zyrxvo - Network

Life has a way of being busy. Even though I completed my defense two months ago and submitted my thesis one month ago, I wanted to share...

Life has a way of being busy. Even though I completed my defense two months ago and submitted my thesis one month ago, I wanted to share that I’ve completed my Doctor of Philosophy in Physics at the University of Toronto! #PhDone Thank you so much to my wonderful and fantastic advisor, @hannorein!
On to new adventures!

Given the 10^10 stars in the galaxy, a 1-in-10^4 chance is highly likely. The uniqueness of our solar system lies in forming the gas giants...

Given the 10^10 stars in the galaxy, a 1-in-10^4 chance is highly likely. The uniqueness of our solar system lies in forming the gas giants on their observed orbits. Given the likelihood of substellar flyby encounters, no solar system formation scenario should exclude them entirely.

Check out Hanno’s thread as well.
https://mastodon.social/@hannorein/113636973058064895

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While this assumes similar masses and semi-major axes to today’s gas giants, the likelihood of a flyby within 20 AU is at most 1 in 100....

While this assumes similar masses and semi-major axes to today’s gas giants, the likelihood of a flyby within 20 AU is at most 1 in 100. Thus, there’s a 1-in-10,000 chance a substellar flyby caused the solar system’s eccentricities and inclinations.

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We find that exciting the gas giants’ orbits with a substellar flyby is surprisingly efficient and certainly not like trying to find a...

We find that exciting the gas giants’ orbits with a substellar flyby is surprisingly efficient and certainly not like trying to find a needle in a haystack. In other words, assuming that Jupiter-mass objects form via collapsing gas and dust, there is a 1 in 100 chance that a flyby within 20 AU will result in a system similar to the solar system.

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In our study, we sample flyby masses from 1 Jupiter mass to 100 solar masses and consider flyby encounters within 20 AU, or the orbit of...

In our study, we sample flyby masses from 1 Jupiter mass to 100 solar masses and consider flyby encounters within 20 AU, or the orbit of Uranus.

This is novel. No other study has investigated the impact of substellar flyby objects passing this close to the Sun while the solar system is still in its primordial star cluster.

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Observation limitations restrict us from detecting objects below the stellar-substellar boundary, as they are too faint to be seen directly....

Observation limitations restrict us from detecting objects below the stellar-substellar boundary, as they are too faint to be seen directly. Consequently, the IMF distribution below the boundary is uncertain. However, extending the IMF into the substellar regime is consistent with microlensing surveys.

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The solar system formed in an open star cluster that dispersed over 10–100 Myr. Given stellar density and velocity distribution, we can...

The solar system formed in an open star cluster that dispersed over 10–100 Myr. Given stellar density and velocity distribution, we can estimate the likelihood of a flyby within a given distance from the Sun. We can also estimate the flyby object’s mass using an initial mass function (IMF).

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Consequently, the origin of the eccentricities and inclinations of the giant planets in the solar system remains a puzzle. Previous studies...

Consequently, the origin of the eccentricities and inclinations of the giant planets in the solar system remains a puzzle. Previous studies have explained these features using planet-planet interactions. However, our investigation explores the possibility of a flyby event as an explanation.

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There’s no single process that explains every solar system feature. But we can assess a process’s likelihood. Planet formation theories...

There’s no single process that explains every solar system feature. But we can assess a process’s likelihood. Planet formation theories suggest planets form from circular, coplanar protoplanetary disks. Yet, we observe planets with modest eccentricities and inclinations.

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New paper with @hannorein is submitted and on the arXiv! A substellar flyby that shaped the orbits of the giant planets.We estimate that...

New paper with @hannorein is submitted and on the arXiv! A substellar flyby that shaped the orbits of the giant planets.

We estimate that there is a 0.1% chance that a flyby has the needed characteristics — mass, distance and velocity — to account for the eccentricities and relative inclinations of the solar system’s giant planets.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.04583

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It was such a privilege to see the #Aurora last night! Living in downtown Toronto with a young family makes getting to a dark area of sky...

It was such a privilege to see the #Aurora last night! Living in downtown Toronto with a young family makes getting to a dark area of sky very difficult. The distance to #DarkSky, combined with the timing of #ClearSkies and aurora coming so far south, has made witnessing aurora even more difficult. However, everything came together yesterday and we decided to begin our #LongWeekend trip to Wasaga Beach early in the hopes of seeing them. It was not disappointing.

It feels pretty monumental to submit a draft of my PhD dissertation in preparation for my defense. 🤞 #Academia #PhD #Physics

It feels pretty monumental to submit a draft of my PhD dissertation in preparation for my defense. 🤞 #Academia #PhD #Physics

The final paper for my PhD has been submitted! I hope for a fast and positive review. Thank you for the support @hannorein!

The final paper for my PhD has been submitted! I hope for a fast and positive review. Thank you for the support @hannorein!

I updated to macOS 15 Sequoia and I come back to this permission dialog for a little utility app that **I wrote myself**. Did I use the APIs...

I updated to macOS 15 Sequoia and I come back to this permission dialog for a little utility app that **I wrote myself**. Did I use the APIs incorrectly? My app doesn’t need to find devices on local networks. All it does is periodically query a server and display the current data in the menu bar. What is going on Apple? Apple Intelligence isn’t going to stop people from rebranding macOS Sequoia as macOS Vista. #macOS

Scratch #art with my 5 year old this evening.

Scratch #art with my 5 year old this evening.

Motion across Lake Ontario #SilentSunday

Motion across Lake Ontario
#SilentSunday

Today I learned about “xallarap”.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xallarap

Today I learned about “xallarap”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xallarap

As someone who’s spent their entire PhD studying the planetary dynamics of the solar system, I’m very curious to know what this spam...

As someone who’s spent their entire PhD studying the planetary dynamics of the solar system, I’m very curious to know what this spam email is offering me.

The spam email opened with the message: "I am Amelia from [company], specializing in innovative solar systems."

Light is neither strictly a wave nor is it strictly a particle. Light is not limited by our concepts of duality. In fact, every fundamental...

Light is neither strictly a wave nor is it strictly a particle. Light is not limited by our concepts of duality. In fact, every fundamental building block of the universe behaves in this manner. In honour of International Non-Binary People's Day today, celebrate the naturally #NonBinary state of the universe.

I submitted a comment to the FCC regarding my disapproval of direct-to-cell satellites. Please consider adding your voice to help preserve...

I submitted a comment to the FCC regarding my disapproval of direct-to-cell satellites. Please consider adding your voice to help preserve the night sky and the sensitive environments of Earth’s upper atmosphere and low-Earth orbit. You can find specific details on what you can do at https://www.kesslerrebellion.com/take-action. The FCC is open to taking comments from individuals around the world, not just in the USA.

#KesslerSyndrome #Astrophotography #ClimateChange #Starlink #ASTSpaceMobile