#xraysarethebestrays — Public Fediverse posts

It's a sad day for X-ray Astronomy: Martin Weisskopf passed away this past weekend. #Astrodon #Astronomy #XraysAreTheBestRays

It's fun how, even as a pretty senior person, you end up in research projects with PhD candidates or postdocs who assume you an expert while you panicky try to read up on what you are working on and at least understand the basics enough to be able to follow and usefully contribute.

In other news: X-ray polarization is weird.

#AcademicChatter #astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays

Back to being part of the NewAthena community science working groups: https://www.the-athena-x-ray-observatory.eu/en/athena-community

🎉 🎉 🎉
Feels good to be back (I could not be part pf the official community for a bit due to work), Athena was/is such an integral part of who I am as a scientist and where I see the future of astrophysics!

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays #astrophysics #NewAthena

It's not about numbers, but still, they play some role. Here a nice one for me: sometimes during the last week, I've passed the 4000 citations limit.

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays

@elizabethtasker only on mastodon 🙃

Looking forward to read stuff from you on xrism since #XraysAreTheBestRays ;)

A little preview of tomorrow's not-a-surprise-if-you-have-been-following-the-chandra-center surprise

#AstroDon
#XraysAreTheBestRays

(X-ray) Astronomer's mantra: we don't give up, we calibrate.

(Lovely statement from a colleague... 👌)

#astrodon #xraysAreTheBestRays #astrophysics

The reason I am in Argentina

More info here: https://congresos.unlp.edu.ar/astralx/

I'm really excited to teach here - I wanted to do one of the capacity building workshops for a while.

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays #iau #cospar #astrophysics

The reason I am in Argentina

More info here: https://congresos.unlp.edu.ar/astralx/

I'm really excited to teach here - I wanted to do one of the capacity building workshops for a while.

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays #iau #cospar #astrophysics

The reason I am in Argentina

More info here: https://congresos.unlp.edu.ar/astralx/

I'm really excited to teach here - I wanted to do one of the capacity building workshops for a while.

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays #iau #cospar #astrophysics

The reason I am in Argentina

More info here: https://congresos.unlp.edu.ar/astralx/

I'm really excited to teach here - I wanted to do one of the capacity building workshops for a while.

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays #iau #cospar #astrophysics

The reason I am in Argentina

More info here: https://congresos.unlp.edu.ar/astralx/

I'm really excited to teach here - I wanted to do one of the capacity building workshops for a while.

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays #iau #cospar #astrophysics

Today's exploration: looking at "On the use of C-stat in testing models for X-ray spectra" (Kaastra 17) and how to use it in Sherpa (this is a long-standing issue that I've only got to now).

https://github.com/DougBurke/sherpa-standalone-notebooks/blob/main/Kaastra17.ipynb

I expect this logic will make it into som part of CIAO for the 4.18 release, assuming we are still employed. There are improvements to this work (that is, theoretical statistical work expanding on the Kaastra 17 result, but that's for another day).

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#astronomy

In Science News:

My postdoc, Luca Ighina, just published an analysis of a VERY FASCINATING high-redshift quasar. In short, not only is it radio-loud and ___the X-ray-brightest non-blazar at these redshifts___ it seems like it just might be super-Eddington!

Press release here: https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2025/red6/

And, of course, this is a #ChandraXRay result!

#Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrodon #SciComm #XRaysAreTheBestRays

I miss my high energy astro community here who would find thie final slide of a talk absolutely amusing... 😭😭😭

#astrodon #xrism #XraysAreTheBestRays

Discovery Awaits! Highlights of the upcoming #ChandraXRay Cycle 27 Science Program. From what makes Jupiter's aurorae glow to counting black holes at the dawn of time, there's lots of science to be excited about for #NASA's Flagship X-ray astrophysics mission!
20 MB PDF: https://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/target_lists/cycle27/DiscoveryAwaits_Cyc27.pdf

(And this is a thing that I, personally, have been working on for a spell, so I'm super excited to see the document released).

#XRaysAreTheBestRays #Astrodon #Astrophysics #Astronomy

Sometimes someone sits down and does the work that everybody thinks someone should do, but nobody does, because it's not a thankful task.

My friend N. has published an amazing reference compilation that is unlikely to make it into a journal and asks not to be cited but instead to cite others - but OMG, is this useful and does it save ppl tons of work:

Hell et al.: "Frequently Used References For Atomic Data In X-ray Spectroscopy"
▶️ https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2025arXiv250617106H/abstract

#astrodon #XraysAreTheBestRays

Today's reminiscence

#Astrodon
#XraysAreTheBestRays
#astronomy

The second-hardest thing was being reminded about how my hair is thinning.

#VainNotVain
#AstroDon
#XraysAreTheBestRays

Just come back from a week of teaching people how to analyze Chandra data with CIAO.

The hardest part was coming up with fun questions for the post-lunch kahoot quiz!

#AstroDon
#XraysAreTheBestRays
#astronomy

Katie Cranmer and Nicholas Lee talking about Chandra documentation and its help desk system.

#Astrodon
#XraysAreTheBestRays

Today's meeting "What is CIAO?" being held at UMass Lowell.

#Astrodon
#XraysAreTheBestRays

A blast from the past.

Check out this X-ray image of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, taken by NASA's Einstein Observatory in 1980.

https://archive.org/details/MSFC-8003547

#Space #Astronomy #ChandraXRay #XraysAreTheBestRays

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#AstroDon
#astronomy

This workshop is made possible by a generous donation from the Heising-Simons Foundation.

I also have failed to mention the title ends in ML....

"A Journey Into X-ray Astronomy
and Data Science"

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#AstroDon
#astronomy

We are running our patented ̶g̶e̶t̶-̶r̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶c̶k̶l̶y̶ Introduction to X-ray Astronomy with Chandra workshops in person, at UMass Lowell, May 19-23 2025.

If you are an undergrad, grad student, postdoc, or other Astronomer and interested to know about the joys and tribulations of X-ray Astronomy, and what it can do for you [*], then please look at https://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/workshop/may25/index.html

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#AstroDon
#astronomy

[*] past performance is not indicative of future results

Just look at the fancy flyer

https://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/workshop/may25/flyer.pdf

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#AstroDon

Chandra/CIAO Workshop for UG/Grad students
UMass Lowell
19-23 May 2025

https://cxc.harvard.edu/ciao/workshop/may25/index.html

Be there, or miss out on all the fun.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#AstroDon

"I understand that if I fail to complete my reviews, the proposals I am associated with may be removed from consideration."

#XraysAreTheBestRays

There is no greater way of finding the typo in your document than hitting send.

A shower thought brought to you the day after the Chandra deadline, as our helpdesk sees a flurry of "can I fix this little error in my proposal" tickets.

#XraysAreTheBestRays

The latest Chandra User's Committee report has just come out, and can be found at https://cxc.cfa.harvard.edu/cdo/cuc/

Please read, as these folks do a lot to help us better serve the community, and have been **very** helpful in trying to navigate the current funding uncertainties.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Astrodon

@vicgrinberg Shouldn’t we just see skeletons of the animals?

#XraysAreTheBestRays

So, we are going to be releasing the next version of CIAO - you're one-two shop for all your X-ray astronomy analysis needs [*] - tomorrow.

I'd just like to point people to a guide written by our team:

An X-ray Data Primer: What I Wish I Knew when Starting X-ray Astronomy

https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/xray_primer.pdf

#AstroDon
#XraysAreTheBestRays

[*] unless you are doing X-ray polarimetry. Or need responses from a mission other than Chandra. Or your team has their own pipeline. Or ...

Real happy birthday to our dear XMM-Newton, who turns 25 today! I did my first paper using XMM data, and I'm glad to see that many years later folks are still getting the chance to get started with ESA's exceptional space telescope.
#ESA #Astrodon #Astrophysics #XMMNewton #Astronomy #XRaysAreTheBestRays

Real happy birthday to our dear XMM-Newton, who turns 25 today! I did my first paper using XMM data, and I'm glad to see that many years later folks are still getting the chance to get started with ESA's exceptional space telescope.
#ESA #Astrodon #Astrophysics #XMMNewton #Astronomy #XRaysAreTheBestRays

I guess I should also re-up my post https://mastodon.social/@dburke/112099531239673568 all about my Chandra Schedule viewer - try

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/browse/index.html

if you want a fancy-schmancy interactive dohickey of a website, or the classic version at

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/index.html

which is more-readable and accessible on non-desktop type systems.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I guess I should also re-up my post https://mastodon.social/@dburke/112099531239673568 all about my Chandra Schedule viewer - try

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/browse/index.html

if you want a fancy-schmancy interactive dohickey of a website, or the classic version at

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/index.html

which is more-readable and accessible on non-desktop type systems.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I guess I should also re-up my post https://mastodon.social/@dburke/112099531239673568 all about my Chandra Schedule viewer - try

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/browse/index.html

if you want a fancy-schmancy interactive dohickey of a website, or the classic version at

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/index.html

which is more-readable and accessible on non-desktop type systems.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I guess I should also re-up my post https://mastodon.social/@dburke/112099531239673568 all about my Chandra Schedule viewer - try

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/browse/index.html

if you want a fancy-schmancy interactive dohickey of a website, or the classic version at

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/index.html

which is more-readable and accessible on non-desktop type systems.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I guess I should also re-up my post https://mastodon.social/@dburke/112099531239673568 all about my Chandra Schedule viewer - try

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/browse/index.html

if you want a fancy-schmancy interactive dohickey of a website, or the classic version at

https://chandraobservatory.herokuapp.com/index.html

which is more-readable and accessible on non-desktop type systems.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I'm on my way to the start of the 25 year celebration of Chandra conference-thingamabo (I wasn't allowed to come up with the name for done reason). It's in sunny downtown Boston, so it's time to wait for a train.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I'm on my way to the start of the 25 year celebration of Chandra conference-thingamabo (I wasn't allowed to come up with the name for done reason). It's in sunny downtown Boston, so it's time to wait for a train.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I'm on my way to the start of the 25 year celebration of Chandra conference-thingamabo (I wasn't allowed to come up with the name for done reason). It's in sunny downtown Boston, so it's time to wait for a train.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I'm on my way to the start of the 25 year celebration of Chandra conference-thingamabo (I wasn't allowed to come up with the name for done reason). It's in sunny downtown Boston, so it's time to wait for a train.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

I'm on my way to the start of the 25 year celebration of Chandra conference-thingamabo (I wasn't allowed to come up with the name for done reason). It's in sunny downtown Boston, so it's time to wait for a train.

#XraysAreTheBestRays
#Chandra25

Time is running out! Abstracts are due in just over 24 hours for the #Chandra25 Symposium! To be held in Boston, MA this December, the Symposium will celebrate 25 years of Flagship X-ray science with one of NASA's Great Observatories. Further details, including abstract submission, can be found at https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/symposium_2024/

We hope to see many of you in Boston this December!
#Astronomy #Astrodon #XRaysAreTheBestRays #AstronomyConferences

Time is running out! Abstracts are due in just over 24 hours for the #Chandra25 Symposium! To be held in Boston, MA this December, the Symposium will celebrate 25 years of Flagship X-ray science with one of NASA's Great Observatories. Further details, including abstract submission, can be found at https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/symposium_2024/

We hope to see many of you in Boston this December!
#Astronomy #Astrodon #XRaysAreTheBestRays #AstronomyConferences

Time is running out! Abstracts are due in just over 24 hours for the #Chandra25 Symposium! To be held in Boston, MA this December, the Symposium will celebrate 25 years of Flagship X-ray science with one of NASA's Great Observatories. Further details, including abstract submission, can be found at https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/symposium_2024/

We hope to see many of you in Boston this December!
#Astronomy #Astrodon #XRaysAreTheBestRays #AstronomyConferences

Time is running out! Abstracts are due in just over 24 hours for the #Chandra25 Symposium! To be held in Boston, MA this December, the Symposium will celebrate 25 years of Flagship X-ray science with one of NASA's Great Observatories. Further details, including abstract submission, can be found at https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/symposium_2024/

We hope to see many of you in Boston this December!
#Astronomy #Astrodon #XRaysAreTheBestRays #AstronomyConferences

Time is running out! Abstracts are due in just over 24 hours for the #Chandra25 Symposium! To be held in Boston, MA this December, the Symposium will celebrate 25 years of Flagship X-ray science with one of NASA's Great Observatories. Further details, including abstract submission, can be found at https://cxc.harvard.edu/cdo/symposium_2024/

We hope to see many of you in Boston this December!
#Astronomy #Astrodon #XRaysAreTheBestRays #AstronomyConferences