Gijs D Mulders
@gijsmulders.com
Pinned
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
It's happening!!! Pandora is going to space in just over 16 hours (if all goes well). Pandora is going to help us study exoplanet atmospheres, even when their host stars are misbehaving. I am headed up to Vandenberg to watch the launch shortly, and will make a thread about the mission/launch here!
January 10, 2026 at 8:41 PM
It's happening!!! Pandora is going to space in just over 16 hours (if all goes well). Pandora is going to help us study exoplanet atmospheres, even when their host stars are misbehaving. I am headed up to Vandenberg to watch the launch shortly, and will make a thread about the mission/launch here!
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
Ever wondered how many bins to choose when making a histogram of data? The answer is that you shouldn't choose a number of bins yourself! ☄️ #astrocode
Here's a little notebook explaining how to make less biased histograms:
Here's a little notebook explaining how to make less biased histograms:
Making histograms is a common way to estimate the true density distribution of a sample. But how can we choose the number of histogram bins? And if we get fancy and use kernel density estimation (KDE)...
Making histograms is a common way to estimate the true density distribution of a sample. But how can we choose the number of histogram bins? And if we get fancy and use kernel density estimation (K...
gist.github.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Ever wondered how many bins to choose when making a histogram of data? The answer is that you shouldn't choose a number of bins yourself! ☄️ #astrocode
Here's a little notebook explaining how to make less biased histograms:
Here's a little notebook explaining how to make less biased histograms:
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
I'm very happy I woke up at 4am this morning to catch 3I/ATLAS right before its closest approach to Earth (today!) This interstellar visitor is traveling over 60 km/s ☄️
At 269 million km (1.8 AU), I took a series of 2.5 min exposures with my Seestar 🔭
At 269 million km (1.8 AU), I took a series of 2.5 min exposures with my Seestar 🔭
December 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
I'm very happy I woke up at 4am this morning to catch 3I/ATLAS right before its closest approach to Earth (today!) This interstellar visitor is traveling over 60 km/s ☄️
At 269 million km (1.8 AU), I took a series of 2.5 min exposures with my Seestar 🔭
At 269 million km (1.8 AU), I took a series of 2.5 min exposures with my Seestar 🔭
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
The application for the ESO Summer Research Programme 2026 has just opened!
It‘s a six week programme in Garching close to Munich where pre-Ph.D students can work on a hands-on project.
Working at @eso.org is a fabulous experience, so please help me spread the word ✨
🔗 eso.org/sci/meetings...
It‘s a six week programme in Garching close to Munich where pre-Ph.D students can work on a hands-on project.
Working at @eso.org is a fabulous experience, so please help me spread the word ✨
🔗 eso.org/sci/meetings...
ESO - SummerResearch2026
ESO is the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere. It operates the La Silla Paranal Observatory in Chile and has its headquarters in Garching, near Munich, Germany.
eso.org
December 17, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The application for the ESO Summer Research Programme 2026 has just opened!
It‘s a six week programme in Garching close to Munich where pre-Ph.D students can work on a hands-on project.
Working at @eso.org is a fabulous experience, so please help me spread the word ✨
🔗 eso.org/sci/meetings...
It‘s a six week programme in Garching close to Munich where pre-Ph.D students can work on a hands-on project.
Working at @eso.org is a fabulous experience, so please help me spread the word ✨
🔗 eso.org/sci/meetings...
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
the day is finally here: you can order my debut non-fiction, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF STARSHIPS: HOW THE DRAKE EQUATION REVEALS THE ODDS OF LIFE IN THE COSMOS from B&N!!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
December 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
the day is finally here: you can order my debut non-fiction, CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF STARSHIPS: HOW THE DRAKE EQUATION REVEALS THE ODDS OF LIFE IN THE COSMOS from B&N!!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cloudy-wit...
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
⭐️✨🔭Please help us get the message out about the 7th annual international ASPIRE program at @api.uva.nl. This summer 2026 school provides astronomy research experience for talented MSc students from countries where opportunities to move into a PhD program are limited. Applications are due 17 Dec! ⭐️✨🔭
ASPIRE
aspire.science.uva.nl
December 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
⭐️✨🔭Please help us get the message out about the 7th annual international ASPIRE program at @api.uva.nl. This summer 2026 school provides astronomy research experience for talented MSc students from countries where opportunities to move into a PhD program are limited. Applications are due 17 Dec! ⭐️✨🔭
Equating giant planet occurrence rate of ~20% to the disk fraction, that means a timescale of ~10 Myr for giant planet formation!
New paper led by Fabian Polnitzcky & with @sratzenboeck.bsky.social + @joaoalves.bsky.social: based on the ages of stars with infrared excess in Sco-Cen, it seems planet-forming disks last around twice as long as previous estimates suggest - giving twice as long for planets to form. 🔭☄️ #exoplanets
December 9, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Equating giant planet occurrence rate of ~20% to the disk fraction, that means a timescale of ~10 Myr for giant planet formation!
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
New paper led by Fabian Polnitzcky & with @sratzenboeck.bsky.social + @joaoalves.bsky.social: based on the ages of stars with infrared excess in Sco-Cen, it seems planet-forming disks last around twice as long as previous estimates suggest - giving twice as long for planets to form. 🔭☄️ #exoplanets
December 9, 2025 at 10:57 AM
New paper led by Fabian Polnitzcky & with @sratzenboeck.bsky.social + @joaoalves.bsky.social: based on the ages of stars with infrared excess in Sco-Cen, it seems planet-forming disks last around twice as long as previous estimates suggest - giving twice as long for planets to form. 🔭☄️ #exoplanets
Any chance you can get density measurements for these planets from radial velocity masses?
That would really nail it down, otherwise it could also be planet engulfment/scattering/mergers etc.
That would really nail it down, otherwise it could also be planet engulfment/scattering/mergers etc.
November 19, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Any chance you can get density measurements for these planets from radial velocity masses?
That would really nail it down, otherwise it could also be planet engulfment/scattering/mergers etc.
That would really nail it down, otherwise it could also be planet engulfment/scattering/mergers etc.
Thanks, that is indeed a more complete one because it includes the directly imaged planets!
November 19, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Thanks, that is indeed a more complete one because it includes the directly imaged planets!
Thanks for the pointer, that may be what I will end up doing!
November 19, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Thanks for the pointer, that may be what I will end up doing!
Question for the #exoplanets crowd:
Does any one know where to find an updated version of this plot?
I'm looking for the "standard" exoplanet mass vs. semi-major axis plot, but with an overlay of which planets have a spectroscopic measurement of their atmosphere
wasp-planets.net/2020/09/29/w...
Does any one know where to find an updated version of this plot?
I'm looking for the "standard" exoplanet mass vs. semi-major axis plot, but with an overlay of which planets have a spectroscopic measurement of their atmosphere
wasp-planets.net/2020/09/29/w...
Which exoplanets do we have atmospheric spectra for?
Here’s an interesting plot created by Zafar Rustamkulov (@exoZafar), a PhD student at Johns Hopkins University. He has added up all the exoplanets for which we have either transmission spectr…
wasp-planets.net
November 19, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Question for the #exoplanets crowd:
Does any one know where to find an updated version of this plot?
I'm looking for the "standard" exoplanet mass vs. semi-major axis plot, but with an overlay of which planets have a spectroscopic measurement of their atmosphere
wasp-planets.net/2020/09/29/w...
Does any one know where to find an updated version of this plot?
I'm looking for the "standard" exoplanet mass vs. semi-major axis plot, but with an overlay of which planets have a spectroscopic measurement of their atmosphere
wasp-planets.net/2020/09/29/w...
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
Enjoyed giving a UofA Origins talk on how protoplanetary disks evolve – featuring new results from ALMA and JWST. The recording is available here 👇
youtu.be/mdgGgnjVbb0
@uarizonalpl.bsky.social @stewardobservatory.bsky.social
youtu.be/mdgGgnjVbb0
@uarizonalpl.bsky.social @stewardobservatory.bsky.social
Protoplanetary Disk Evolution in the ALMA–JWST Era (Ilaria Pascucci, UArizona/LPL)
YouTube video by Origins Seminars
youtu.be
November 5, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Enjoyed giving a UofA Origins talk on how protoplanetary disks evolve – featuring new results from ALMA and JWST. The recording is available here 👇
youtu.be/mdgGgnjVbb0
@uarizonalpl.bsky.social @stewardobservatory.bsky.social
youtu.be/mdgGgnjVbb0
@uarizonalpl.bsky.social @stewardobservatory.bsky.social
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
Big congrats to Jennifer Burt, Xavier Dumusque, and Sam Halverson on finishing their epic (instant classic) Annual Reviews of Astronomy & Astrophysics article "Precise Radial Velocities"!
arxiv.org/abs/2511.01954
contains some great new graphics for talks on
#exoplanets #EPRV #DopplerSpectroscopy
arxiv.org/abs/2511.01954
contains some great new graphics for talks on
#exoplanets #EPRV #DopplerSpectroscopy
November 5, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Big congrats to Jennifer Burt, Xavier Dumusque, and Sam Halverson on finishing their epic (instant classic) Annual Reviews of Astronomy & Astrophysics article "Precise Radial Velocities"!
arxiv.org/abs/2511.01954
contains some great new graphics for talks on
#exoplanets #EPRV #DopplerSpectroscopy
arxiv.org/abs/2511.01954
contains some great new graphics for talks on
#exoplanets #EPRV #DopplerSpectroscopy
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
The NASA #Exoplanet Archive now has Gaia DR3 IDs! This should hopefully make your work and planning observations easier!
exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu
exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu
October 16, 2025 at 10:47 PM
The NASA #Exoplanet Archive now has Gaia DR3 IDs! This should hopefully make your work and planning observations easier!
exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu
exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu
Reposted by Gijs D Mulders
w/ Oli Shorttle, @johannateske.bsky.social & Eliza Kempton we reviewed our current understanding and prospects for peaking on the inside of small #exoplanets in "Constraining exoplanet interiors using observations of their atmospheres": www.science.org/stoken/autho... & arxiv.org/abs/2510.08844 🔭🧪⚒️☄️
October 13, 2025 at 12:27 PM
w/ Oli Shorttle, @johannateske.bsky.social & Eliza Kempton we reviewed our current understanding and prospects for peaking on the inside of small #exoplanets in "Constraining exoplanet interiors using observations of their atmospheres": www.science.org/stoken/autho... & arxiv.org/abs/2510.08844 🔭🧪⚒️☄️
And finally, you can read the entire paper here, soon to be published in ApJ:
arxiv.org/abs/2509.14101
19 /🧵
arxiv.org/abs/2509.14101
19 /🧵
Diversity in planetary architectures from pebble accretion: Water delivery to the habitable zone with pebble snow
"Pebble snow" describes a planet formation mechanism where icy pebbles in the outer disk reach inner planet embryos as the water ice line evolves inward. We model the effects pebble snow has on sculpt...
arxiv.org
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
And finally, you can read the entire paper here, soon to be published in ApJ:
arxiv.org/abs/2509.14101
19 /🧵
arxiv.org/abs/2509.14101
19 /🧵
Solar system-like architectures appear for a small range of initial disk masses around F and G stars, but are not a common feature around K and M stars.
Perhaps we are somewhat special among #exoplanets?
18 /🧵
Perhaps we are somewhat special among #exoplanets?
18 /🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Solar system-like architectures appear for a small range of initial disk masses around F and G stars, but are not a common feature around K and M stars.
Perhaps we are somewhat special among #exoplanets?
18 /🧵
Perhaps we are somewhat special among #exoplanets?
18 /🧵
While the mid mass architecture is most efficient at depositing water directly in the habitable zone:
It's pebble snow!
#exoplanets
17/🧵
It's pebble snow!
#exoplanets
17/🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
While the mid mass architecture is most efficient at depositing water directly in the habitable zone:
It's pebble snow!
#exoplanets
17/🧵
It's pebble snow!
#exoplanets
17/🧵
The low-mass architectures are quite efficient at creating water-worlds close to the star.
16 /🧵
16 /🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The low-mass architectures are quite efficient at creating water-worlds close to the star.
16 /🧵
16 /🧵
The architectures are remarkably consistent across stellar mass, with the location and size of planets shifting with snow line and disk mass
15 /🧵
15 /🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The architectures are remarkably consistent across stellar mass, with the location and size of planets shifting with snow line and disk mass
15 /🧵
15 /🧵
The mid mass architectures form a bimodal distribution:
Giant planet cores at the initial snow line location,
and a second peak with smaller, water-rich #exoplanets in the habitable zone!
14/🧵
Giant planet cores at the initial snow line location,
and a second peak with smaller, water-rich #exoplanets in the habitable zone!
14/🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The mid mass architectures form a bimodal distribution:
Giant planet cores at the initial snow line location,
and a second peak with smaller, water-rich #exoplanets in the habitable zone!
14/🧵
Giant planet cores at the initial snow line location,
and a second peak with smaller, water-rich #exoplanets in the habitable zone!
14/🧵
Low mass disks from predominantly planetary cores closer in, possible precursors to super-earths or waterworlds.
12/🧵
12/🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Low mass disks from predominantly planetary cores closer in, possible precursors to super-earths or waterworlds.
12/🧵
12/🧵
The main results is there are three growth modes:
High mass disks form exclusively giant planet cores outside the snow line
11/🧵
High mass disks form exclusively giant planet cores outside the snow line
11/🧵
October 8, 2025 at 9:10 PM
The main results is there are three growth modes:
High mass disks form exclusively giant planet cores outside the snow line
11/🧵
High mass disks form exclusively giant planet cores outside the snow line
11/🧵