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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 12d

Dr. Anjali Piette of the University of Birmingham gave a wonderful talk on connecting sub-Neptune atmospheres to their interiors as a part of the BOWIE+ Seminar Series. The video is now available on Youtube. #exoplanets #astronomy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHrT...

Demystifying the Sub-Neptune Frontier with JWST by Anjali Piette

YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars

www.youtube.com

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · 15d

Really enjoying Dr. Shreyas Vissapragada's @carnegiescience.bsky.social seminar on three population-level surveys of atmospheric escape @oxoplanets.bsky.social!

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · 17d

Very exciting and well deserved @ntlewis.bsky.social, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you find!

Neil Lewis @ntlewis.bsky.social · 17d

Thrilled to share that I’ve been awarded a 3 year Leverhulme ECF!

I’ll use global modeling with high-res regional ‘nests’ to take a closer look at Jupiter’s polar vortices.

As part of the project, I’ll incorporate this functionality into Isca (via a new dynamical core).

Very excited to begin!

Leverhulme Trust @leverhulme.ac.uk · 22d

In this groundbreaking project, Early Career Fellow @ntlewis.bsky.social @exeter.ac.uk, employs techniques from terrestrial meteorology and draws together contrasting theories to form a holistic view of Jovian polar atmospheric dynamics. www.flipsnack.com/leverhulmetr...

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · 18d

I'm looking forward to the groundbreaking on Tuesday!

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 18d

Somerville College’s proposed new Ratan Tata Building, in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, has been given planning permission by Oxford City Council. The building will be mostly teaching and learning space with tutor offices, study space and seminar rooms.

Artists' impression of the Ratan Tata Building

Artists' impression of the Ratan Tata Building seen from Walton Street

Reposted by Tad Komacek

Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · 24d

As a part of the launch of the BOWIE+ Seminar Series, Dr. Ryan MacDonald (@distantworlds.space) gave a great overview of our current understanding of rocky worlds thanks to JWST. The talk is now up on Youtube if you're interested. #exoplanets #astronomy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN3y...

Atmospheres on Rocky Exoplanets by Ryan Macdonald

YouTube video by BOWIE+ Seminars

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Jonathan Fortney @jjfplanet.bsky.social · 28d

Great article from the Simons Foundation about the open source MESA stellar evolution code, which has a had a huge impact on astrophysics over the past 15 years.
I had not heard that the code's architect, software guru Bill Paxton, had passed away in July.
www.simonsfoundation.org/2025/08/12/a...

A Stellar Revolution: How Open-Source Tool MESA Changed the Way We Study Stars

A Stellar Revolution: How Open-Source Tool MESA Changed the Way We Study Stars on Simons Foundation

www.simonsfoundation.org

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Josh Lothringer @jlothringer.bsky.social · 28d

Registration is open now for our fall workshop on Atmospheric Escape and Replenishment in Planetary Systems!

🔭 #exoplanets

Josh Lothringer @jlothringer.bsky.social · Jul 14

Abstracts close this Friday for the Fall 2025 STScI Science Workshop on Atmospheric Escape and Replenishment. We'd love to see you in Baltimore in November!

Check it out and let me know if you've any questions. 🔭 #exoplanets

www.stsci.edu/contents/eve...

Atmospheric Escape and Replenishment in Planetary Systems Workshop

www.stsci.edu

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · Sep 3

Congratulations @timlichtenberg.bsky.social!! Very well deserved.

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Nature @nature.com · Aug 13

Predictions of climate change are uncertain. That’s why we need to keep finding out how our atmosphere works, says Tim Palmer

go.nature.com/414QrVV

Just how bad will climate change get? The only way to know is to fund basic research

Predictions of climate change are uncertain. That’s why we need to keep finding out how our atmosphere works.

go.nature.com

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Tim Woollings @timwoollings.bsky.social · Aug 14

Two postdoc jobs available on our Arctic Butterflies project! (Not actual butterflies - basically Arctic dynamics and predictability - the butterfly effect in the Arctic...)

Oxford job: tinyurl.com/yc6h4b35

Reading job: tinyurl.com/ypn75jh2

Please help spread the word!

Job Details

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Tim Woollings @timwoollings.bsky.social · Jul 29

Job alert: we are looking for a postdoc to join the Atmospheric Dynamics group in Oxford to study Arctic atmospheric dynamics. The focus is on energy transfers between scales and implications for predictability. More details here: tinyurl.com/yc6h4b35

Job Details

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Harrison Nicholls @nichollsh.bsky.social · Jul 25

In our now-published paper we model the early history of three exoplanets to specifically study the role of tidal heating on their capacity to solidify. A physically robust feedback mechanism can keep them molten, even with relatively thin atmospheres, which may extend to lots of rocky exoplanets.

RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · Jul 25

Published in #MNRAS: "Self-limited tidal heating and prolonged magma oceans in the L 98-59 system", Nicholls et al. This is Fig. 1: for the caption & to read the paper please visit academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... @oxfordacademic.bsky.social @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

Log-scaled surface tidal heat flux calculated by LOVEPY using a Maxwell viscoelastic rheology for a range of shear viscosities, orbital eccentricities, and orbital periods. Please see the paper for the full caption.

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Duncan Christie @astroduncan.bsky.social · Jul 14

My paper with Tom Evans-Soma and Nathan Mayne on magnetic drag models is now accepted and up on the arXiv. For a quick summary, look at the PDF of my Exoclimes poster that I shared last week.

www.arxiv.org/abs/2507.08511

Geometric Considerations in Hot Jupiter Magnetic Drag Models

Magnetic fields are expected to impact the atmospheric dynamics of hot and ultra-hot Jupiters due to their increased ionization fractions, compared to that of cooler exoplanets, but our ability to mod...

www.arxiv.org

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · Jul 13

Do you want to work with me as a postdoc? The 51 Pegasi b fellowship is now open for applications heisingsimons.app.box.com/s/y8jg5tbsbd... This is one of the highest profile and most effective fellowships for early-career scientists studying exoplanets. (Read on for important news)...

51 Pegasi b Guidelines and Application.pdf | Powered by Box

heisingsimons.app.box.com

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Harrison Nicholls @nichollsh.bsky.social · Jul 4

See also my explainer thread below!
bsky.app/profile/nich...

Harrison Nicholls @nichollsh.bsky.social · Jul 4

In our new paper we model the complete evolution of L 98-59 d from 'birth' up to the present day. We show that it cannot be a gas dwarf or a water world; it's a 'hybrid' planet with an H2-rich atmosphere containing H2S and SO2 (photochemistry!), and a deep magma ocean.

@timlichtenberg.bsky.social

ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · Jul 4

New paper on the molten Super-Earth L98-59d by @nichollsh.bsky.social in our group. arxiv.org/abs/2507.02656

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ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · Jul 4

New paper on the molten Super-Earth L98-59d by @nichollsh.bsky.social in our group. arxiv.org/abs/2507.02656

Volatile-rich evolution of molten super-Earth L 98-59 d

Small low-density exoplanets are sculpted by strong stellar irradiation but their origin is unknown. Two competing scenarios are that they formed either with rocky interiors and H2-He atmospheres (`ga...

arxiv.org

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Rachel VanDaalen @rvandaalen.bsky.social · Jul 3

everything is terrible except for this

ClimateBook @climatebook.bsky.social · Jul 3

Did you know Wisconsin has a State Soil? It's Antigo Silt Loam, and the soil scientist F.T. Hole wrote a song in its honor. Here is my first attempt at a cover of the tune.

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · Jul 1

I recommend giving this paper by @jiachenliu.bsky.social, @astroduncan.bsky.social, and Jun Yang a close read: arxiv.org/abs/2506.23891. Sub-Neptunes like K2-18b lie in an interesting regime where both the radiative feedback and mixing of chemical tracers is important, I’m looking forward to Part 2!

Three-dimensional Transport-induced Chemistry on Temperate sub-Neptune K2-18b, Part I: the Effects of Atmospheric Dynamics

The low equilibrium temperatures of temperate sub-Neptunes lead to extremely long chemical timescales in their upper atmospheres, causing the abundances of chemical species to be strongly shaped by at...

arxiv.org

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Dr. Caprice Phillips @capricephillips.bsky.social · Jun 19

So very excited to see our collaboration with Nature Astronomy out today on #Juneteenth. These articles for #BlackSpaceWeek2025 were labors of love and I encourage folks to check them all out!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · Jun 2

Congratulations, Ryan! I'm looking forward to having you around as a UK faculty peer.

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · May 24

My 15th Science Olympiad National tournament as part of the Astronomy event led by the fearless Donna Young — as usual, we’re hard at work proctoring and marking 60 exams, making it as fun as possible for the students (and ourselves!).

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · May 23

Here's my follow-up story on K2-18b, the distant planet where scientists claimed to see a possible sign of life last month. In three preprints, other researcher argue that the signal is noise. nyti.ms/4jaqQRv

There’s Probably No Life on K2-18b After All, Three Studies Conclude

In April, astronomers said they had detected a possible signature of life on the exoplanet K2-18b. Now, three independent analyses discount the evidence.

nyti.ms

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Tad Komacek @tadkomacek.bsky.social · May 21

Next, let's have wild camping become legal in every UK national park!

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · May 21

This is such good news. My first views of a dark sky came when camping on Dartmoor.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · May 21

Wild camping on Dartmoor is legal, supreme court rules

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Robin Wordsworth @rdword.bsky.social · May 13

Interesting paper by Yang et al. on arxiv today arguing clouds might _help_ us observe O2/O3 on exoplanets in some cases:

arxiv.org/pdf/2505.07760

arxiv.org

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Reposted by Tad Komacek

Denis Sergeev @meteodenny.bsky.social · Mar 26

Exciting PhD opportunity at @exeter.ac.uk: Forecasting Martian Dust Storms (funded by @ukspaceagency.bsky.social)! Please share widely!

More details: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/fundin...

3D visualisation of dust and wind currents in the atmosphere of Mars as simulated by the UK Met Office Unified Model. Image credit: Danny McCulloch (U. Exeter).

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