Ward Howard
@wardhoward.bsky.social
Husband to Kate, father, follower of Jesus. NASA Sagan Fellow at CU Boulder in the department of Astrophysical & Planetary Sciences working on stellar flares, exoplanets, and extragalactic foregrounds.
Website: https://www.wardshowardastronomer.com
Website: https://www.wardshowardastronomer.com
An attempt to stitch together my images of the aurorae above Longs Peak last night to show their dynamic and changing nature. Images are spaced about 10 seconds apart 🔭🧪
November 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM
An attempt to stitch together my images of the aurorae above Longs Peak last night to show their dynamic and changing nature. Images are spaced about 10 seconds apart 🔭🧪
So uh, the sky above Boulder got better. A lot better, including some beautiful columnar structure 🧪🔭
November 12, 2025 at 5:34 AM
So uh, the sky above Boulder got better. A lot better, including some beautiful columnar structure 🧪🔭
Just took these of the sky above Boulder right now. Longs Peak in the foreground🧪🔭
November 12, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Just took these of the sky above Boulder right now. Longs Peak in the foreground🧪🔭
Enjoyed the “Let Freedom Run” 10k in Louisville, CO this morning! Too hot for PRs, but lots of fun.
July 4, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Enjoyed the “Let Freedom Run” 10k in Louisville, CO this morning! Too hot for PRs, but lots of fun.
🧪🔭 1/ AU Mic is the very best early M-dwarf. It's got everything: it's bright, nearby, has strongly-observable planets, a debris disk, spots, and flares. Since the system is basically Disneyland for astronomers, I propose renaming it AU Micky, "Oh boy!"
June 27, 2025 at 12:54 PM
🧪🔭 1/ AU Mic is the very best early M-dwarf. It's got everything: it's bright, nearby, has strongly-observable planets, a debris disk, spots, and flares. Since the system is basically Disneyland for astronomers, I propose renaming it AU Micky, "Oh boy!"
The cool, rainy conditions helped me finally break the 49 minute 10k time (48:59 min) yesterday in the #BolderBoulder10k -- a Boulder classic and lots of fun!
May 27, 2025 at 5:39 PM
The cool, rainy conditions helped me finally break the 49 minute 10k time (48:59 min) yesterday in the #BolderBoulder10k -- a Boulder classic and lots of fun!
Got to see Kate hooded this week, and got an unexpected visit with my former thesis advisor Nick Law and to meet old and new members of his group, and hear lots of exciting updates on Argus Array!
May 23, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Got to see Kate hooded this week, and got an unexpected visit with my former thesis advisor Nick Law and to meet old and new members of his group, and hear lots of exciting updates on Argus Array!
Nice view while prepping for a fun stellar flares working meeting at NSO today!
April 30, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Nice view while prepping for a fun stellar flares working meeting at NSO today!
🧪🔭 What a gut punch. Many of us (self included) have invested and sacrificed so much into developing compelling astrophysics Small Explorer concepts for this year's draft AO. These proposals require years of lead time to put together, which is a major time investment for an ECR 😭
April 29, 2025 at 7:07 PM
🧪🔭 What a gut punch. Many of us (self included) have invested and sacrificed so much into developing compelling astrophysics Small Explorer concepts for this year's draft AO. These proposals require years of lead time to put together, which is a major time investment for an ECR 😭
Had an amazing time discussing stellar activity and exoplanet observations with colleagues and friends at #KnowThyStar2
February 10, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Had an amazing time discussing stellar activity and exoplanet observations with colleagues and friends at #KnowThyStar2
#KnowThyStar2 James Rogers shows that the Early eVolution Explorer (EVE) will confirm whether planets form water rich or water poor @mmacgreg.bsky.social
February 7, 2025 at 7:26 PM
#KnowThyStar2 James Rogers shows that the Early eVolution Explorer (EVE) will confirm whether planets form water rich or water poor @mmacgreg.bsky.social
#KnowThyStar2 shoutout to TIDYE-1 discovery by @madysonbarber.bsky.social @amann.bsky.social in Adam Kraus’ talk!
February 6, 2025 at 10:24 PM
#KnowThyStar2 shoutout to TIDYE-1 discovery by @madysonbarber.bsky.social @amann.bsky.social in Adam Kraus’ talk!
#KnowThyStar2 @luiswel.bsky.social wins the competition for best physics slide:
February 6, 2025 at 7:09 PM
#KnowThyStar2 @luiswel.bsky.social wins the competition for best physics slide:
Excited to be on the way to #KnowThyStar2 the rest of the week!!🧪🔭
February 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Excited to be on the way to #KnowThyStar2 the rest of the week!!🧪🔭
These things have officially gotten good. Similarly, here are some night sky shots from around Boulder, CO with a 14 or 13
January 25, 2025 at 11:15 PM
These things have officially gotten good. Similarly, here are some night sky shots from around Boulder, CO with a 14 or 13
8/ The 20 s TESS flares are interesting in their own right. We show TESS-->NUV flare energy scaling relations from the optical FWHM increases the NUV accuracy, and characterize the time lags between the NUV and TESS peaks of 0.5-6.6 min to find a correlation with the NUV flare light curve shape.
November 14, 2024 at 6:45 PM
8/ The 20 s TESS flares are interesting in their own right. We show TESS-->NUV flare energy scaling relations from the optical FWHM increases the NUV accuracy, and characterize the time lags between the NUV and TESS peaks of 0.5-6.6 min to find a correlation with the NUV flare light curve shape.
7/ We use the NUV as a lever arm to predict the structure of the flares in the TESS band, and to remove them prior to planet searches. Planet injection and recovery tests show significant sensitivity gains, even moving from sub-Neptune into super-Earth territory for late K stars:
November 14, 2024 at 6:43 PM
7/ We use the NUV as a lever arm to predict the structure of the flares in the TESS band, and to remove them prior to planet searches. Planet injection and recovery tests show significant sensitivity gains, even moving from sub-Neptune into super-Earth territory for late K stars:
6/ Beyond enabling scaling laws from TESS band to UV flare emission, simultaneous NUV+optical flare monitoring will increase EVE's sensitivity to transits of young planets around very active stars. We find this by stitching together simultaneous 20 s data from Swift and TESS:
November 14, 2024 at 6:42 PM
6/ Beyond enabling scaling laws from TESS band to UV flare emission, simultaneous NUV+optical flare monitoring will increase EVE's sensitivity to transits of young planets around very active stars. We find this by stitching together simultaneous 20 s data from Swift and TESS:
5/ We calculated flare yields for the core regions of all nearby young clusters in the Theia catalog and selected dozens of regions that maximize both flare and planet yields for a two year mission:
November 14, 2024 at 6:42 PM
5/ We calculated flare yields for the core regions of all nearby young clusters in the Theia catalog and selected dozens of regions that maximize both flare and planet yields for a two year mission:
4/n For flares, EVE will observe the first statistical sample of superflares at NUV and TESS-band wavelengths. While TESS has measured the flare rate of every bright nearby star, only simultaneous observations connect TESS data to the UV that drives photochemistry in atmospheres!
November 14, 2024 at 6:41 PM
4/n For flares, EVE will observe the first statistical sample of superflares at NUV and TESS-band wavelengths. While TESS has measured the flare rate of every bright nearby star, only simultaneous observations connect TESS data to the UV that drives photochemistry in atmospheres!
I made a definite change to the phone background for similar reasons given my thing for 🐿️
November 6, 2024 at 6:08 PM
I made a definite change to the phone background for similar reasons given my thing for 🐿️
I suspect the current state of my inbox is reflective of many others this afternoon. But, it's in for good in now!
October 16, 2024 at 11:39 PM
I suspect the current state of my inbox is reflective of many others this afternoon. But, it's in for good in now!
Just taking a moment to brag on my wife Kate for successfully passing her UNC Chapel Hill doctoral defense this afternoon! She studies the ways that early modern nuns navigate gendered expressions of fear in their life writings, centered around their relationships with their confessors.
June 20, 2024 at 7:56 PM
Just taking a moment to brag on my wife Kate for successfully passing her UNC Chapel Hill doctoral defense this afternoon! She studies the ways that early modern nuns navigate gendered expressions of fear in their life writings, centered around their relationships with their confessors.