionality to treat fractal aggregate aerosol particles within the Virga cloud modeling framework. Previously, the open source cloud modeling code Virga (Batalha et al. 2025), the ...
arxiv.org
offallingstars.bsky.social
Stating "yeah I'm going to the Sun to see Venus" or "I'm to Mars to hear about Titan" makes one sound deranged. Can't decide if I respect it or hate it.
offallingstars.bsky.social
"you're like human Grammarly" - @joneskuma.bsky.social

I've never been so flattered tbh
offallingstars.bsky.social
Ah will have to trek back there. Thanks!
offallingstars.bsky.social
What's the secret to find the Internet pw? 👀
offallingstars.bsky.social
Further update: I have chills and an achy despite consuming much Pedialyte all day. So I guess my immune system is gonna be ready
Reposted by Sarah E Moran
luckytran.com
The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.
offallingstars.bsky.social
As a report. Walgreens in Baltimore City. My insurance covered it no problem. I was not asked which condition qualifies me as high risk. In and out.
offallingstars.bsky.social
The solidarity in this Walgreens this morning to get the COVID booster is off the charts.
offallingstars.bsky.social
The real question: are there enough googly eyes for them all? 👀
Reposted by Sarah E Moran
baconjess.bsky.social
I do want your guns taken away, FYI.