Ross Church
@rpc25.bsky.social
Astrophysical researcher and teacher based at Lund University, Sweden, working on stars and stellar clusters. Also hiking, cooking, Wikipedia. 🌈, he/him.
Reposted by Ross Church
1/ The 4MOST instrument installed on our VISTA telescope in Chile completed its first test observations.
@4most-eu.bsky.social will help us unravel our galactic history, explore dark matter, and more.
www.eso.org/public/annou...
🔭 🧪
#instrumentation
📷 AIP/A. Saviauk
@4most-eu.bsky.social will help us unravel our galactic history, explore dark matter, and more.
www.eso.org/public/annou...
🔭 🧪
#instrumentation
📷 AIP/A. Saviauk
October 21, 2025 at 1:28 PM
1/ The 4MOST instrument installed on our VISTA telescope in Chile completed its first test observations.
@4most-eu.bsky.social will help us unravel our galactic history, explore dark matter, and more.
www.eso.org/public/annou...
🔭 🧪
#instrumentation
📷 AIP/A. Saviauk
@4most-eu.bsky.social will help us unravel our galactic history, explore dark matter, and more.
www.eso.org/public/annou...
🔭 🧪
#instrumentation
📷 AIP/A. Saviauk
Reposted by Ross Church
Welcome to the official 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) Bluesky account! Stay tuned for our first-light events coming very soon, and updates on all of the amazing science we will be completing over the years to come!
📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO
#4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO
#4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
September 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Welcome to the official 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST) Bluesky account! Stay tuned for our first-light events coming very soon, and updates on all of the amazing science we will be completing over the years to come!
📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO
#4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
📷: Y. Beletsky/ESO
#4most #ESO #telescope #astronomy
Reposted by Ross Church
This only happens to you once
September 26, 2025 at 7:39 PM
This only happens to you once
Reposted by Ross Church
The Swedish translation of Blue Machine, published this week. It’s a beautiful hardback. Do share the news with any Swedish speaking friends who need the ocean in their life! And thank you to the Voice of the Ocean foundation for hosting me in Stockholm today.
September 17, 2025 at 11:15 AM
The Swedish translation of Blue Machine, published this week. It’s a beautiful hardback. Do share the news with any Swedish speaking friends who need the ocean in their life! And thank you to the Voice of the Ocean foundation for hosting me in Stockholm today.
Reposted by Ross Church
Images from Palomar at 2 different infrared wavelengths last night - one that Saturn's methane atmosphere absorbs, and one the it reflects!
(The faint point source is the moon, Tethys!)
Taken by David Ciardi, Catherine Clark,
@lowbacca.bsky.social and Miranda Felsmann; animated by me (and ezgif!)
(The faint point source is the moon, Tethys!)
Taken by David Ciardi, Catherine Clark,
@lowbacca.bsky.social and Miranda Felsmann; animated by me (and ezgif!)
August 6, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Images from Palomar at 2 different infrared wavelengths last night - one that Saturn's methane atmosphere absorbs, and one the it reflects!
(The faint point source is the moon, Tethys!)
Taken by David Ciardi, Catherine Clark,
@lowbacca.bsky.social and Miranda Felsmann; animated by me (and ezgif!)
(The faint point source is the moon, Tethys!)
Taken by David Ciardi, Catherine Clark,
@lowbacca.bsky.social and Miranda Felsmann; animated by me (and ezgif!)
This was an enormous amount of fun! And the bridge is so beautiful.
June 16, 2025 at 7:59 AM
This was an enormous amount of fun! And the bridge is so beautiful.
Reposted by Ross Church
🍾FINALLY ON ARXIV! 🍾
Here are some lessons learnt from creating my Virtual Research Assistant for the ATLAS sky survey
(And no it's not some bullshit black box with a call to OpenAI - this is STATISTICS 📊 baby!)
So first, what is it?
1/14
arxiv.org/abs/2506.09778
Here are some lessons learnt from creating my Virtual Research Assistant for the ATLAS sky survey
(And no it's not some bullshit black box with a call to OpenAI - this is STATISTICS 📊 baby!)
So first, what is it?
1/14
arxiv.org/abs/2506.09778
The ATLAS Virtual Research Assistant
We present the Virtual Research Assistant (VRA) of the ATLAS sky survey which performs preliminary eyeballing on our clean transient data stream. The VRA uses Histogram Based Gradient Boosted Decision...
arxiv.org
June 12, 2025 at 7:11 AM
🍾FINALLY ON ARXIV! 🍾
Here are some lessons learnt from creating my Virtual Research Assistant for the ATLAS sky survey
(And no it's not some bullshit black box with a call to OpenAI - this is STATISTICS 📊 baby!)
So first, what is it?
1/14
arxiv.org/abs/2506.09778
Here are some lessons learnt from creating my Virtual Research Assistant for the ATLAS sky survey
(And no it's not some bullshit black box with a call to OpenAI - this is STATISTICS 📊 baby!)
So first, what is it?
1/14
arxiv.org/abs/2506.09778
Reposted by Ross Church
This budget, if approved, would be an extinction-level event for NASA Astronomy.
Awful. 🔭🧪
Awful. 🔭🧪
Here's NASA astrophysics, if I read the president's proposed budget correctly. 🔭
May 31, 2025 at 12:00 AM
This budget, if approved, would be an extinction-level event for NASA Astronomy.
Awful. 🔭🧪
Awful. 🔭🧪
Reposted by Ross Church
I used to sit and watch beavers at this pond for hours a few years ago. Then the family moved out after they ate most of the birch and willow. However, there was at least one beaver there tonight. He wasn’t as happy to see me as I was him. 🌿🦊🦫
May 27, 2025 at 3:42 AM
I used to sit and watch beavers at this pond for hours a few years ago. Then the family moved out after they ate most of the birch and willow. However, there was at least one beaver there tonight. He wasn’t as happy to see me as I was him. 🌿🦊🦫
Reposted by Ross Church
My island of strangers: a poem | Michael Rosen
My island of strangers: a poem | Michael Rosen
The prime minister warns that immigration could turn Britain into an ‘island of strangers’. Author and poet Michael Rosen responds
www.theguardian.com
May 17, 2025 at 6:24 AM
My island of strangers: a poem | Michael Rosen
Reposted by Ross Church
So the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland is looking to hire a lecturer/senior lecturer in one of the following areas:
- Physics education research,
- Quantum optics and quantum information,
- Biophotonics and/or medical physics,
- Astrophysics and/or space technology.
1/2...
- Physics education research,
- Quantum optics and quantum information,
- Biophotonics and/or medical physics,
- Astrophysics and/or space technology.
1/2...
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Physics
Company Description: Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of AucklandKo te whare Pūtaiao | The Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland is the leading science faculty in New Zealand and one of...
jobs.smartrecruiters.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:39 PM
So the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland is looking to hire a lecturer/senior lecturer in one of the following areas:
- Physics education research,
- Quantum optics and quantum information,
- Biophotonics and/or medical physics,
- Astrophysics and/or space technology.
1/2...
- Physics education research,
- Quantum optics and quantum information,
- Biophotonics and/or medical physics,
- Astrophysics and/or space technology.
1/2...
Reposted by Ross Church
'Radioactive mud? Well, colour me intrigued...'
In today's blog, rare books librarian Katie Birkwood explores the surprising history of radioactive mud being promoted as a treatment for medical conditions in the 1920s.
Read now👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/radioac...
#histmed @rcphysicians.bsky.social
In today's blog, rare books librarian Katie Birkwood explores the surprising history of radioactive mud being promoted as a treatment for medical conditions in the 1920s.
Read now👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/radioac...
#histmed @rcphysicians.bsky.social
May 9, 2025 at 8:49 AM
'Radioactive mud? Well, colour me intrigued...'
In today's blog, rare books librarian Katie Birkwood explores the surprising history of radioactive mud being promoted as a treatment for medical conditions in the 1920s.
Read now👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/radioac...
#histmed @rcphysicians.bsky.social
In today's blog, rare books librarian Katie Birkwood explores the surprising history of radioactive mud being promoted as a treatment for medical conditions in the 1920s.
Read now👉 history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/radioac...
#histmed @rcphysicians.bsky.social
Reposted by Ross Church
I am a Data Karen, I demand to see the god damn file manager, not this coffee machine touchscreen-ass interface
April 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM
I am a Data Karen, I demand to see the god damn file manager, not this coffee machine touchscreen-ass interface
Reposted by Ross Church
Sightseeing i Västerbotten med besökande vänner!
March 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Sightseeing i Västerbotten med besökande vänner!
Reposted by Ross Church
📢 *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/...
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/...
February 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
📢 *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/...
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/...
Reposted by Ross Church
fortran favors the old
February 20, 2025 at 6:29 PM
fortran favors the old
Reposted by Ross Church
Reposted by Ross Church
Wrote up my notes on proactively managing your workload
Boundary Conditions https://idiolect.org.uk/notes/2025/01/10/boundary-conditions/
Boundary Conditions https://idiolect.org.uk/notes/2025/01/10/boundary-conditions/
Boundary Conditions
<p>I’m mid-career and I’ve just realised I have never received any mentoring on how to manage my workload, on how to explicitly recognise when I’ve taken on too much and how to proactively regulate the things I’m committed to.</p>
<p>I have had conversations which touch on this, but the focus has tended to be productivity – how to manage your tasks. What about a system for working out when you should say No to more things? I asked the question on mastodon, and got some good replies. Here I’ll […]</p>
idiolect.org.uk
January 10, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Wrote up my notes on proactively managing your workload
Boundary Conditions https://idiolect.org.uk/notes/2025/01/10/boundary-conditions/
Boundary Conditions https://idiolect.org.uk/notes/2025/01/10/boundary-conditions/
Reposted by Ross Church
A little comic about desire paths.
January 15, 2025 at 7:18 PM
A little comic about desire paths.
Reposted by Ross Church
I’m starting a little series about writing post PhD. The first is about gift authorship. That’s when someone gets credit for writing without doing any work patthomson.net/2025/01/12/a...
Authoring for post/PhDers – the problem of gift authorship
One of the most common questions I am asked, and that I hear being discussed in doctoral and ECR support groups, is whether to write with supervisors and former supervisors. Or most often, I read o…
patthomson.net
January 12, 2025 at 7:49 AM
I’m starting a little series about writing post PhD. The first is about gift authorship. That’s when someone gets credit for writing without doing any work patthomson.net/2025/01/12/a...
Reposted by Ross Church
#Postdoc alert: come join us at Uppsala University 🇸🇪 to work on the first stars of the universe (Pop III) 🌟✨⭐️ Deadline Jan 20!
aas.org/jobregister/...
I can honestly *not* praise UU’s Astro dept and its work environment enough, it’s so lovely and kind. Please feel free to DM me if you have Qs! 🔭 🧪
aas.org/jobregister/...
I can honestly *not* praise UU’s Astro dept and its work environment enough, it’s so lovely and kind. Please feel free to DM me if you have Qs! 🔭 🧪
Postdoctoral fellowship in Population III stars | American Astronomical Society
Post-doctoral fellowship: The first stars – from our cosmic backyard to the distant UniverseDuration: 2 years
aas.org
December 18, 2024 at 9:46 AM
#Postdoc alert: come join us at Uppsala University 🇸🇪 to work on the first stars of the universe (Pop III) 🌟✨⭐️ Deadline Jan 20!
aas.org/jobregister/...
I can honestly *not* praise UU’s Astro dept and its work environment enough, it’s so lovely and kind. Please feel free to DM me if you have Qs! 🔭 🧪
aas.org/jobregister/...
I can honestly *not* praise UU’s Astro dept and its work environment enough, it’s so lovely and kind. Please feel free to DM me if you have Qs! 🔭 🧪
Reposted by Ross Church
My supervisor, Jens Hoeijmakers, is advertising a 4-year PhD position in exoplanet atmospheres in Lund! 🪐🔭
I’ve absolutely loved working with Jens, and I’ll be very sad to leave after defending my PhD. Jens is an excellent supervisor and mentor!
🔗 lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Deadline: January 15
I’ve absolutely loved working with Jens, and I’ll be very sad to leave after defending my PhD. Jens is an excellent supervisor and mentor!
🔗 lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Deadline: January 15
Doctoral student in Astronomy and Astrophysics with focus on Exoplanet atmospheres
Division of Astrophysics, in the research group of Jens Hoeijmakers, on the topic high-resolution spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres. Work duties This doctoral project is part of a larger project i
lu.varbi.com
December 6, 2024 at 10:24 AM
My supervisor, Jens Hoeijmakers, is advertising a 4-year PhD position in exoplanet atmospheres in Lund! 🪐🔭
I’ve absolutely loved working with Jens, and I’ll be very sad to leave after defending my PhD. Jens is an excellent supervisor and mentor!
🔗 lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Deadline: January 15
I’ve absolutely loved working with Jens, and I’ll be very sad to leave after defending my PhD. Jens is an excellent supervisor and mentor!
🔗 lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/...
Deadline: January 15
Reposted by Ross Church
Atoms are binary. They are either intended to be hydrogen or helium. We can't just scrap this worldview just because of a handful of exceptions
November 28, 2024 at 1:02 PM
Atoms are binary. They are either intended to be hydrogen or helium. We can't just scrap this worldview just because of a handful of exceptions
Reposted by Ross Church
A great - saddening - essay:
November 1, 2024 at 6:41 PM
A great - saddening - essay:
A high school summer job in Hull University's chemistry department was my first experience of research – without it I doubt I'd have become an academic. This is really sad news, for the city and the university.
November 1, 2024 at 8:08 PM
A high school summer job in Hull University's chemistry department was my first experience of research – without it I doubt I'd have become an academic. This is really sad news, for the city and the university.