Shashank Dholakia
@astroshashank.bsky.social
Astrophysics PhD candidate at University of Queensland | UC Berkeley '21 | Exoplanets and Stars | @astrosoundbites.bsky.social co-host | Astrophotographer
shashankdholakia.github.io
shashankdholakia.github.io
Pinned
New paper by me and @benjaminpope.bsky.social! How well can we map a star using optical interferometry?
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
I love this way of explaining papers!! Check this out by @astroryan.bsky.social !
To finish it off, I've also done an annotated version of the paper complete with silly drawings and accessible language! These are inspired by @clairelamman.bsky.social , and you can read this and more here: ryanwhite1.github.io/wolf-rayet.h...
4/4 ⚛️🔭🧪
4/4 ⚛️🔭🧪
November 20, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I love this way of explaining papers!! Check this out by @astroryan.bsky.social !
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Very excited to share the NASA/ESA/STScI press release of our team's work on Apep! It's a terrific writeup, complete with a brand new beautiful visualisation of the nebula geometry.
1/? ⚛️🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
1/? ⚛️🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
Webb First to Show 4 Dust Shells 'Spiraling' Apep, Limits Long Orbit - NASA Science
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has delivered a first of its kind: a crisp mid-infrared image of a system of four serpentine spirals of dust, one expanding
science.nasa.gov
November 19, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Very excited to share the NASA/ESA/STScI press release of our team's work on Apep! It's a terrific writeup, complete with a brand new beautiful visualisation of the nebula geometry.
1/? ⚛️🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
1/? ⚛️🔭🧪
science.nasa.gov/missions/web...
More h-alpha solar timelapses. Here's a loop of plasma twisting off AR4247 from yesterday around 21:30UTC. This might have been part of a small C-class flare. I think it looks like a tornado on the Sun!
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
November 11, 2025 at 12:14 AM
More h-alpha solar timelapses. Here's a loop of plasma twisting off AR4247 from yesterday around 21:30UTC. This might have been part of a small C-class flare. I think it looks like a tornado on the Sun!
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
🔭 #astronomy #astrophotography
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
This is exactly the reason every mission and scientist should have a wide-open data policy! PUNCH has specific science objectives (looking at the solar wind) – but in the right hands the data can reveal amazing things NOT part of our original science. Giving those hands access is best for all. ☀️🔭🧪
Interstellar comet 3I Atlas from all clear filter data from PUNCH's WFI3 satellite on October 29th. This is the combination of 134 separate images. It's again visible in single frames (moving coming next). Probably visual magnitude ~9.5ish.
October 31, 2025 at 3:50 AM
This is exactly the reason every mission and scientist should have a wide-open data policy! PUNCH has specific science objectives (looking at the solar wind) – but in the right hands the data can reveal amazing things NOT part of our original science. Giving those hands access is best for all. ☀️🔭🧪
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Absolutely delighted to read this news after an anxious wait - Christian Schwab and I will be looking for a postdoc on extremely precise radial velocities at Macquarie soon!
Congratulations to everyone on what looks like an unusually large haul of projects for astronomy.
Congratulations to everyone on what looks like an unusually large haul of projects for astronomy.
🚨 #DiscoveryProjects #DP26 announcement:
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Projects 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/D...
/bot
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Projects 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/D...
/bot
October 28, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Absolutely delighted to read this news after an anxious wait - Christian Schwab and I will be looking for a postdoc on extremely precise radial velocities at Macquarie soon!
Congratulations to everyone on what looks like an unusually large haul of projects for astronomy.
Congratulations to everyone on what looks like an unusually large haul of projects for astronomy.
Really cool astrobite about a really cool paper!
From Ryan White @astroryan.bsky.social : What does the surface of a red supergiant star look like? It’s no polarising statement to say that it has more in common with a pot of bubbling soup than you might think! 🔭✨☄️
astrobites.org/2025/10/21/a...
astrobites.org/2025/10/21/a...
Judging a red supergiant book by its cover
What does the surface of a red supergiant star look like? It’s no polarising statement to say that it has more in common with a pot of bubbling soup than you might think!
astrobites.org
October 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Really cool astrobite about a really cool paper!
My attempt at Comet A6 Lemmon from subpar conditions last night. Wispy clouds still visible in the final image. Was surprisingly bright, p sure I could see it with the unaided eye! Easy through binocs.
Canon R5, RF100mm f2.8
19 images, ISO 800, 30s f3.2
🔭 #astronomy #comet
Canon R5, RF100mm f2.8
19 images, ISO 800, 30s f3.2
🔭 #astronomy #comet
October 27, 2025 at 1:08 AM
My attempt at Comet A6 Lemmon from subpar conditions last night. Wispy clouds still visible in the final image. Was surprisingly bright, p sure I could see it with the unaided eye! Easy through binocs.
Canon R5, RF100mm f2.8
19 images, ISO 800, 30s f3.2
🔭 #astronomy #comet
Canon R5, RF100mm f2.8
19 images, ISO 800, 30s f3.2
🔭 #astronomy #comet
1.5 hour timelapse of the Sun in hydrogen-alpha. I set this up quite late in the day and the Sun was pretty quiet so I was surprised how much evolution is visible in the prominences, granulation and the active region. I'll have to try more of this.
Video is set to loop forwards, then in reverse
🔭
Video is set to loop forwards, then in reverse
🔭
October 19, 2025 at 8:52 PM
1.5 hour timelapse of the Sun in hydrogen-alpha. I set this up quite late in the day and the Sun was pretty quiet so I was surprised how much evolution is visible in the prominences, granulation and the active region. I'll have to try more of this.
Video is set to loop forwards, then in reverse
🔭
Video is set to loop forwards, then in reverse
🔭
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
In a companion paper, PhD student @maxecharles.bsky.social applies this to reconstructing complex images, not just fields of dots. We apply a regularised maximum likelihood method to restore clean, diffraction limited imaging by fitting directly to pixel level data.
Image reconstruction with the JWST Interferometer
Flying on board the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) above Earth's turbulent atmosphere, the Aperture Masking Interferometer (AMI) on the NIRISS instrument is the highest-resolution infrared interfer...
arxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 3:35 AM
In a companion paper, PhD student @maxecharles.bsky.social applies this to reconstructing complex images, not just fields of dots. We apply a regularised maximum likelihood method to restore clean, diffraction limited imaging by fitting directly to pixel level data.
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
In the first paper Louis Desdoigts (ex PhD in my group, now Leiden postdoc) learns a model for the entire AMI system's optical physics together with a neural network 'effective detector model' the sensor, which suffers from a serious 'brighter-fatter effect' that blurs images at the pixel level.
AMIGO: a Data-Driven Calibration of the JWST Interferometer
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) hosts a non-redundant Aperture Masking Interferometer (AMI) in its Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) instrument, providing the only dedicate...
arxiv.org
October 14, 2025 at 3:35 AM
In the first paper Louis Desdoigts (ex PhD in my group, now Leiden postdoc) learns a model for the entire AMI system's optical physics together with a neural network 'effective detector model' the sensor, which suffers from a serious 'brighter-fatter effect' that blurs images at the pixel level.
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Thrilled to have two years' of work out, in a pair of papers led by @gradientrider.bsky.social and @maxecharles.bsky.social.
We've built a data-driven calibration of the James Webb Interferometer to near its fundamental limits for high-res imaging - explainer at @aunz.theconversation.com!
We've built a data-driven calibration of the James Webb Interferometer to near its fundamental limits for high-res imaging - explainer at @aunz.theconversation.com!
How we sharpened the James Webb telescope’s vision from a million kilometres away
The only Australian hardware on board the legendary telescope is starting to fulfil its duties.
theconversation.com
October 14, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Thrilled to have two years' of work out, in a pair of papers led by @gradientrider.bsky.social and @maxecharles.bsky.social.
We've built a data-driven calibration of the James Webb Interferometer to near its fundamental limits for high-res imaging - explainer at @aunz.theconversation.com!
We've built a data-driven calibration of the James Webb Interferometer to near its fundamental limits for high-res imaging - explainer at @aunz.theconversation.com!
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Scientists develop first ‘accurate blood test’ to detect chronic fatigue syndrome
Research could offer hope for ME patients – but some experts urge caution and say more studies needed
www.theguardian.com
October 8, 2025 at 6:09 AM
ME/CFS is a devastating condition that has long been denied, dismissed, psychologised and underdiagnosed. Research is at last starting to catch up with it, with glimmers of hope for those who have been left untreated for so long.
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
There's a huge BUT coming ...🧵
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Okay people, welcome my new paper into the world!!! With Isabel Colman and @farrwill.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2510.02255
arxiv.org/abs/2510.02255
Rotation Periods for Stars in Open Cluster NGC 6819 From Kepler IRIS Light Curves
We present an updated catalog of stellar rotation periods for the 2.5 Gyr open cluster NGC 6819 using the Kepler IRIS light curves from superstamp data. Our analysis uses Gaussian Process modeling to ...
arxiv.org
October 3, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Okay people, welcome my new paper into the world!!! With Isabel Colman and @farrwill.bsky.social
arxiv.org/abs/2510.02255
arxiv.org/abs/2510.02255
And as a bonus, here's a false-color composite of the same. Blue is mapped to all of visible, green is infrared beyond 850nm, and red is the methane band at 889nm.
🔭 #astrophotography #saturn
🔭 #astrophotography #saturn
October 6, 2025 at 10:16 AM
And as a bonus, here's a false-color composite of the same. Blue is mapped to all of visible, green is infrared beyond 850nm, and red is the methane band at 889nm.
🔭 #astrophotography #saturn
🔭 #astrophotography #saturn
Been imaging Saturn while its rings are nearly edge-on and tried some infrared filters. At this 889nm methane band, Saturn strongly absorbs light, whereas its rings scatter equally across wavelengths.
Also a good visual demo of how astronomers measure exoplanet atmospheres!
🔭🧪 #astrophotography
Also a good visual demo of how astronomers measure exoplanet atmospheres!
🔭🧪 #astrophotography
October 6, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Been imaging Saturn while its rings are nearly edge-on and tried some infrared filters. At this 889nm methane band, Saturn strongly absorbs light, whereas its rings scatter equally across wavelengths.
Also a good visual demo of how astronomers measure exoplanet atmospheres!
🔭🧪 #astrophotography
Also a good visual demo of how astronomers measure exoplanet atmospheres!
🔭🧪 #astrophotography
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Sometimes I think about how from 1935-1975ish, Bell Labs produced an insane amount of revolutionary science and technology, including 11 Nobel Prizes, the transistor, UNIX, C, the laser, the solar cell, information theory, etc. The secret? Provide scientists with ample, steady, no-strings funding.
sites.stat.columbia.edu
October 4, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Sometimes I think about how from 1935-1975ish, Bell Labs produced an insane amount of revolutionary science and technology, including 11 Nobel Prizes, the transistor, UNIX, C, the laser, the solar cell, information theory, etc. The secret? Provide scientists with ample, steady, no-strings funding.
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Research also shows that spreading smaller amounts of funding out over more researchers generally delivers better scientific outcomes per dollar spent than focusing bigger grants on fewer researchers.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Big Science vs. Little Science: How Scientific Impact Scales with Funding
Agencies that fund scientific research must choose: is it more effective to give large grants to a few elite researchers, or small grants to many researchers? Large grants would be more effective only...
journals.plos.org
October 4, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Research also shows that spreading smaller amounts of funding out over more researchers generally delivers better scientific outcomes per dollar spent than focusing bigger grants on fewer researchers.
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
There have been two hosts in the history of Reading Rainbow. The Legend of Literacy, LeVar Burton! And... me, Mychal Threets, a librarian 🥹🤯
I am a reader, a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow made us believe and see we belong in books, we belong everywhere ✨
youtu.be/e7es7qdWVnU
I am a reader, a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow made us believe and see we belong in books, we belong everywhere ✨
youtu.be/e7es7qdWVnU
October 1, 2025 at 5:51 PM
There have been two hosts in the history of Reading Rainbow. The Legend of Literacy, LeVar Burton! And... me, Mychal Threets, a librarian 🥹🤯
I am a reader, a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow made us believe and see we belong in books, we belong everywhere ✨
youtu.be/e7es7qdWVnU
I am a reader, a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow made us believe and see we belong in books, we belong everywhere ✨
youtu.be/e7es7qdWVnU
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Happy Pub Day to Earth and Earth-like Planets by Devaki D. Devi 🥳
Earth and Earth-like Planets is officially out for publication! 🧡 All pre-orders will be shipped as soon as possible.📦 If you haven't ordered your copy yet, you can purchase one here: www.abodepress.com/product-page...
Earth and Earth-like Planets is officially out for publication! 🧡 All pre-orders will be shipped as soon as possible.📦 If you haven't ordered your copy yet, you can purchase one here: www.abodepress.com/product-page...
October 1, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Happy Pub Day to Earth and Earth-like Planets by Devaki D. Devi 🥳
Earth and Earth-like Planets is officially out for publication! 🧡 All pre-orders will be shipped as soon as possible.📦 If you haven't ordered your copy yet, you can purchase one here: www.abodepress.com/product-page...
Earth and Earth-like Planets is officially out for publication! 🧡 All pre-orders will be shipped as soon as possible.📦 If you haven't ordered your copy yet, you can purchase one here: www.abodepress.com/product-page...
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
This work owes a lot to ideas of and conversations with Rodrigo Luger, Keaton Burns, Geoff Vasil, and Ben Roberts, and it's been a really fun project with Shashank!
... and Shashank is on the postdoc market now, so if you're working on stars and planets, Jax, imaging science and applied maths...
... and Shashank is on the postdoc market now, so if you're working on stars and planets, Jax, imaging science and applied maths...
October 1, 2025 at 11:37 AM
This work owes a lot to ideas of and conversations with Rodrigo Luger, Keaton Burns, Geoff Vasil, and Ben Roberts, and it's been a really fun project with Shashank!
... and Shashank is on the postdoc market now, so if you're working on stars and planets, Jax, imaging science and applied maths...
... and Shashank is on the postdoc market now, so if you're working on stars and planets, Jax, imaging science and applied maths...
Reposting for the #astro feed! 🔭
New paper by me and @benjaminpope.bsky.social! How well can we map a star using optical interferometry?
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
October 1, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Reposting for the #astro feed! 🔭
New paper by me and @benjaminpope.bsky.social! How well can we map a star using optical interferometry?
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
October 1, 2025 at 7:42 AM
New paper by me and @benjaminpope.bsky.social! How well can we map a star using optical interferometry?
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
This is just a submitted preprint at the moment--comments and questions welcome! (1/N)
arxiv.org/abs/2509.25433
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
So there are many far better photos of the International Space Station transiting in front of the Sun, but I was pleased to get my own humble version today. 🔭
September 29, 2025 at 9:51 PM
So there are many far better photos of the International Space Station transiting in front of the Sun, but I was pleased to get my own humble version today. 🔭
Reposted by Shashank Dholakia
Time for the promised thread on ε Eridani b!
I should emphasize this manuscript is a submitted draft—comments from the community are very welcome.
Bottom line: ε Eri b is likely a 1.0 Jupiter-mass planet, only 3.2pc away, on a 3.55 AU near-circular orbit, ~aligned with its debris disk. 🔭🪐🧪 [1/7]
I should emphasize this manuscript is a submitted draft—comments from the community are very welcome.
Bottom line: ε Eri b is likely a 1.0 Jupiter-mass planet, only 3.2pc away, on a 3.55 AU near-circular orbit, ~aligned with its debris disk. 🔭🪐🧪 [1/7]
March 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Time for the promised thread on ε Eridani b!
I should emphasize this manuscript is a submitted draft—comments from the community are very welcome.
Bottom line: ε Eri b is likely a 1.0 Jupiter-mass planet, only 3.2pc away, on a 3.55 AU near-circular orbit, ~aligned with its debris disk. 🔭🪐🧪 [1/7]
I should emphasize this manuscript is a submitted draft—comments from the community are very welcome.
Bottom line: ε Eri b is likely a 1.0 Jupiter-mass planet, only 3.2pc away, on a 3.55 AU near-circular orbit, ~aligned with its debris disk. 🔭🪐🧪 [1/7]
Tawny Frogmouth. Looks like a cross between a muppet and an owl. Possibly one of Australia's weirder birds.
Taken with Canon R5 & 300mm f4 on Aug 31
#birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #ausbird
Taken with Canon R5 & 300mm f4 on Aug 31
#birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #ausbird
September 28, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Tawny Frogmouth. Looks like a cross between a muppet and an owl. Possibly one of Australia's weirder birds.
Taken with Canon R5 & 300mm f4 on Aug 31
#birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #ausbird
Taken with Canon R5 & 300mm f4 on Aug 31
#birds #NaturePhotography #Nature #ausbird