Shanika Galaudage
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astronerdika.bsky.social
Shanika Galaudage
@astronerdika.bsky.social
1.7K followers 210 following 300 posts
🕵️ Investigator of ripples in space-time | Astrophysicist
✨ Postdoc fellow | CIERA + Adler Planetarium 🇺🇸

linktr.ee/astronerdika | 🇦🇺🇱🇰(she/her)
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
science.esa.int
For over a decade, #ESAGaia mapped our galaxy with stunning precision, rewriting the story of the Milky Way 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

While Gaia no longer collects new data, its scientific mission is far from over! Upcoming are the Gaia Data Release 4 and the final legacy catalogue. 🔭
Gaia: Rewriting the story of the Milky Way
www.esa.int
November 28, 2025 at 1:00 PM
astronerdika.bsky.social
Throw back to 3 years ago ⏰

This was the loudest PhD thesis submission I’ve been too… my own! 😂

Just so happened to coincide with the annual @ozgrav.bsky.social retreat.

Missing the folks in AUS ❤️ hope to visit again soon! But maybe I should time it with next year’s retreat 👀

#PhD #Astrophysics
November 28, 2025 at 7:14 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
astroroamer.bsky.social
Women scientists often do not get recognition and visibility for their achievements as their male peers. Thanks to @indianexpress.com for highlighting stories like ours which go unnoticed, that hopefully will help to change the gender bias that still exists in society.
November 26, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
profannawatts.bsky.social
Required reading from @astroroamer.bsky.social 🔭

www.nature.com/articles/d41...
I encourage women to claim their space in astrophysics and beyond
Debarati Chatterjee’s mission is to make science in India more welcoming towards women.
www.nature.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
astroryan.bsky.social
A terrific writeup from @rami.spaceaustralia.com on our recent Apep results and press release! Would highly recommend giving it a read :)
spaceaustralia.com SpaceAustralia.com @spaceaustralia.com · 10d
Two new papers have used data from JWST and ESO's VLT to help uncover new details of the chaos amongst the stars: Apep

@rami.spaceaustralia.com spoke with one of the paper's lead authors @astroryan.bsky.social about this incredible system.

www.spaceaustralia.com/news/order-a...

#SpaceAustralia

🔭
November 19, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
alexwild.bsky.social
This is not what the problem is. We have many excellent, talented, engaging science communicators.

Their reach is deliberately truncated by the social media companies, and billionaire-owned news outlets do not platform them.
k9wag.bsky.social K9Woof @k9wag.bsky.social · 10d
Scientists are partly to blame by not learning to effectively communicate in lay language on modern communication channels. That information void is then ripe for disinformation to fill.

Embed lay comms & accessibility skills into academia.
November 19, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
astrokatie.com
Starting in one minute! Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS images to be shared by NASA. YouTube link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55S...
November 19, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
ligo.org
Our fourth LIGO @egovirgo.bsky.social KAGRA observing run has now drawn to a close. We will be busy analysing data for a while to come—watch out for more discovery announcements.

We will be back next year observing.docs.ligo.org/plan/
IGWN | Observing Plans
observing.docs.ligo.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
rodcampbell.bsky.social
Think I'll just park this here.
November 19, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
3wombats.bsky.social
Please sign. This stupid decision needs reversing

actionnetwork.org/petitions/cs...
CSIRO needs urgent support
CSIRO is under attack. Sign the petition calling on the Albanese Government to act now to secure the future of CSIRO’s world-leading science and research.
actionnetwork.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
philplait.bsky.social
Have you ever heard of Betty Webster? I hadn't until recently, and she co-discovered the first black hole ever found! Here's her story, to honor her memory and fantastic accomplishment.

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-woman-...

🔭 🧪
The woman who discovered the first black hole
Betty Webster is a name to remember. Also: more rogue binary jovians
badastronomy.beehiiv.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:49 PM
astronerdika.bsky.social
Thrilled to be named a #STEMpals ‘Curiosity Communicator’ 🥰

STEMpals is a program that connects kids in years 5 and 6 in Aussie classrooms with STEM professionals through letters! ✉️

The goal? To form a connection and spark curiosity in STEM. ✨

#SciComm #WomenInSTEM
Astrophysicist Shanika Galaudage is featured in a promotional graphic titled “Celebrating Curiosity Communicators.” The graphic includes the words “Communication • Curiosity • Connection.” A quote reads: “To me, doing STEM is about being curious, spotting patterns, and exploring new ideas. They are just some of the reasons why I love being a scientist!” Shanika’s name and title appear in a maroon banner, and a portrait of her smiling with long dark hair and a maroon top is shown on the right.
November 18, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
sbworkersunited.org
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.

Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Don't Buy Starbucks! At any location, today and beyond, while workers are on ULP strike!
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
science.esa.int
📣 For the first time ever, scientists have confirmed seeing a giant explosion on a star other than our own!

Our XMM-Newton observatory and the LOFAR telescope contributed to making this long sought-after discovery 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

🔭 🧪 ☄️ ☀️ 1/
An artist’s impression of a large red star releasing a bright, explosive burst of light. Swirling red and orange patterns surround the star, suggesting intense activity. In the background, a smaller blue planet appears with a faint, wispy trail extending away from it, indicating its atmosphere being blown off. The scene is set against a dark space backdrop dotted with stars.
November 12, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
ligo.org
🔭Our fourth observing run is due to end on November 18. However, we now expect to have a 6 month observing run in 2026–27 to begin in the late summer/early fall of 2026, with detectors participating as available

observing.docs.ligo.org/plan/

☄️🧪⚛️
IGWN | Observing Plans
observing.docs.ligo.org
November 4, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
astrobites.bsky.social
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th. 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
Apply to Write for Astrobites 2025!
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th.
astrobites.org
November 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
astrokat.bsky.social
Are you a grad student interested in writing for Astrobites, or do you know one? We're recruiting! Apply by November 26 :)

astrobites.org/2025/10/31/a...
Apply to Write for Astrobites 2025!
Love astronomy, astrophysics, and science communication? Come join the Astrobites team! Applications due November 26th.
astrobites.org
October 31, 2025 at 6:40 PM
astronerdika.bsky.social
Celebrated my first Halloween in the states with folks at @nuciera.bsky.social 🧡✨

Looks like I came back from a trip…

I’ll note my previous place of employment was in France 🇫🇷 #HappyHalloween! 🎃
Shanika dressed up as a “Louvre Jewellery Robber” wearing a crown, black beanie, black face mask, neon yellow safety vest, and black clothes poses indoors holding a black tote bag that says “UNTITLED COLLECTION OF OBJECTS”. They are in an office environment. A black tote bag with white text reading “untitled collection of objects“ is laid flat, topped with a jewel crown. In front of it there are two small white drawstring pouches and an arrangement of large and small emeralds spread out decoratively on a table, somewhat resembling a broken down necklace. A hand holds a small white drawstring pouch over a table scattered with emeralds (possibly broken off some stolen Louvre jewellery) and printed Halloween notes reading, “You are an awesome colleague! Have a Fab-boo-lous HALLOWEEN.” But the word colleague is strikes out and replaced with accomplice. A black tote bag with white text reading “UNTITLED COLLECTION OF OBJECTS” sits on a table with a jeweled gold crown resting on top. In front of the bag, there’s a hand pointing to a hand-drawn floor map labeled “THE LOUVRE” and “1ST FLOOR,” with handwritten notes marking places like “Apollo Gallery” and “Napoleon III apartments.” A person (Shanika) is pointing to the Apollo Gallery and has labelled it with “Enter here”
November 1, 2025 at 4:58 AM
astronerdika.bsky.social
Oh, I love this! 🧡✨

Super keen to see the results! 🎃
jessicacalarco.com Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 29d
We have progressed from data collection to data analysis.
My 11-year-old sitting with her pile of Halloween candy, sorting it into a bar graph
November 1, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
ligoindia.bsky.social
Detection alert 📢 Gravitational waves from two black hole collisions revealed how massive black holes form and allowed theories of General relativity and Particle physics to be tested. Find out from the blog article by Ish Gupta, postdoc @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social, part of the discovery team.
October 29, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
ligo.org
We are pleased to announce our discovery of #GW241011 and #GW241110

Both come from binary black holes where one black hole is much larger than the other. The larger black holes have large spin. Could these black holes have formed in a previous merger?

ligo.org/science-summ...

#O4IsHere 🔭🧪⚛️☄️
Infographic about GW241011 and GW241110 GW241011's source contained black holes about 13 and 8 times the mass of our Sun. The spin of the bigger black hole is high and bear aligned with the orbit. GW241110's source contained black holes about 17 and 8 times the mass of our Sun. The spin of the larger black hole is high and near anti-aligned with the orbit. Credit: Shanika Galaudage/Northwestern University/Adler Planetarium
October 29, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
aasnova.org
Meet GW241011 and GW241101: with rapid spins and mismatched black hole masses, these gravitational wave events provide strong evidence for black hole growth through successive mergers. aasnova.org/2025/10/28/n... 🔭🧪 @ligo.org
Not Their First Rodeo: Gravitational Wave Detectors Spot Merging Black Holes That Have Merged Before
The gravitational wave events GW241011 and GW241110 provide strong evidence for the growth of black holes through successive mergers.
aasnova.org
October 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
science.esa.int
Red Spider Nebula, caught by Webb 🕸️

🕷️ Planetary nebulae like this cosmic creepy-crawly form when stars like the Sun reach the end of their lives, balloon into cool red giants & shed their outer layers 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
🧪 🔭
A large planetary nebula. The nebula’s central star is hidden by a blotchy pinkish cloud of dust. A strong red light radiates from this area, illuminating the nearby dust. Two large loops extend diagonally away from the centre, formed of thin ridges of molecular gas, here coloured blue. A huge number of bright, whitish stars cover the background, also easily visible through the thin dust layers. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. H. Kastner (Rochester Institute of Technology)
October 28, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
nuciera.bsky.social
CIERA is Now Accepting Applications for 3 Prestigious Postdoctoral Opportunities! Join a vibrant, interdisciplinary research community working at the forefront of astrophysics. Learn more and apply: bit.ly/48W5PbL

#Postdoc #Astrophysics #AstronomyJobs
October 8, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Shanika Galaudage
startswithabang.bsky.social
Macroscopic quantum tunneling wins 2025’s Nobel Prize in physics

This year's Nobel Prize in physics was all about building the first sustainable macroscopic system to exhibit quantum behavior.

Here's the science behind the prize, and why it matters.
bigthink.com/starts-with-...
#physics #quantum
Macroscopic quantum tunneling wins 2025's Nobel Prize in physics
Quantum mechanics was first discovered on small, microscopic scales. 2025's Nobel Prize brings the quantum and large-scale worlds together.
bigthink.com
October 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM