Meg Schwamb

Planetary scientist & astronomer at Queen’s University Belfast: KBOs, Planet Four(Mars), exoplanets (Planet Hunters NGTS) ,LSST SSSC co-chair. Opinions posted are my own

website: https://megschwamb.com/
pronouns: she/her

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megschwamb_at_mastodon.online@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2026-10-28 21:22:46 UTC

Queen’s astronomers study unveils the solar system’s elusive Neptune Trojans https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/featured-research/httpswwwqubacukNewsAllnews2026queens-astronomers-neptune-trojanshtml.html

2026-10-12 15:18:43 UTC

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Does this mean I have to give up the joke that I really only pretend to care about the asteroids now and actually have to kind of like them? I mean they're still not as cool as the trans-Neptunian objects 😉

2026-10-12 15:15:38 UTC

I've been on a deep dive on a new research project. Doing things more carefully this time than the first pass. Always good to go back over things you've done to be careful now that there's consensus from collaborators that there's enough data for us to poke at for a paper. It's also me dabbling in the inner Solar System for a change.

2026-08-30 11:27:58 UTC

Successful launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope!

2026-05-05 07:51:47 UTC

The bit I love about astronomical observations is the potential to find the unexpected. This is a result that's not on my bingo card for occultation studies. A research group in Japan has found a Kuiper belt object with a tenuous atmosphere that shouldn't be there, but it is. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-tiny-world-neptune-atmosphere-shouldnt.html

2025-11-03 06:34:29 UTC

"The planet's vital signs are flashing red. The consequences of human-driven alterations of the climate are no longer future threats but are here now. This unfolding emergency stems from failed foresight, political inaction, unsustainable economic systems, and misinformation. Almost every corner of the biosphere is reeling from intensifying heat, storms, floods, droughts, or fires. The window to prevent the worst outcomes is rapidly closing. " https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biaf149/8303627?login=false

2025-09-19 08:45:49 UTC

A manga predicted a major disaster would strike Japan on the 5 July 2025, creating a flutter of gossip across the country. But if disaster had been imminent, would we be prepared? https://cosmos.isas.jaxa.jp/july-5-the-day-the-world-was-due-to-end/

2025-08-22 16:37:45 UTC

"The majority of companies are failing to see any returns on their AI investments, a report finds." https://gizmodo.com/the-ai-report-thats-spooking-wall-street-2000645518

2025-03-29 08:42:49 UTC

Belfast folks - it’s currently very cloudy, but do stop by the Ulster Museum for some partial solar eclipse themed activities https://www.qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2025/solar-eclipse-event-at-ulster-museum.html

2025-01-30 21:38:52 UTC

In regards to #2024YR4, the planetary defense in place worked. The NASA funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System discovered 2024 YR4 and NASA ( also and other institutions/agencies outside of the US) identified that this asteroid needed more data - The NASA funded automatic systems that flag these asteroid discoveries are called Sentry and Scout their pages are available here https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/intro.html

2024-12-05 06:36:36 UTC

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It's the streaks of something in very Earth orbit, and that's not what planetary astronomers are interested in. So for our science goals have no significant impact of this delayed release of the full image.The alert stream will have postage stamp images in it, and reporting the discovery of nearly all Solar system objects is going to happen daily.

2024-12-05 06:20:49 UTC

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The images are not going to be sent to an unnamed US security agency. By holding the image access back the satellites of concerns will have already moved after the 80 hours so it's then not a concern. This server is more of a super secure firewall within the Observatory data management system. The transient detections will still go to the alert stream wihtin 60 s and Solar system detections will be still reported.

2024-12-03 13:46:27 UTC

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This is only the 11th object discovered before impact https://neo.ssa.esa.int/past-impactors (this is a tiny asteroid it will break up in the atmosphere) # astrodon

2024-12-03 13:43:21 UTC

NASA's Asteroid Watch is saying "At 11:14am EST, a very small (<1m) #asteroid will impact Earth's atmosphere and create a harmless fireball over eastern Russia's Olyokminsky District. The asteroid was first observed by the Catalina Sky Survey & Spacewatch. (link to birdsite https://x.com/AsteroidWatch/status/1863938032170148091) #astrodon

2024-11-20 20:11:20 UTC

I'm looking for some good resources on navigating conflict and difficult conversations in academia/science/the workplace for grad students and other early career researchers. Does that exist?

2024-11-18 17:51:17 UTC

Are you enthusiastic about science communication? Interested in developing your writing skills? Excited about joining a collaboration of over 100 astronomy grad students from around the world? Apply to Write for Astrobites - deadline Nov 27 https://astrobites.org/2024/10/27/apply-to-write-for-astrobites-2024/
#astrodon #scicomm

2024-11-17 12:51:54 UTC

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Ditto - I think there's room to have both of these spaces. I plan to keep cultivating a presence here and on blueksy. I'm still thinking about what to do about twitter. I'm not sure if completing leaving is the right thing to do or shouting into the ether is fruitless given what's happening there.

2024-11-15 18:10:06 UTC

Feeling under the weather with a non-plague cold (first in 4 years). So I am curled up in bed right now, while getting some work done and watching some tv. I’m enjoying watching the full moon appear and disappear in my window as the clouds pass over it. Check out the full moon tonight if you can. #astrodon #astronomy #lookup

2024-10-25 15:30:55 UTC

We're still finding tiny moons around the giant planets. New Moons of Uranus and Neptune from Ultra-Deep Pencil Beam Surveys (Sheppard et al in press) https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.00108

2024-08-20 07:37:00 UTC

Rocket explodes during testing at UK’s new spaceport in Shetland - "The launch pad has been saved and is secured, the situation is under control, and any immediate danger has been mitigated.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/aug/20/spacecraft-explodes-during-launch-test-at-uks-new-spaceport-in-shetland