Brandt Gaches

Brandt Gaches

@brandt-gaches.space

Disabled astronomer/astrochemist. Emmy Noether group leader @ University of Duisburg-Essen.

120 followers172 following140 posts

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

"heated"

CNN@cnn.com

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist political movement, during a heated exchange at a town hall. https://cnn.it/4s7r1TL

View full thread
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

The model, crucially, includes a full treatment of the rovibrational levels of molecular hydrogen and excited-state chemistry. This has enabled direct predictions relevant to high-resolution ALMA and JWST observations of these regions. Using these, we can explore important photochemistry processes!

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

I decided to finally modernize old heritage Python scripts I have into one package for protostar clusters: OcotilloPMF! Ocotillo allows the user to both sample masses from a protostellar mass function and generate synthetic clusters spatially. github.com/AstroBrandt/...

github.comGitHub - AstroBrandt/OcotilloPMF: Python package for sampling steady-state clusters of protostars.Python package for sampling steady-state clusters of protostars. - AstroBrandt/OcotilloPMF
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

The package is still in a bit of development, but everything looks like it is working. Rewriting a bunch of these things from ugly Python 2 "get it working" monolithic behemoth scripts into modern code was definitely a "learn as you go" moment - especially getting proper documentation in it..

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Also, the universities that kowtow to the Trump administration always inevitably see it come back to haunt them anyway. Placating the administration does nothing but signal that they can keep pushing and pushing and doing whatever they want.

Carrie Brown@brizzyc.bsky.social

"Coercion is coercion, even if it’s not explicit. Unwary universities could wind up ensnaring themselves while helping to legitimize the administration’s assault on academic freedom — and the Constitution." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/o...

nytimes.comOpinion | Linda McMahon’s Letter to Colleges Is a Trap (Gift Article)University presidents, don’t be fooled.
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Two weeks now since my @github.com account was randomly suspended without any information (repositories were just astrophysics research code bases). Still no communication or anything from them. The plan was to host my database on GitHub for long term stability - not sure if that is ethical now...

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Maybe this is the writing on the wall that university- or state-hosted GitLab or Bitbucket instances may be the best for academic codebases and data repositories. I am guessing GitHub will rely more and more on AI scraping to make decisions, removing any communication and support more and more.

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Finally finished the Dungeon Crawler Carl collection! Took some time to get the English hard cover first book here. And then found out that there are two different English editions sold here: one from US and one from UK that are slightly different sizes and different cover styles/textures...

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Last Friday, I tried to open a @github.com page I made for a conference of a 3D volume rendering, only to find out my account was randomly and without notice suspended. (I suspect a bot auto-flagged the plotly file due to the timing?) After filing tickets to try to get communication, they had 1/

View full thread
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

This experience really has just made me question whether @github.com can be used at all anymore reliably for open-source software or databases long-term. Without any communication or effective support, suspending accounts based on - most likely - automated detection scripts makes it unstable. 3/

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

It would seem that instead of using open-source software and databases, it is more long-term stable to use local gitlab instances or similar (I swapped the database for now to a mirror on the NRW Git). Overall, super disappointed in the lack of any support or communication!

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Last Friday, I tried to open a @github.com page I made for a conference of a 3D volume rendering, only to find out my account was randomly and without notice suspended. (I suspect a bot auto-flagged the plotly file due to the timing?) After filing tickets to try to get communication, they had 1/

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

the audacity to send an email today asking for me to share my feedback on the recently closed ticket. Again - no communication or reason as to why. This also impacted my public cross-section database, which was down until I was able to set up a mirror using a GitLab instance. 2/

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

The data vis explorer may take a bit of time to load, since the site is ~94 MB. It loads a number of 64^3 (downscaled from the model calculations) so that different molecules can be toggled between to see where they exist in the PDR front! It can also toggle the C- and H- fronts on and off, too :)

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Heading to COSPAR next week in Florence, and the weather does...not excite me. Nearly 40C every day! Hopefully the venue and my hotel have working AC...

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

The worst part about changing the morning alarm sound to Sam Reich singing the "Count the Rice" song from this past week's Game Changer on @dropout.tv is having to wait until the morning for the reaction. The best part is the "Really?!" after the realization hits first thing in the morning.

Brandt Gaches reposted

National Radio Astronomy Observatory - NSF NRAO
@thenrao.bsky.social

News You May Have Missed ⤵️ 3I/ATLAS Contains 30X More Semi-Heavy Water Than Comets In Our Solar System ALMA reveals interstellar comet’s home star system formed under far colder conditions than our own #RadioAstronomy #Astronomy #3iatlas #ALMA

public.nrao.edu3I/ATLAS Contains 30X More Semi-Heavy Water Than Comets In Our Solar System - National Radio Astronomy ObservatoryThe latest news from the NSF's National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

July is #disability Pride Month worldwide. As I progress more into my academic career, I notice time and time again that many institutions usually will only do what is minimally legally required for accessibility, and minimally regard disability in terms of diversity. 1/

View full thread
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

There is a significant and stark gap in tangible support systems for astronomers with disabilities, both socially and financially. It took until I had a more stable situation to start to feel comfortable talking about my experiences: I have (and still continue) to receive negative comments from

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

senior faculty and researchers. The protections against discrimination against disability are a great start, but also feature noticeable and easy loopholes and a lack of oversight. I also hope that during this month, my fellow astronomers with disabilities will tell some of their stories!

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

July is #disability Pride Month worldwide. As I progress more into my academic career, I notice time and time again that many institutions usually will only do what is minimally legally required for accessibility, and minimally regard disability in terms of diversity. 1/

View full thread
Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

yet to go to a conference where there were planned alternative socials that were accessible to those with physical handicaps. I've given talks at conferences where they had stages with only stairs. After most conferences, I need several days to recover and get back to normal pain levels.

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

So, I hope during this disability month, especially since it is during part of the conference season, my fellow #astronomers will take some time and ponder about how their recent conferences would be experienced by those with a wide variety of disabilities.

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

July is #disability Pride Month worldwide. As I progress more into my academic career, I notice time and time again that many institutions usually will only do what is minimally legally required for accessibility, and minimally regard disability in terms of diversity. 1/

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Far too many conferences I have been to have seemingly not had any thought or regard for those with disabilities. As someone with a physical disability, I see this in the stark lack of seating outside the rooms where talks are given. At coffee breaks, I may have to choose between being social or

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

looking at posters and sitting back down in a different room where the talks are held. It has meant constantly having to choose between doing the social excursion - which often involves significant walking (even conferences that have nature hikes as the official social!) - or staying back. I have

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

I haven't watched a great many games, but the flopping and acting in this game is almost beyond insane at this point! One player tapped another's back and he threw himself on the ground! Another had his foot grazed, and after the next step did nearly a flip! Starting to be almost a parody...

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

BlueSky #coffee people: a recent fire that impacted my flat caused too much smoke damage to my Timemore C2 grinder! So, I have to look for a replacement. Does anyone have any good recommendations for solid manual (or electric) grinders for filter strength? (There is, of course, just the C3...)

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

We had a car fire outside our house, impacting our flat this morning. I learned through this that a Mercedes hearse burns hot enough to melt/incinerate an aluminum bike, but not melt steel. The picture of our garage next to the car shows this - two ash piles from bikes in the metal garage!

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

Astronomy has a number of cursed units and conventions. While on my parental leave time, the lack of good sleep time has brought me to these new cursed units: 1 parmilliarcsec (pmc) = 1 kpc 1 parmin (pn) ~ 3438 AU 1 pardeg (pg) ~ 57 AU 1 parrad (pd) ~ 0.6421 AU Maybe this is why one needs sleep?

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

By coincidence, 1 parmin is about the distance light would travel during the requested time to return a referee report (light-anxiety-time), but sadly, this time is far from a constant, so it could only be used as a fuzzy unit at best...

Brandt Gaches reposted

Linn Boldt-Christmas
@nplinnspace.bsky.social

🔭 A cautionary tale for undergrads (and above!) using AI for #astro plots: our BSc student wanted to make a "quick" HR diagram showcasing M-dwarfs & thought some chatbot could make one and... well... ...extra credits are now offered to students who can correctly find all errors on cursedHR.png 🫠 🧪

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

It makes me quite depressed when I see a paper whose abstract looks interesting and I load up the PDF and the introduction was clearly written by an AI model . Complete with garbage or weird citations and all! Especially when I see that even the methods section seems to be written by an AI model...

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

This week I had another horrifying experience with the SOCIALIST healthcare system in Germany! I needed new crutches for long term use. It took me 6 days to get my appointment (sure 2 were the weekend and 1 was a holiday, LAZY!!). They had the audacity to charge 5€ for them! For SHAME! (!sarcasm!)

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

It took me way longer than I care to admit, but I figured out how to get the journal style of DOI links in bibliographies in #typst. A combination of weird, janky hacks into the csl and regex matching in the template, but it seems to work! (The templates will be public if/when I get the ok!)

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

The award for the most bizarre #coffee I've had yet now goes to this coffee from Concept. It actually smells of strawberry, which is a very bizarre experience. However, it is also one of the best coffees I've had in my office! Sadly, this one was a limited run, so I can't get it again!

Brandt Gaches
@brandt-gaches.space

All that can be said about the announcement can be summarized as follows...

Paul Voosen@voosen.me

NASA Administrator Isaacman just said that they will launch a fission-powered spacecraft in 2028 called "SR1 Freedom" and that it will go to Mars (!) and drop a payload of Ingenuity-class helicopters to the surface. So that's the third suprise launch for the 2028 window.