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Dr Becky Smethurst

@drbecky

Astrophysicist studying how supermassive black holes affect galaxies (s/h). I get overly enthusiastic about space (and cats) on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/drbecky

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Latest posts by Dr Becky Smethurst @drbecky

Poster outlining title and date of the Caroline Herschel Prize Lecture: Unveiling the secrets behind supermassive black holes by Dr Vicky Fawcett

Poster outlining title and date of the Caroline Herschel Prize Lecture: Unveiling the secrets behind supermassive black holes by Dr Vicky Fawcett

Excited and honoured to be giving the Caroline Herschel Prize Lecture on Thursday 20th November at the @uniofbath.bsky.social and online πŸ”­

I will be talking about all things supermassive black holes and quasars! 🌌
@royalastrosoc.bsky.social @sagencl.bsky.social

13.11.2025 10:32 πŸ‘ 55 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1

Love it! Nice work Jade

13.01.2025 15:12 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

All the best for your retirement @astromikemerri.bsky.social! And nice job as always @bradyharan.bsky.social

10.01.2025 19:44 πŸ‘ 53 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0
An astrophysicist reacts to SPACE MEMES | PART 6
An astrophysicist reacts to SPACE MEMES | PART 6 YouTube video by Dr. Becky

Want some fun in the New Year? Why not laugh at some space memes with me: youtu.be/Dj-qEjc-vdw?...

10.01.2025 19:43 πŸ‘ 143 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 0
Mike Retires from Astronomy - Sixty Symbols
Mike Retires from Astronomy - Sixty Symbols YouTube video by Sixty Symbols

End of an era πŸ’” I remember getting my copy of β€œBinney & Merrifield” aka Galactic Dynamics - THE Galaxy Evolution textbook. No grad student could go without. When I finally met Mike and he became my boss at Nottingham I never missed a chance to pop into his office to chat
youtu.be/axN5sveQ06M?...

10.01.2025 19:39 πŸ‘ 176 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats Hannah! πŸ₯³

10.01.2025 19:35 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you for collating those and sharing Julia πŸ™πŸ»

10.01.2025 19:16 πŸ‘ 13 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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JPL is one of NASA's major science and climate centersβ€”home to the Mars rovers and 1000s of people. Firefighters held back the flames at JPL’s gates, but many of our coworkers lost their homes. Here’s a thread of their public GoFundMes if you can share & support however possible:

10.01.2025 17:40 πŸ‘ 933 πŸ” 385 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 31

The @aasoffice.bsky.social will issue full registration refunds for all of our colleagues impacted by the devastating fires in CA. If you are an #AAS245 registrant and in CA standby for an email on how to request your registration. We at the AAS are heartbroken for you and ready to support.

09.01.2025 16:18 πŸ‘ 109 πŸ” 28 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 5

Thanks Ethan!

07.01.2025 17:53 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Trying to find colleagues’ reactions to the recent Seifert paper claiming they dark energy doesn’t exist and that the supernova data prefers a timescale cosmology for an upcoming video. If you know of any threads/blogs etc from cosmologists please link them below for me! πŸ™πŸ» #astronomy

07.01.2025 17:48 πŸ‘ 123 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 2
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I'm just saying... if the iPhone camera resolution continues following exponential growth, it will reach @vrubinobs.bsky.social resolution by about 2043... πŸ”­πŸ“·

07.01.2025 07:32 πŸ‘ 99 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 0

Haha people will have to wait. I’ve only been back in the office 2 days 🫠 and my own science research is distracting me from doing a deep dive for a full video

03.01.2025 19:20 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Has a new study shown DARK ENERGY doesn't exist?!
Has a new study shown DARK ENERGY doesn't exist?! YouTube video by Dr. Becky

And here’s a quick explanation to tide you over:
youtube.com/shorts/T6BKD...

03.01.2025 19:04 πŸ‘ 86 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0

Here’s the paper: academic.oup.com/mnrasl/artic...

03.01.2025 19:04 πŸ‘ 34 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I thought I was going to have a quiet return to work this week, but nope! πŸ˜… Turns out a paper was published before Christmas claiming dark energy doesn’t exist. Many of you have been asking for me to explain it and give my thoughts - it’s all coming in this month’s Night Sky News episode on 16th Jan

03.01.2025 19:04 πŸ‘ 164 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 1

As someone who does a lot of science communication, I have a lot of opinions about giving talks. The strongest one probably being: if there’s writing on your slides that you’re reading out verbatim, then what are you even there for?

03.12.2024 11:47 πŸ‘ 242 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 34 πŸ“Œ 6

So sorry to hear about your Dad Sarah. We’ll raise a glass in his honour πŸ₯‚

28.11.2024 17:31 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Yes please!

28.11.2024 12:25 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Could black holes explain dark energy AND the crisis in cosmology?! Night Sky News November 2024
Could black holes explain dark energy AND the crisis in cosmology?! Night Sky News November 2024 YouTube video by Dr. Becky

Night Sky News for November has landed! Thanks @drbecky.bsky.social!

Excellent episode as she discusses black holes and dark energy and the crisis in cosmology.

πŸ”­

21.11.2024 22:26 πŸ‘ 72 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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Eras tour time! πŸ₯³ we’re excited for Taylor Swift at Wembley

16.08.2024 15:08 πŸ‘ 133 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
FOUND in the MASS GAP: The heaviest neutron star OR the lightest black hole?
FOUND in the MASS GAP: The heaviest neutron star OR the lightest black hole? Go to https://ground.news/drbecky to read up on research and the way news interprets it for us. Sign up through my link to get 30% off unlimited access this ...

@drbecky.bsky.social discusses the mass gap between neutron stars and black holes.

Definitely worth the watch!
πŸ”­

09.02.2024 19:55 πŸ‘ 100 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I made a video about what version of the multiverse (quantum mechanics’ many worlds, or eternal inflation’s bubble universes) holds in the sci-fi show Rick & Morty. It’s fun, chock full of accessible physics, and (if I do say so myself) my best edited videoπŸ€“enjoy! #astronomy
youtu.be/mQPYXPtzUCw?...

02.02.2024 17:44 πŸ‘ 71 πŸ” 8 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
JWST rules out most likely culprit for "Crisis in Cosmology" | Night Sky News January 2024
JWST rules out most likely culprit for "Crisis in Cosmology" | Night Sky News January 2024 If you’re struggling, consider therapy with BetterHelp #ad. Click https://betterhelp.com/drbecky for a 10% discount on your first month of therapy with a cre...

Wow! A plethora of pertinent papers were discussed in Night Sky News by @drbecky.bsky.social! Soooo many!!! πŸ˜ƒ

πŸ”­

25.01.2024 21:54 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

End of an era for the little Ingenuity helicopter on Mars 😒πŸ₯Ί incredible achievement and smashed expectations #astronomy

26.01.2024 18:44 πŸ‘ 68 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
Neptune is not as blue as we all thought! - Reprocessed Voyager 2 images
Neptune is not as blue as we all thought! - Reprocessed Voyager 2 images Go to https://ground.news/drbecky to stay fully informed. Subscribe through my link to get 30% off the Vantage plan for unlimited access this month only. In ...

@drbecky.bsky.social talks a good bit about the false color images of Uranus and Neptune. Faskinating!

πŸ”­

18.01.2024 20:20 πŸ‘ 25 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

All my astro colleagues are together at #aas243 in New Orleans this week and I’ve got some serious FOMO! Good luck to everyone giving a talk, I can’t wait to read up on everything presented (plus if there’s anything people want me to highlight on my YouTube channel from AAS, let me know!)

09.01.2024 12:37 πŸ‘ 32 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 1
An Astrophysicist reacts to funny SPACE MEMES | PART 5
An Astrophysicist reacts to funny SPACE MEMES | PART 5 Become a Planet Wild member today at https://planetwild.com/drbecky/tanzania and use the code DRBECKY for your first month's subscription free on me. If you ...

A little fun for the new year... @drbecky.bsky.social looks at space memes!

Enjoy! πŸ˜ƒ
πŸŽ’πŸ”­

05.01.2024 22:12 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Good luck! πŸ‘

09.01.2024 12:34 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A crowd of people trying to get into a small conference room with a speaker at a podium in the distance

A crowd of people trying to get into a small conference room with a speaker at a podium in the distance

At some point Astronomy conferences organisers are going to learn to put the machine learning sessions in bigger rooms. AAS243 having the same problem we had at NAM2023 πŸ›°οΈ πŸ“‘

08.01.2024 17:27 πŸ‘ 28 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0