Skylar Grayson
@skylargrayson.bsky.social
Astrophysics PhD Candidate ✨ studies black holes and galaxy evolution 🌌Science Communicator (find me other places at “Space According to Skylar”)
Everything is terrible…except for maybe this one thing. There’s a sense of relief around the office now, and a bit more hope for science. So let’s enjoy this victory, and keep fighting for the things we believe in!
January 15, 2026 at 5:21 PM
Everything is terrible…except for maybe this one thing. There’s a sense of relief around the office now, and a bit more hope for science. So let’s enjoy this victory, and keep fighting for the things we believe in!
Episode no. 6264 of a computational astrophysicist desperately trying to connect to the hands-on aspects of her field 😁
Actually had a blast visiting Kitt Peak today and can’t wait to share more about what I did and learned!! 🔭🧪
Actually had a blast visiting Kitt Peak today and can’t wait to share more about what I did and learned!! 🔭🧪
January 10, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Episode no. 6264 of a computational astrophysicist desperately trying to connect to the hands-on aspects of her field 😁
Actually had a blast visiting Kitt Peak today and can’t wait to share more about what I did and learned!! 🔭🧪
Actually had a blast visiting Kitt Peak today and can’t wait to share more about what I did and learned!! 🔭🧪
A bit of good news this week…Y’all may remember this graphic I made, showcasing what the President’s budget request would do to NASA’s science fleet (tldr it would decimate it). Well the house just passed a bill that soundly rejects these cuts, keeping NASA funding roughly the same as last year🧪🔭
January 9, 2026 at 3:50 PM
A bit of good news this week…Y’all may remember this graphic I made, showcasing what the President’s budget request would do to NASA’s science fleet (tldr it would decimate it). Well the house just passed a bill that soundly rejects these cuts, keeping NASA funding roughly the same as last year🧪🔭
Happy AAS week to those who celebrate! If you’re attending catch my dissertation talk this morning 👀
January 5, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Happy AAS week to those who celebrate! If you’re attending catch my dissertation talk this morning 👀
As light travels through an expanding universe, it changes. And those changes can have some interesting implications for how we perceive time… 🧪🔭
December 17, 2025 at 5:27 PM
As light travels through an expanding universe, it changes. And those changes can have some interesting implications for how we perceive time… 🧪🔭
We’ve taken images of two supermassive black holes…why not more? 🧪🔭
December 10, 2025 at 4:28 PM
We’ve taken images of two supermassive black holes…why not more? 🧪🔭
One of the most impressive equation slides I’ve ever seen at a conference 😂 as the speaker said: don’t try to understand it, you shouldn’t try to understand it
December 8, 2025 at 5:04 PM
One of the most impressive equation slides I’ve ever seen at a conference 😂 as the speaker said: don’t try to understand it, you shouldn’t try to understand it
In a shocking turn of events, the interstellar comet is still an interstellar comet and not an alien spaceship 🧪🔭
November 20, 2025 at 12:17 AM
In a shocking turn of events, the interstellar comet is still an interstellar comet and not an alien spaceship 🧪🔭
Paper day!!! My most recent first-author paper is officially published. I’ll make a post breaking it down soon but TLDR I compared X-Ray observations of hot gas around galaxies to cosmological simulations and it looks like simulations aren’t consistently able to match the real universe! 🔭🧪
November 17, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Paper day!!! My most recent first-author paper is officially published. I’ll make a post breaking it down soon but TLDR I compared X-Ray observations of hot gas around galaxies to cosmological simulations and it looks like simulations aren’t consistently able to match the real universe! 🔭🧪
Life update 🥹💚
November 16, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Life update 🥹💚
I find this fundamental misunderstanding of science so fascinating. Eventually I’ll have figured out my thoughts enough to articulate why, but for now just gonna drop it here for your reactions 😅
November 12, 2025 at 12:06 AM
I find this fundamental misunderstanding of science so fascinating. Eventually I’ll have figured out my thoughts enough to articulate why, but for now just gonna drop it here for your reactions 😅
Have you heard our standard model of cosmology might be wrong? A new paper puts forth some interesting evidence, let’s discuss! 🧪🔭
November 8, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Have you heard our standard model of cosmology might be wrong? A new paper puts forth some interesting evidence, let’s discuss! 🧪🔭
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So where’s the evidence? 🔭🧪
November 4, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. So where’s the evidence? 🔭🧪
So I’m out here, explaining why there really is no evidence that the moon landing was faked (4/4)
November 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM
So I’m out here, explaining why there really is no evidence that the moon landing was faked (4/4)
Let’s talk about why the University of Tokyo just dug a giant cave out of bedrock…🧪🔭
October 21, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Let’s talk about why the University of Tokyo just dug a giant cave out of bedrock…🧪🔭
What’s the deal with this comet/alien spaceship really? 🧪🔭
October 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
What’s the deal with this comet/alien spaceship really? 🧪🔭
Woooohooooo! I’m very proud of this work and excited to see it published ☺️
October 3, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Woooohooooo! I’m very proud of this work and excited to see it published ☺️
But we want to understand, because we think the magnetic field is key to driving this weird thing in M87: a jet of plasma barreling through the galaxy at almost the speed of light. We see jets like this in other galaxies, and think they play a big role in how they evolve. (5/n)
📸: NASA, STSci, AURA
📸: NASA, STSci, AURA
September 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
But we want to understand, because we think the magnetic field is key to driving this weird thing in M87: a jet of plasma barreling through the galaxy at almost the speed of light. We see jets like this in other galaxies, and think they play a big role in how they evolve. (5/n)
📸: NASA, STSci, AURA
📸: NASA, STSci, AURA
Here you can see the polarization fields observed in 2017, 2018, and 2021. Notice anything? They changed! They actually fully flipped! Which is…not expected. This points to just how complex and dynamic the accretion disk is, and how little we understand. (4/n)
📸: EHT Collab.
📸: EHT Collab.
September 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Here you can see the polarization fields observed in 2017, 2018, and 2021. Notice anything? They changed! They actually fully flipped! Which is…not expected. This points to just how complex and dynamic the accretion disk is, and how little we understand. (4/n)
📸: EHT Collab.
📸: EHT Collab.
This image shows those polarization patterns overlaid with the lines, and really what this is telling us about is the magnetic field structure in the disk. But we’ve actually looked at this black hole more than once, and what we found…(3/n)
📸: EHT Collab.
📸: EHT Collab.
September 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
This image shows those polarization patterns overlaid with the lines, and really what this is telling us about is the magnetic field structure in the disk. But we’ve actually looked at this black hole more than once, and what we found…(3/n)
📸: EHT Collab.
📸: EHT Collab.
Cool space news: one of the biggest black holes in the universe is doing something WEIRD!
You probably remember this picture, the first ever image of a black hole, in the galaxy M87. What you’re really seeing here is the disk of gas around the black hole. (1/n)
📸: EHT Collab.🧪🔭
You probably remember this picture, the first ever image of a black hole, in the galaxy M87. What you’re really seeing here is the disk of gas around the black hole. (1/n)
📸: EHT Collab.🧪🔭
September 17, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Cool space news: one of the biggest black holes in the universe is doing something WEIRD!
You probably remember this picture, the first ever image of a black hole, in the galaxy M87. What you’re really seeing here is the disk of gas around the black hole. (1/n)
📸: EHT Collab.🧪🔭
You probably remember this picture, the first ever image of a black hole, in the galaxy M87. What you’re really seeing here is the disk of gas around the black hole. (1/n)
📸: EHT Collab.🧪🔭
Exciting new black hole results today! 🔭🧪
September 16, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Exciting new black hole results today! 🔭🧪
I present to you: the Astronomer’s Periodic Table. Hydrogen, Helium, and….everything else is a metal.
But why? Well, mostly because there’s not much out there besides the first two elements. In the early universe, nothing could form except H, He, and a tiny bit of Li and Be. (1/n)
But why? Well, mostly because there’s not much out there besides the first two elements. In the early universe, nothing could form except H, He, and a tiny bit of Li and Be. (1/n)
September 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I present to you: the Astronomer’s Periodic Table. Hydrogen, Helium, and….everything else is a metal.
But why? Well, mostly because there’s not much out there besides the first two elements. In the early universe, nothing could form except H, He, and a tiny bit of Li and Be. (1/n)
But why? Well, mostly because there’s not much out there besides the first two elements. In the early universe, nothing could form except H, He, and a tiny bit of Li and Be. (1/n)
Why is he sleeping like this? 😂
September 15, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Why is he sleeping like this? 😂
Should we be excited about the recent results from Mars? Absolutely! But we also need to understand exactly what they do, and do not, mean. 🧪🔭
September 14, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Should we be excited about the recent results from Mars? Absolutely! But we also need to understand exactly what they do, and do not, mean. 🧪🔭