William O. Balmer
@balmer.bsky.social
working class astronomer, science journalist, author. phd candidate at jhu/stsci. proudly union, tru-ue
blogs from astrowill.page, cv at wbalmer.github.io
blogs from astrowill.page, cv at wbalmer.github.io
my favorite weatherman on channel 0136 @evertnasedkin.bsky.social
October 8, 2025 at 9:06 AM
my favorite weatherman on channel 0136 @evertnasedkin.bsky.social
morgoth sends hellfires to assist the bacteria roasting
September 21, 2025 at 2:42 PM
morgoth sends hellfires to assist the bacteria roasting
i told jwst what to do today
July 19, 2025 at 8:51 PM
i told jwst what to do today
don't forget the gravity fringes! this was a very fun target to observe. welcome to the fold HD 135344 A b
and, in the paper, finally a happy use case for backtracks.readthedocs.io (we used the code to reject the null hypothesis that this source is a distant background star)
and, in the paper, finally a happy use case for backtracks.readthedocs.io (we used the code to reject the null hypothesis that this source is a distant background star)
July 9, 2025 at 3:33 PM
don't forget the gravity fringes! this was a very fun target to observe. welcome to the fold HD 135344 A b
and, in the paper, finally a happy use case for backtracks.readthedocs.io (we used the code to reject the null hypothesis that this source is a distant background star)
and, in the paper, finally a happy use case for backtracks.readthedocs.io (we used the code to reject the null hypothesis that this source is a distant background star)
here's the rest of the pixels :)
June 10, 2025 at 7:53 PM
here's the rest of the pixels :)
fourth pixel. come see the talk in a few hours. press release tomorrow at 10am alaska time (fake timezone). all pixels will be revealed in time.
June 9, 2025 at 3:39 PM
fourth pixel. come see the talk in a few hours. press release tomorrow at 10am alaska time (fake timezone). all pixels will be revealed in time.
the third pixel. apparently i was supposed to upload my slides friday, but they weren't done friday. they'll be done by monday, 10:20 AM in session 116, though, i promise.
June 8, 2025 at 6:19 PM
the third pixel. apparently i was supposed to upload my slides friday, but they weren't done friday. they'll be done by monday, 10:20 AM in session 116, though, i promise.
the second pixel. if oomfies are in anchorage hit me up.
June 8, 2025 at 1:16 AM
the second pixel. if oomfies are in anchorage hit me up.
i will be releasing one (1) pixel of our coronagraphic image of this cool* planet each day, up until our AAS 246 press release on tuesday. you can get a sneak peek if you come see my talk on monday. i will not be stopped.
*literally
*literally
June 6, 2025 at 8:15 PM
i will be releasing one (1) pixel of our coronagraphic image of this cool* planet each day, up until our AAS 246 press release on tuesday. you can get a sneak peek if you come see my talk on monday. i will not be stopped.
*literally
*literally
if you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to reach out to Gavin and I, our emails are linked in the preprint.
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
if you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to reach out to Gavin and I, our emails are linked in the preprint.
and @spschmidt.bsky.social helped us understand how quickly the planet would inspiral, falling into the (loving?) embrace of it's host in a blaze of glory.
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
and @spschmidt.bsky.social helped us understand how quickly the planet would inspiral, falling into the (loving?) embrace of it's host in a blaze of glory.
Gavin found that by using the TESS photometry to constrain the stellar rotation period, we could mitigate the star's impact on our measurement of the planet's mass. importantly, doing so didn't change our central values, just the quantification of our uncertainties.
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Gavin found that by using the TESS photometry to constrain the stellar rotation period, we could mitigate the star's impact on our measurement of the planet's mass. importantly, doing so didn't change our central values, just the quantification of our uncertainties.
and why I used NEID! It has a wide wavelength range so it measures many different parts of the star's spectrum that are sensitive to stellar activity. That's where Gavin's expertise comes in; he collated these measurements and modeled them, along with new photometric measurements from TESS
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
and why I used NEID! It has a wide wavelength range so it measures many different parts of the star's spectrum that are sensitive to stellar activity. That's where Gavin's expertise comes in; he collated these measurements and modeled them, along with new photometric measurements from TESS
The catch? The host star is hot and messy (pause). For some reason, this evolved early-type star not only pulsates, but rotates very quickly and exhibits large variations in its radial velocities at a wide range of frequencies. That's the reason the mass for this planet has been so uncertain...
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The catch? The host star is hot and messy (pause). For some reason, this evolved early-type star not only pulsates, but rotates very quickly and exhibits large variations in its radial velocities at a wide range of frequencies. That's the reason the mass for this planet has been so uncertain...
I collected radial velocities from the NEID instrument at the WIYN telescope on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak National Obs.) in order to improve the precision of the mass for this planet and better understand 1) how it got here, 2) where it's going, and 3) eventually, what's in its atmosphere?
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I collected radial velocities from the NEID instrument at the WIYN telescope on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak National Obs.) in order to improve the precision of the mass for this planet and better understand 1) how it got here, 2) where it's going, and 3) eventually, what's in its atmosphere?
HAT-P-67b has a huge radius (~2x Jupiter), but an apparently low mass (<1/2 Jupiter). This is super unusual, and makes the planet very puffy, which means something weird is up. Being so big, its atmosphere is very tall, meaning it is prime for detecting fine structure via transmission spectroscopy
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
HAT-P-67b has a huge radius (~2x Jupiter), but an apparently low mass (<1/2 Jupiter). This is super unusual, and makes the planet very puffy, which means something weird is up. Being so big, its atmosphere is very tall, meaning it is prime for detecting fine structure via transmission spectroscopy
I don't know if that's good enough clickbait but I am intensely proud of Gavin Wang (recent Goldwater winner!) whose paper "A Revised Density Estimate for the Largest Known Exoplanet, HAT-P-67 b" was accepted to AJ and is on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2504.13997
April 22, 2025 at 3:04 PM
I don't know if that's good enough clickbait but I am intensely proud of Gavin Wang (recent Goldwater winner!) whose paper "A Revised Density Estimate for the Largest Known Exoplanet, HAT-P-67 b" was accepted to AJ and is on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2504.13997
that is just the point spread function being smoothed in the PR image! here's the real JWST/coronagraphic PSF in all it's wacky glory. we did a lot of legwork in an appendix of the paper to deconvolve the PSF for public consumption.
March 17, 2025 at 3:27 PM
that is just the point spread function being smoothed in the PR image! here's the real JWST/coronagraphic PSF in all it's wacky glory. we did a lot of legwork in an appendix of the paper to deconvolve the PSF for public consumption.
and the pixels behind the PR
March 17, 2025 at 2:20 PM
and the pixels behind the PR
and, the blood i squeezed from a stone, 51 Eri b from JWST NIRCam
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Laurent Pueyo (STScI), William Balmer (JHU), Marshall Perrin (STScI)
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Laurent Pueyo (STScI), William Balmer (JHU), Marshall Perrin (STScI)
March 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
and, the blood i squeezed from a stone, 51 Eri b from JWST NIRCam
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Laurent Pueyo (STScI), William Balmer (JHU), Marshall Perrin (STScI)
NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Laurent Pueyo (STScI), William Balmer (JHU), Marshall Perrin (STScI)
HR 8799 via JWST NIRCam
[NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), L. Pueyo (STScI), M. Perrin (STScI)]
[NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), L. Pueyo (STScI), M. Perrin (STScI)]
March 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
HR 8799 via JWST NIRCam
[NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), L. Pueyo (STScI), M. Perrin (STScI)]
[NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, W. Balmer (JHU), L. Pueyo (STScI), M. Perrin (STScI)]
still a bit stunned, but excited to get the chance to take more pictures of exoplanets in the next year of JWST operations. very grateful for my advisor and collaborators encouragement and support.
March 11, 2025 at 6:04 PM
still a bit stunned, but excited to get the chance to take more pictures of exoplanets in the next year of JWST operations. very grateful for my advisor and collaborators encouragement and support.
my (prescient) sword and sorcery flash fiction story about a trans hero in a mortal duel with a... healthcare ceo is available in Issue 3 of New Edge Sword & Sorcery. i wrote it many months ago, i promise. it's illustrated! check it out on screen or paper:
newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product/new-...
newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product/new-...
December 26, 2024 at 8:43 PM
my (prescient) sword and sorcery flash fiction story about a trans hero in a mortal duel with a... healthcare ceo is available in Issue 3 of New Edge Sword & Sorcery. i wrote it many months ago, i promise. it's illustrated! check it out on screen or paper:
newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product/new-...
newedgeswordandsorcery.com/product/new-...
expect the expected! new paper from our team on the arxiv today: our observations of the directly imaged planet AF Lep b with optical interferometry. we revise the planet's orbit and composition; both indicate unbothered formation within a disk via core accretion.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.05917
arxiv.org/abs/2411.05917
November 12, 2024 at 6:26 PM
expect the expected! new paper from our team on the arxiv today: our observations of the directly imaged planet AF Lep b with optical interferometry. we revise the planet's orbit and composition; both indicate unbothered formation within a disk via core accretion.
arxiv.org/abs/2411.05917
arxiv.org/abs/2411.05917