Nikki Miller
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Nikki Miller
@nikkimiller.space
570 followers 540 following 44 posts
Postdoc at Uppsala University studying M-dwarfs and eclipsing binary stars. Also: astronomy camps, music, languages, photography & board games.

From 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 - lives in 🇸🇪 - often found in 🇩🇪
nikkimiller.space | iayc.org | she/they
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Nikki Miller
coreyspowell.bsky.social
The astonishing power of the Rubin Observatory--a tale in 4 pictures.

This early-release image of the Virgo cluster shows 10 million galaxies. By the time Rubin's survey is over, it will have mapped 20 *billion* galaxies into a decade-long movie. (1/4) 🔭🧪

rubinobservatory.org/news/first-i...
Made from over 1100 images captured by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, this image contains an immense variety of objects, demonstrating the broad range of science Rubin will transform with its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time. The image includes about 10 million galaxies, roughly .05% of the approximately 20 billion galaxies Rubin Observatory will capture over the next decade.
June 24, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
jwuphysics.bsky.social
My mind is absolutely blown by these stellar halos nearby NGC 4364!

Left: DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (DR10)
Right: Newly released @vrubinobs.bsky.social imaging!!!

#AstroSci 🧪🔭
June 23, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
astrokatie.com
If you burn down a forest, you don't miss out on lumber for just that season. You have to replant all the trees, nurture them, and wait for them to grow.

The science and research budget cuts happening now are wanton, senseless arson. Recovery, if it ever happens, will take generations.
June 3, 2025 at 9:02 PM
nikkimiller.space
Looked a few people’s CVs yesterday and realised I’d been significantly underselling myself in a few areas. Will be fixing that ASAP 🤦
May 6, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
distantworlds.space
𝗡𝗼, 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗞𝟮-𝟭𝟴𝗯'𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲.

K2-18b is back in the news, now with a bold claim that biosignature molecules (DMS and/or DMDS) have been 'detected at 3σ'.

Most exoplanet astronomers are extremely sceptical about these claims, let's see why (1/n).

🔭🧪🪐 #exoplanet
Artist's impression of the exoplanet K2-18b. Credit: A. Smith, University of Cambridge.
April 17, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
chrislintott.bsky.social
An astonishing headline reporting on new observations from a team led to Nikku Madhusudhan claims they’ve found ‘hints of life’ on a planet orbiting a dwarf star some 124 light years away. What’s going on? (1/n) www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... 🔭 🧪
Promising hints of life found on distant planet K2-18b
Scientists find new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life.
www.bbc.co.uk
April 17, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
nplinnspace.bsky.social
📢 *3* astronomy #PhD positions now open at 🇸🇪 Uppsala University studying stars with 2 incredible supervisors!

I genuinely cannot vouch for our astro dept enough: supportive yet relaxed, fun yet challenging... PLEASE apply & feel free to ask me Qs!

Deadline 4 April 🧪🔭🪐

uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
A photograph showing the Fyrisån river that flows through Uppsala, taken in the city centre with a view of the Cathedral in the background A photograph of Ångströmlaboratoriet (the Ångström Laboratory) which is where the astronomy department is housed at Uppsala University. It is a modern glass building with pretty green space around it, and another brick building part also visible to the left.
February 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
astrojoachim.bsky.social
Colleagues at my division at Uppsala university are hiring PhD students in astronomy. 4-5 yrs of stellar populations and Milky way evolution plus a very nice work place and town in general:
uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
PhD students in astrophysics
PhD students in astrophysics, with focus on stellar chemical compositions and Galactic evolution The Department of Physics and Astronomy is one of the largest departments at Uppsala University. It com
uu.varbi.com
February 28, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
bibianaprinoth.ch
One of the possible supervisors is Diane and let me tell you, she‘s one of the most awesome women I‘ve met. Want a great supervisor for your PhD? This is your chance!

🔭 ⭐ 🪐

⬇️⬇️⬇️
alinenovais.com Aline Novais @alinenovais.com · Feb 28
3 PhD positions at Uppsala University 🇸🇪

Focus on Galactic archaeology, galaxy evolution, and stellar spectroscopy including accreted stellar populations, stellar ages, chemical evolution and the first stars

Deadline: April 4 uu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
PhD students in astrophysics
PhD students in astrophysics, with focus on stellar chemical compositions and Galactic evolution The Department of Physics and Astronomy is one of the largest departments at Uppsala University. It com
uu.varbi.com
February 28, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
brettmorr.is
Tired of wondering which atomic lines are in your spectra? You need:

*whose line is it anyway?* An interactive tool for identifying atomic spectral lines. 🧪🔭 #stars

install:
pip install whoseline

source:
github.com/bmorris3/who...
February 24, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
drreneheller.bsky.social
The Service Module of the #PLATO spacecraft arrived at the OHB space technology company in Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany). Also, 18 out of 26 PLATO cameras have now been installed on the Payload Module. 🚀
Image Credit: OHB
February 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM
nikkimiller.space
Detached eclipsing binary #stars really do make for satisfying plots. I combined radial velocities from two different 🔭datasets (one about 10x less precise than the other) and fitted them with a simple ellc model and it just ✨ works ✨
Radial velocity scientific plot. Top panel shows two sets of data points (red and blue) following a sinusoid-esque curve mirrored around 0km/s. The data points fit the model well and the residuals in the bottom panel are mostly around 0km/s, with a few outliers up to 1km/s.
February 11, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
iayc.bsky.social
Applications to the 2025 International Astronomical Youth camp are rolling in — join us this summer for hands-on experience with a scientific project, adaptable to all skill levels.

Below is the IAYC 2025 poster pdf, please feel free to share it within your institution!
www.iayc.org/documents/ia...
Text: have you started on your application to the 2025 International Astronomical Youth Camp on graphic starry background with logo Text: where: Netherlands (De Klonie-Ellertshaar), When: first to twenty first of august (camp runs from friday evening to thursday morning), How to Apply: Find all the info about applying on our first info page! applications close march 9th, 23:59 CEST
February 5, 2025 at 5:25 PM
nikkimiller.space
Over the weekend, I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer a basic question: How many new songs are released every year? The internet did not give any satisfying answers, so I tried to find out myself...

nikkimiller.space/2025/02/09/h...
How much music is released every year?
The music industry has gone through significant changes in the last century, with the death (and re-birth) of vinyl, the rise and fall of CDs, the advent of digital downloads and streaming, and fin…
nikkimiller.space
February 10, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
esa.int
Today, during the European Space Conference, @esa.int and #Arianespace signed an agreement to launch the planet-hunting #Plato satellite on an #Ariane6 rocket 🔭 🚀

www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @cmundell.bsky.social
From left, the ESA Director of Space Transportation, Toni Tolker-Nielsen, ESA Director of Science, Carole Mundell, and Arianespace Chief Commercial Officer, Steven Rutgers, shake hands after signing the launch agreement to fly ESA’s scientific mission Plato, at the European Space Conference in Brussels.
January 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
nikkimiller.space
#NewProfilePic
Throwback to a warm summer day playing guitar with some silly folks at IAYC 2024 @iayc.bsky.social
A happy guitarist sitting on a picnic bench in the summer sunshine. They are in their late 20s, white, with short brown hair and are smiling with their eyes closed. They’re playing an orange classical guitar and wearing a black t-shirt that shows a Star Wars parody of the Beatles’ Abbey Road album, where the Beatles are droids
January 26, 2025 at 7:14 PM
nikkimiller.space
What’s up with all these passport controls on the train from Hamburg to Stockholm - they just did it once on the Danish border, and likely will a second time when we come into Sweden. So much for Schengen 🤨
January 26, 2025 at 6:56 PM
nikkimiller.space
Finally got around to deleting my old Twitter account, encouraged by Musk’s recent actions. I hadn’t used it in more than a year, I left it up to signpost people here, but honestly f*ck that guy. If it talks like a N*zi and gestures like a N*zi…
January 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
nikkimiller.space
I’ve been trying to cut down on my air travel this year but the European (and UK) train systems are really not making it appealing long term.

Not only is it a lot more € and time, but disruption and delays are far too common… 6/10 of my long-distance trains since 1st Jan have been 90+ mins delayed
January 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
emily.space
Astronomy & Astrophysics have almost halved their page cap from 20 pages to 12 pages - you have to pay 150€ per extra page.

The reasoning is that they're getting too many submissions. But surely this just encourages authors to submit *more* short papers? 🔭

www.aanda.org/2025-press-r...
A screenshot of the new page charges.
January 17, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
whstancil.bsky.social
Okay I suspect I play a lot more video games than most people on here, but this is actually completely damning about all of Musk's claims about gaming, including about being a top Diablo player. I've played these games a few hours tops, and he looks hapless even to me www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ui4...
Elon Musk Fraud Gamer Situation is Pathetic
YouTube video by penguinz0
www.youtube.com
January 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
kellylepo.bsky.social
This thing is enormous! The quarter-res version available on our website is 748.98 MB. As you zoom in you realize all of the little grainy things are actually stars.

Go check it out.
The Andromeda galaxy, a spiral galaxy, spreads across the width. It is tilted nearly edge-on to our line of sight so that it appears as an extreme oval on its side. The borders of the galaxy are jagged because the image is a mosaic of smaller, square images. The outer edges are blue, while the inner two-thirds are yellowish with a bright, central core. Dark, dusty filamentary clouds wrap around the outer half of the galaxy’s disk. At 10 o'clock, a smaller dwarf elliptical galaxy forms a fuzzy, yellow blob. Hubble's sharp vision distinguishes about 200 million stars within the image. The background of space is black. There are what appears to be steps toward the bottom, mainly toward the middle, which indicates where no data were taken.
January 16, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
brettmorr.is
I'm attending a workshop on accurate flux calibration at @spacetelescope.bsky.social this week. I've always wanted to learn more about how the experts do this. If you have too, the whole workshop is streaming on YouTube. Join below! 🔭🧪 #stars

www.youtube.com/@stsciresear...
STScI Research
This is the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) Research Staff Channel where we post videos of colloquia, seminars, journal clubs and various events led by our research staff and groups.
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2024 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by Nikki Miller
iayc.bsky.social
In addition to our own grant program, we have grants generously provided by the Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Siftung available for German citizens or residents in Germany in financial need, all the information is on our website!
hausderastronomie.bsky.social Haus der Astronomie @hausderastronomie.bsky.social · Mar 11
Die Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Stiftung vergibt Stipendien für Teilnehmer*innen aus Deutschland. Bewerbungsschluss ist am 17. März (also Ende dieser Woche!) 2/2
Alle Infos und Anmeldung: iayc.org/nextcamp/
Apply to the next IAYC
The International Astronomical Youth Camp is an annual summer camp for people aged between 16-24 years old who are interested in astronomy and astrophysics.
iayc.org
March 11, 2024 at 2:52 PM
nikkimiller.space
IAYC is such an incredible opportunity that shaped my career and life over the last decade - as a first-gen astronomer I likely wouldn't have found the knowledge, community or confidence to pursue a PhD without it.

Please help us spread the word to young astronomy enthusiasts!
iayc.bsky.social International Astronomical Youth Camp @iayc.bsky.social · Mar 10
There's one week left to apply for IAYC 2024! The IAYC brings participants aged 16-24 years old together under dark skies for a life changing three weeks 🌌🪐🔭

More info at iayc.org/nextcamp/ full and partial grants are available.

Help spread the word!
#edusky #iTeachPhysics #astro
March 10, 2024 at 11:50 AM