Astrobites graduate-student run outreach & science writing - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Astrobites graduate-student run outreach & science writing program Ian Czekala Elisabeth Newton Courtney Dressing Sukrit Ranjan Maria Drout Nathan Sanders Chris Faesi ...on behalf of Astrobites

Introducing Astrobites Chris Faesi

Gas Accretion is Dominated by Warm Ionized Gas in Milky Way-Mass Galaxies at z ~ 0 M. Ryan Joung, Mary E. Putman, Greg L. Bryan, Ximena Fernandez, J. E. G. Peek (Columbia U) We perform high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of a Milky Way-mass galaxy in a fully cosmological setting using the adaptive mesh refinement code, Enzo, and study the kinematics of gas in the simulated galactic halo. We find that the gas inflow occurs mostly along filamentary structures in the halo. The warm-hot (10 5 K < T < 10 6 K) and hot (T > 10 6 K) ionized gases are found to dominate the overall mass accretion in the system (with dM/dt = 3-5 M_solar/yr) over a large range of distances, extending from the virial radius to the vicinity of the disk. Most of the inflowing gas (by mass) does not cool, and the small fraction that manages to cool does so primarily close to the galaxy (R <~ 20 kpc), perhaps comprising the neutral gas that may be detectable as, e.g., high-velocity clouds. The neutral clouds are embedded within larger, accreting filamentary flows, and represent only a small fraction of the total mass inflow rate. The inflowing gas has relatively low metallicity (Z/Z_solar < 0.2). The outer layers of the filamentary inflows are heated due to compression as they approach the disk. In addition to the inflow, we find high-velocity, metal-enriched outflows of hot gas driven by supernova feedback. Our results are consistent with observations of halo gas at low z. source: arxiv.org/archive/astroph

Gas Accretion is Dominated by Warm Ionized Gas in Milky Way-Mass Galaxies at z ~ 0 M. Ryan Joung, Mary E. Putman, Greg L. Bryan, Ximena Fernandez, J. E. G. Jargon alert! Peek (Columbia U) We perform high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of a Milky Way-mass galaxy in a fully cosmological setting using the adaptive mesh refinement code, Enzo, and study the kinematics of gas in the simulated galactic halo. We find that the gas inflow occurs mostly along filamentary structures in the halo. The warm-hot (10 5 K < T < 10 6 K) and hot (T > 10 6 K) ionized gases are found to dominate the overall mass accretion in the system (with dM/dt = 3-5 M_solar/yr) over a large range of distances, extending from the virial radius to the vicinity of the disk. Most of the inflowing gas (by mass) does not cool, and the small fraction that manages to cool does so primarily close to the galaxy (R <~ 20 kpc), perhaps comprising the neutral gas that may be detectable as, e.g., high-velocity clouds. The neutral clouds are embedded within larger, accreting filamentary flows, and represent only a small fraction of the total mass inflow rate. The inflowing gas has relatively low metallicity (Z/Z_solar < 0.2). The outer layers of the filamentary inflows are heated due to compression as they approach the disk. In addition to the inflow, we find high-velocity, metal-enriched outflows of hot gas driven by supernova feedback. Our results are consistent with observations of halo gas at low z. source: arxiv.org/archive/astroph

Enter: Astrobites! ...

Enter: Astrobites! Understandable title Category links Direct link to astro-ph article ...

Astrobites Mission ● Inform ○ provide daily summaries of recent papers ○ cover astronomy news ● Educate ○ provide context and technical background ○ break down the "wall of jargon" ○ research: behind-the-scenes ● Inspire ○ the next generation of scientists ○ interest in astronomy

Designed for undergraduate students... ...interested in astronomical research...

...by graduate students 28 regular authors at 15 graduate ● institutions worldwide

...by graduate students 28 regular authors at 15 graduate ● institutions worldwide including 9 at Harvard ●

astrobites.com

astrobites.com

astrobites.com COMING SOON: Astrobites Conference!

Outline 1. Founding Astrobites (Ian Czekala) 2. What is Astrobites? (Sukrit Ranjan) 3. Organization (Courtney Dressing) 4. Readership (Maria Drout) 5. Beyond the blog (Elisabeth Newton) 6. Future directions (Nathan Sanders)

Founding Astrobites Ian Czekala

● astro-ph is a preprint server for astrophysics ● graduate students are encouraged to read it daily

"[E]nterprising grad students at Harvard have [created] astrobites ... It’s aimed at undergrads, but I don’t see any reason it can’t be used by any level of professional astronomer , from undergrad to pro. " - Phil Plait

What is Astrobites? Sukrit Ranjan

Foundation: Paper Summaries ● Explicate papers ○ What's going on? ○ Why do we care? some!

Anatomy of An Astrobite ... ... ... ...

Paper summaries: Accessible Science ● Informal tone: relatable explanations ● Example: ... Supernova 1994D, via Hubble

Other Key Types of Posts ● What's going on: quick notes, current events ○ Kepler space mission extension ● What's it like: Personal Experiences Jackson Hole, WY/ESS II Conference ○ Conferences ○ Gap years ● How to get there: Career Advice ○ How to get into grad school ○ Mental Health Prof. John Johnson/Caltech/Guest Author

Organizing Astrobites Courtney Dressing

Team Organization Team Organization ●We’d love to meet in person We’d love to meet in person but we’re a little too far apart. but we're a little too far apart.

Team Organization Team Organization ●We’d love to meet in person Website Conferences Special Projects Editorial but we’re a little too far apart. Administrative Board Scheduling Glossaries Public Hiring Relations Meeting

Post Planning ●1-2 posts per day ●Chris Faesi manages the schedule ● Authors post 1-2 times per month ● All authors serve as content editors ● Some authors serve as style editors Author Content Editor Style Editor

Team Organization Post Procedure ●We’d love to meet in person but we’re a little too far apart.

Team Organization Post Content http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/ ●We’d love to meet in person but we’re a little too far apart.

Who Reads Astrobites? Maria Drout

Four Basic Questions: ● How many readers does astrobites have? ● Who are they? ● Where are they? ● How did they hear about astrobites? Assess with: ● Google Analytics ● Reader's Survey

How Many Readers?

How Many Readers? April, 2012: Pageviews: 34,000 ● Visits: 18,000 ● Unique Visitors: 10,000 ● BUT... 67% of readers access astrobites through an e-mail alert system.

Who Are They? "You guys rock! I'd love to be part of astrobites someday when I get to grad school!"

Where Are They? March - April, 2012: 76,000 visits

Where Are They? County Totals: USA: 13,800 UK: 1,800 Canada: 1,000 Germany: 700 Australia: 500 ... Maldives: 1 Qatar: 1 Namibia:1 Oct - Nov, 2011: 23,000 visits, 102 countries

Where Are They? County Totals: USA: 76,000 UK: 9,000 Canada: 8,000 Germany: 4,000 Australia: 3,000 ... Kenya: 17 Tanzania: 6 Mongolia: 5 March - April, 2012: 130,000 visits, 153 countries

How Did They Find Us?

Astrobites: Beyond the Blog Elisabeth Newton

More than a blog ● Social media ○ Engaging the community ○ Interacting more regularly ● Conferences ○ Sharing our experiences ○ Contributing in new ways ○ Advertising Astrobites, reaching undergraduates

Social Media Reddit ● Post about items that show up in the news ● Going viral: ○ Telescopes and missions ○ General interest ○ Current research in the news 30,000 ● Viewers don't become lasting readers Referrals from reddit over the last 3 months

Social Media Facebook ● Followers ○ Half international ○ 80% between the ages of 18 and 34 ● Reach 300-400 hundred daily 200 Referrals from Facebook over the last 3 months

Social Media Twitter ● 625 followers ○ Professional astronomers ○ Astronomy enthusiasts ○ Science journalists ● Diverse audience, fewer site referrals, more reach

Conferences What is it like to attend a conference? ● Contributing in new ways: live blogging, attending press conferences ● Advertising Astrobites: sharing with the community, reaching undergraduates

The Future of Astrobites Nathan Sanders

Future authorship ● Recruitment ("interest list") ● Guest posts

Astrobites spinoffs http://chembites.org

Astrobites spinoffs http://chembites.org http://astroleaks.lamost.org/

Astrobites spinoffs http://chembites.org http://astroleaks.lamost.org/ http://biobotbites.org/

Astrobites spinoffs http://chembites.org http://astroleaks.lamost.org/ http://biobotbites.org/ http://cogbites.wordpress.com/

Astrobites spinoffs http://chembites.org http://astroleaks.lamost.org/ Physbites? Pharmabites? Geobites? http://biobotbites.org/ http://cogbites.wordpress.com/

Astrobites in the classroom Article for Astronomy Education Review