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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 13h

Please sse doi.org/10.1038/s415... for repost...

Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 16h

Amazing: Our Nature Astronomy paper has an Altmetric Score of 499. Mentioned by 65 news outlets, 6 blogs, 32 X users, 1 Wikipedia page & 🥳 24 Bluesky users. Can anybody help to get it to 500? 😇 It's a nice paper "Catastrophic disruption of asteroid 2023 CX1 and implications for planetary defence"🤩

Altmetric Score of 499 for our Nature Astronomy Paper

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 1d

sorry...here is the link: doi.org/10.1111/maps...

The fall of the Haag (LL4‐6) chondrite breccia—Just 8 years after the nearby fall Stubenberg (LL6)

On October 24, 2024, an impressive fireball was visible over Austria. After the possible strewn field was calculated, the first sample of the Haag meteorite, with a mass of 8.76 g, was discovered on ....

doi.org

Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 1d

🤩These are my favourite mails: "Your article is now published online!"

Another great study led by Addi Bischoff from @uni-muenster.de including cosmogenic radionuclide data from our VERA AMS facility @univie.ac.at.

It is still raining stones in Lower Austria. This time we investigated "Haag". 🌠

email saying that our paper was published online!

screenshot of our paper being online as "Early View"

screenshot of first page of our paper (pdf version)

me at the city of Haag - I did not look for meteorite pieces, just holiday.

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 8d

On my way to the ReMade@ARI Meeting in Leuven. I love the trains in Belgium: On-time and friendly screens. This is what I need after a long but ecofriendly nighttrain ride from Vienna.

Screen in train to Leuven wishing me a nice travel

Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 10d

Third and final stop "Tag des Denkmals": WUK (former locomotive production, today culture centre). Inside and outside true contrast!

Door to representative rooms WUK, Vienna.

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 10d

Second Stop "Tag des Denkmals": Palais Niederösterreich" (Palace Lower Austria). More than 500 years ago bought from the Liechtenstein Brothers.

Chapel built in the former entrance gate of Palais Niederösterreich. Daylight shining through the colourful window.

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 11d

First stop "Tag des Denkmals" (heritage day) in Vienna: #Oktoneum. Pretty young building (<40 years, Postmoderne) for Vienna, but I like it.

Sign Bundesministerium Wohnen, Kunst, Kultur, Medien und Sport

Male sculpture in entrance of Oktoneum in Vienna

Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 12d

The good things when working in Vienna: In autumn the theaters open again. Tonight #Volksoper Wien plays "Lass uns die Welt vergessen"...2nd-row seats...😀

Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · 21d

happy, too 🤩...there are already some nice German articles about it...https://nature.altmetric.com/details/181458008/news

Dr. Teddy Kareta @teddykareta.bsky.social · 21d

happy to have helped some with "Catastrophic disruption of asteroid 2023 CX1 and implications for planetary defence" by Auriane Egal et al., out today in Nature Astronomy (and here on ArXiV: arxiv.org/abs/2509.12362)

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Reposted by Silke Merchel

Tom Higham @tommyhigham.bsky.social · 23d

PhD Studentship alert!
I'm looking for a motivated student to work here in Vienna @vdsee-univie.bsky.social on my ERC grant "DISPERSE". It's a fulltime scholarship (working in 14C and #archsci in Palaeolithic archaeology in Eurasia.
Details in the link below!
jobs.univie.ac.at/job/Universi...

University assistant predoctoral 1

jobs.univie.ac.at

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Aug 26

back to meteorite🌠chemistry

after precipitation of Al & Be as hydroxides (by NH3aq), we see the wonderful nickel ammine complex [Ni(NH3)6]2+ (blank without Ni easy to spot😊)
most iron meteorites have ~7% Ni, but one of this has ~35% Ni (which one😇?)
different Ni concentr.👉different shades of blue🥰

different shades of blue corresponding to different Ni concentrations in iron meteorites... (in PTFE beaker)

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Aug 22

Today, no meteorite🌠chemistry in the VERA lab, but destroying organics and fluorides with HClO4 (after having dissolved >50 g quartz in >200 ml HF). This is my favourite step in terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide chemistry👩‍🔬, as it means we survived again the nasty HF. 🤩 Do you see the white smoke?

Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Aug 20

Reminder: We don't need any chemistry for stony meteorites to measure Al-26 & Ca-41 @univie.ac.at - or to not measure them 😜 to identify meteor wrongs (=terrestrial rocks). Our 1st study led by Lidia Pittarello from @nhmwien.bsky.social just went online as a report in MAPS. doi.org/10.1111/maps... 🥳

Screen shot of report in Meteoritics & Planetary Science 1–10 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.70030 (c) 2025 The Meteoritical Society.

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Aug 19

Two cation exchanges (much small(er) columns 🤩) and some precipitations later, we have oxides of Al, Be, Mn, and Ni for #AMS at VERA, @univie.ac.at. And we also measure fluorides of Ca (for Ca-41) and AgCl (for Cl-36) here. I love (iron) meteorites ! 🥰

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Aug 7

I really love meteorites 🤩. For stony meteorites, we analyse cosmogenic radionuclides by #AMS without any chemical preparation. But for iron meteorites, we need to dissolve them 🧪 & separate Be-10, Al-26, Cl-36, Ca-41, Mn-53, Ni-59,... from the matrix & from each other (by colourful🌈ion exchange).🥰

colourful anion exchange of iron meteorites to separate cosmogenic radionuclides and measure themn by AMS

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jul 18

Wow! 🤩 Herzlichen Glückwunsch from Vienna!

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jul 11

Last day of a great #Goldschmidt2025 conference. Last very tasty Coffee "Break" dessert. 😋 Last oral presentations of colleagues until late afternoon.
Please, join these interesting talks if you are still in Prague!
CU there or next year at #Goldschmidt2026 at Montreal. 🇨🇦

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Reposted by Silke Merchel

Ethics in Bricks @ethicsinbricks.bsky.social · Jul 10

20 things that women should stop wearing after the age of 30.

1-20: The weight of other people's expectations and judgments.

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jul 5

Prague seems to be ready for #Goldschmidt2025 participants.

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jul 5

😭 Not the best start for my travel to #Goldschmidt2025 ...the coffee Maschine in the #Regiojet Lounge at the Vienna train station is out of service. This is maybe harder for me than the 18 min delay already seen at the info screen. 😇 CU at Prague for a great conference!

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jun 13

Just in case, you are passing this summer Hof in Bavaria, Germany...have a look at the meteorite exhibition ...you might learn why we have chemically treated and analyzed the cosmogenic radionuclides Cl-36 and Ca-41 in "Reitzenstein" by #AMS at VERA @univie.ac.at www.lfu.bayern.de/veranstaltun...

3 iron meteorites (+ 1 blank) in chemistry lab in Vienna...one is Reitzenstein

Reposted by Silke Merchel

Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · Jun 12

Good Science

xkcd.com/3101/

5-panel comic. (1) [teacher with long hair next to whiteboard] TEACHER: I’m supposed to give you the tools to do good science. (2) [teacher addressing students] But what *are* those tools? Methodology is hard and there are so many ways to get incorrect results. What is the magic ingredient that makes for good science? (3) TEACHER: To figure it out, I ran a regression with all the factors people say are important: [embedded list in sub-panel, cut off at end] Outcome variable: correct scientific results. Predictors: collaboration; skepticism of others’ claims; questioning your own beliefs; trying to falsify hypotheses; checking citations; statistical rigor; blinded analysis; financial disclosure; open data (4) TEACHER: The regression says two ingredients are the most crucial: 1) genuine curiosity about the answer to a question, and 2) ammonium hydroxide. (5) STUDENT: Wait, why did *ammonia* score so high? How did it even get on the list? LONG HAIR: ...And now you’re doing good science!

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jun 11

Btw...meteorite Haag arrived yesterday in Vienna @nhmwien.bsky.social. Nice (German) video
on.orf.at/video/142795...

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Silke Merchel @silke-merchel.bsky.social · Jun 8

This time I made it to Linz in Upper Austria. No city limit signs, but one of the two meteorites of Upper Austria on display. Do you know which one? 😇

Old picture of a witnessed meteorite fall (Schlossmuseum Linz, Upper Austria)

Meteorite on display in Schlossmuseum Linz, Upper Austria

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