Vivian U

Yes! Quantifying feedback effect and understanding the mechanism for which are becoming more important than just knowing the overall influence on the galaxy.

Our @science.org paper is officially out, and we're featured on the COVER! 🌟🔭🧪

My postdoc Justin Kader led this deep dive into VV 340a, revealing how a precessing jet from a supermassive black hole drives massive gas outflows.

It’s been a journey; go Team! 🥹🥂

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Active galactic nuclei can launch a jet that drives a gas outflow, shaping star formation in their host galaxy.

Researchers in a new Science study have observed this phenomenon in the nearby active galaxy VV 340a. https://scim.ag/3NBetnq

Yeah I don’t have a good sense of that either, quantitatively. But it sure enables laser guide star adaptive optics for our observations from the user’s end 🙂

An amazing result out of #AAS247 - Astronomers discover the first galaxy-wide wobbling black hole jet in a disk galaxy keckobservatory.org/vv340a/ Congratulations to @justtheletteru.bsky.social,
@justinkuder.bsky.social and the whole team for this incredible discovery

NSF seeks public input on its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026–2030 NSF Strategic Plan

Do you care about the future of the US NSF and science in general? The agency is seeking feedback on the draft Strategic Plan. www.nsf.gov/od/updates/n...

According to this website, the average power of the Keck laser is 15-20W.

www2.keck.hawaii.edu/optics/lgsao...

- KHON2 News:
www.khon2.com/local-news/m...

- SpaceDaily:
www.spacedaily.com/reports/Jets...

- Green Matters:
www.greenmatters.com/pn/a-black-h...

UC Irvine astronomers spot largest known stream of super-heated gas in the universe Discovery was made using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other resources

One more release:
- UCI:
news.uci.edu/2026/01/08/u...

More media coverage:
- SciTechDaily:
scitechdaily.com/a-wandering-...

- Tech Explorist:
www.techexplorist.com/galaxy-wide-...

- EurekAlert!
www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

- RealClearScience:
www.realclearscience.com/2026/01/09/a...

Paper link:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Releases:
- Keck: keckobservatory.org/vv340a/
- NRAO: public.nrao.edu/news/record-...
- Caltech/IPAC: www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/astrono...

Media coverage:
- @sciam.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/supe...

Kader, @justtheletteru.bsky.social et al. use multi-wavelength observations to show a precessing jet in an active galaxy is driving a gas outflow. This galactic feedback is removing enough material to affect the star formation rate.
☄️ #extragalactic #AAS247
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

This is where the paper should be made available online -- we'll try to share a version to arXiv soon after:
www.science.org/journal/scie...

We also have cross-institutional press releases that will be coming out of @keckobservatory.bsky.social , @thenrao.bsky.social, and @ucirvine.bsky.social.

This artist’s rendering illustrates a precessing jet erupting from the supermassive black hole at the center of galaxy VV 340a. Optical observations from the W. M. Keck Observatory revealed extended, cooler gas pushed outward over thousands of light-years, while infrared data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured the super-heated coronal gas near the galaxy’s core. Credit: W. M. Keck Observatory / Adam Makarenko

Led by postdoc Justin Kader, this paper features a remarkable VV340a where we found 1) the most extended super-heated [Ne V] gas known to date; 2) extended galaxy-wide [O III] gas as fossil record of past black hole activity, and 3) wobbly black hole jet as the mechanism that drives the gas outward.

📣 Today is our @science.org paper's press conference and online publication date! Print version will be out next month. The embargo on the paper will be lifted for our AAS press conference, scheduled at 10:15am MT. 🔭🧪

Here's the AAS live stream link if you're interested:
aas.org/meetings/aas...

night scene of telescopes atop a snowy mountaintop with orange laser shooting out from one of the telescope into the sky

We had an observing run on @keckobservatory.bsky.social yesterday. Despite the pessimistic forecast, @marinabianchin.bsky.social pulled through and ended up getting abundant photons from nearby galaxies using #OSIRIS #laserguidestar. This is a gorgeous shot of our laser in action from the camera 🔭

I spot a cute Roman cardigan! 😝

Thank you for all the help!! :)

Putting my travel trouble behind me, I’m looking forward to the rest of the week here in Phoenix at #AAS247! One talk done, 4 more to go:

[X] Sun pm: HWO SIG
[ ] Mon pm: Roman Town Hall
[ ] Tue am: Roman proposal splinter
[ ] Wed am: oral session
[ ] Thurs am: press conference

But I'm so pleased to have met this milestone thanks to the help from my awesome team and support from everyone in the project, and I definitely feel integrated into the Roman mission and family. Credits go to my team, mistakes are mine, and questions go to the Roman Help Desk :P

And my job description doesn't just end there -- issuing the Call for Proposals is just the beginning. There's still a review panel to run and grants to manage that will overlap with when the Cycle 2 work starts.

Given that we built this Call from scratch (since Roman is a very different mission from HST, JWST, Spitzer, etc.), I'm sure there's room for improvement. Hopefully we got some stuff right; probably we got some wrong - and I've already started a list of lessons learned and ideas for the next Cycle.

It's what my team and I have poured our hearts and souls into, and I'm so glad that it's finally out to be shared with our community.

Remember how I shared ~9 months ago that I joined @caltechipac.bsky.social as the Proposal Lead for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope? Well, we have just hit the first major milestone -- I'm pleased to announce that as of today, the Roman Cycle 1 Call for Proposal is released!

📢 PSA: Roman Cycle 1 Call for Proposal is now open!! 🚨

I'm so excited for the Roman launch currently planned for September 2026!! 🔭🧪

Still getting used to the (very) round corners of Tahoe windows...

Photo taken in air of the sun rise, city light, and a mountain top in the distance

I listened to the uber driver and switched seat to the right side window of the plane when I was leaving Mexico City. Then I got this incredible shot of not just the sunrise but the tip of what I think might be the Great Pyramid of Cholula - happy to be corrected though. Love this photo regardless.

Ooh, a loaded question 🤣 I assume it's fine for me to answer, even if the answer is a bit convoluted: The outflow is not sufficient to outpace star formation in the galaxy, but is enough to substantially reduce the gas depletion timescale. Is this satisfactory before the paper comes out? :)

Lastly (and not in line with previous happy news; just a PSA): the release of the Roman Call for Proposals is delayed due to the government shutdown. A new release date will be announced after the government reopens. Follow @nancyromansci.bsky.social for the latest news! 3/3

Also, ESO fellow Yiqing Song just submitted her paper on multi-phase outflows in a dusty galaxy with a first detection of an obscured AGN. It's a very cool system showcasing meticulously detailed analyses on fantastic data sets -- stay tuned. How did I get so lucky to work with such talents! 2/3

There's been so much going on but I'd like to take a quick pause and share the happy news that postdoc Justin Kader's paper on an exemplary precessing jet-driven galactic-scale outflow has just been accepted in Science!! Can't wait to share the results soon 🥹 1/3