Sean D. Johnson

@seanjohnson

Extragalactic astronomer; LSA Collegiate Fellow & Assistant Professor at @michiganastro. Dog lover. Pronouns: he/him/his 🏳️‍🌈

930 Folgt821 Follower595 Posts

Bluesky

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Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· 18d

Excellent work Ann Arbor TJs, no notes.

Sign for kosher ground beef at the Ann Arbor Trader Joe’s with sign in the foreground and packaged beef in the background.

The sign has large purple text that reads “Glatt KmKosher 85/15% angus ground beef” with smaller white text below that says “make a juicy burger & top with your favorite cheese!”

The sale prices is listed as $11.99/lb” in large white text.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Jul 4

Where are my live Swift updates?!?!? No, not Taylor! (Also, this mission patch is quite something) science.nasa.gov/blogs/swift/...

Swift reboost mission path. The image has a black circle outline with a blur interior. A drawing of the Swift telescope and spacecraft is drawn in white and blue in the top left with a swift bird drawn on the open mirror cover. A large Pegasus is drawn from the bottom with head near the spacecraft and wings extending beyond the black patch border. The Pegasus is white and blue with red eyes and blue hoofs. A cowpoke with a white shirt, blue pants, blue boots, and a white hat is riding the Pegasus and lassoing the spacecraft.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Jun 10

Ah, #a2council debate watching

Anakin Skywalker “for the better, right?” meme.

Image on the top right shows Anakin zoomed out with caption reading, “I am a person of so d body and mind and I ended up in a bike lane”

Image of Padme smiling on the top right says “on a bike, right?”

Image on the bottom left shows Skywalker zoomed in, saying nothing

Image of Padme on the bottom right, no longer smiling, repeating “on a bike, right?”

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Apr 17

It’s out!

Book cover of “Assyria’s Plunder from ancient empire to modern loot by Jessie DeFrado.

The covert art is a picture of Big Ben crashing into an Assyrian palace.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Apr 16

I mean, I agree with a lot of the criticism of the OSU administration, but calling it "a football school striving to be more" is WILD. Is the NYT secretly run by the world's most rabid UMich alumns?

Screenshot of a NYT article headline.

The headline reads: A Football School Striving to Be More Keeps Dropping the Ball

Sub-headline reads: Ohio State isn't the only university in turmoil, but few others have faced so many issues lately. One lawmaker called the school "a national embarrassment.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Mar 8

Everyone in Ypsi/Ann Arbor, stop what you are doing and go to Alez Roastery now. Really good chocolates Incredible roasted nuts and seeds, including za’atar corn nuts And… FRESH KUNAFA!! Next to Ypbor F.M. and Antonio’s in Ypsi. Outstanding cuisine combo’s previously unimagined by humanity.

Fresh kunafa Nablusia with pistachio on a white and black background.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Jan 19

From UM-GPT’s image generating version. You see, the real problem with geocentric models is that they didn’t realize the Sun regularly transforms into the moon.

Image with the Earth at the center and the Moon shown in its orbit in three locations, the top, right, and bottom. The Sun is shown in the moons orbit as well, but on the left. Text at the bottom reads “full moon rises at midnight”

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Oct 24

The receipts @astromonnier.bsky.social!

Screenshot of the Magellan Baade guide camera display. An image of the guide star is shown in the top left. The seeing is labelled next to this as "fw 0.35", meaning FWHM seeing in arcseconds. The plots just below the image, abelled "tc" and "fw" show the time series measurements of the total counts and FWHM and show flat trends, indicating consistent photometric conductions and consistently excellent 0.35 arcsecond seeing.

Screenshot of the Magellan Clay guide camera display. An image of the guide star is shown in the top left. The seeing is labelled next to this as "fw 0.34", meaning FWHM seeing in arcseconds. The plots just below the image, abelled "tc" and "fw" show the time series measurements of the total counts and FWHM and show flat trends, indicating consistent photometric conductions and consistently excellent 0.35 arcsecond seeing.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Oct 16

Accidentally taught a lesson in balloon animal biology in ASTRO 102 today. Turns out, balloon animals can undergo mitosis after hibernating in liquid nitrogen!

Purple balloon animal that split into two after going in a liquid nitrogen dewar. The balloon is sitting on a wooden table with a blue insulated glove next to it.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Sep 9

Update: The President of Texas A&M, the largest public university in the US, removed the Dean of the College and Chair of the English Dept just hours after coming under right-wing political pressure because a student recorded herself interrupting a lecture’s class that included topics on gender.

Screenshot of a statement from Texas A&M President Welsh with a highlighted portions reading “As a result, I directed the provost to remove the dean and department head from their administrative positions, effective immediately.”

The full statement reads: “A statement from Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III:

I learned this afternoon that key leaders in the College of Arts and Sciences approved plans to continue teaching course content that was not consistent with the course’s published description. As a result, I directed the provost to remove the dean and department head from their administrative positions, effective immediately. Our students use the published information in the course catalog to make important decisions about the courses they take in pursuit of their degrees. If we allow different course content to be taught from what is advertised, we let our students down. When it comes to our academic offerings, we must keep our word to our students and to the state of Texas.”

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Aug 24

The only academic hothouse I have ever been in. It’s quite nice actually, and pretty sure they don’t grow words?

Image from inside a greenhouse of Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan. There is a pond in the foreground and lots of plants in the background. A glass ceiling is visible at the top of the image.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Aug 10

Hours later…

Brown and white lit up laying down on torn up boxes and paper. Her head is resting up against a partly assembled ikea table that is upside down on the floor. Instructions and a bag of screw are on the table.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Jun 29

The guy with Greyhounds who brings a very fancy camera to the dog park caught Noor getting ready for takeoff!

A red/brown and white pit mix standing in a green grass field with one front paw lifting and her ears fluttering in the air.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Apr 30

Turns out puppy can really jump and got stuck on top of our fence. We are going to need a taller one. She learned that some cats don’t move, even when worshipped, and ate six wasps. Seems happy with today’s accomplishments! Now Habibi is teaching her to play night fetch during long exposures.

A brown and white puppy crawling up to a small white cat statue. Green grass and white stone background.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Apr 7

In Dec, the vet said Dina had days left. She had other ideas. Over 3 months, we hit each bucket list item 2-3x: knafeh w/ lamb, visit by her best dog bud of 10 yrs, family visits, seeing her best bud again in MA, dog park walks, & weekly pack Shabbat. At 15, we finally said goodbye to Dina on Sat.

A white dog, Dina, laying down on a white rug while wearing pink suspenders and a pink diaper. Her face is reflected in a window. A child wearing a red bear custom with plaid ears is laying down and giving the dog a hug.

A white dog and a brown and white dog sleeping on a dog bed in a car with a water bowl in the background. The white dog, Dina, is sleeping with her head on the back of the brown dog, Habibi.

Two dogs wading in a the shallows of a river on a sunny day with green trees in the background. A white dog, Dina, is on the left and is smiling with per pink tongue sticking out. The second dog, Pickwick, is tricolor and on the right, and is looking at Dina

A person, Jessie, walking a white dog, Dina, along a path next to a river on a sunny day. Both are smiling. The person is wearing black pants and a blue fleece. Dina is wearing two blue booties, one on her front right paw and one on her back left paw. Dina’s ears are up, and mouth is open as the takes in the surroundings. There is a runner going the other way and a river in the background.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Mar 28

It was. We never got there, but were getting close, which is why they came for affirmative action. After Prop II passed, Pres. Coleman recommitted the UM to the goal while acknowledging it would be harder in the new legal environment. It's how DEI started here. Took a long time to start paying off.

Left: plot of Black and Hispanic UMich student enrollment from the late 1960's to present, showing an initially rising trend and then decreasing after court cases challenging UM's admissions program and the passage of Prop II, banning affirmative action. Right: Front page of the Daily showing then UM President Coleman vowing to put in place programs that would pursue diversity, equity and inclusion (as we refer to it now) while still complying with the new state laws banning affirmative action.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Mar 28

As they retreat from core values, university leaders don't want us asking why diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are under attack now. It is because they are working. UMich 1st-year enrollment of Black students rose from 3.5% in 2019 to 6.3% in 2024. Hispanic enrollments from 7.6% to 14.8%.

Plot showing trends in demographics of first-year students with percentages of the first-year class who self-identified as African American (red circles), Hispanic (blue squares), other reported under-represented minority groups (URM; orange pentagons), and total reported URM (black stars). All plotted categories exhibit statistically significant increases. The plot ranges from 2019 to 2024.

In particular, Black first-year enrollments increased from 3.5% in 2019 to 6.3% in 2024. Hispanic first-year enrollments increased from 7.6% in 2019 to 14.7% in 2024. Other reported URM first-year enrollments increased from 2.5% in 2019 to 3.4%. The total reported URM first-year enrollments increased from 13.6% in 2019 to 24%.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Mar 14

i.imgflip.com/9nbyva.jpg

Anikin and Padme meme with Padme asking if the department will go into receivership of grants

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Feb 23

You’re goddamned right.

Screenshot of a NYT article from May 19, 1964 headlined “Homosexuals Proid of Deviancy, Medical Academy Study Finds” by Robert Trumbull

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Feb 21

Dina and Habibi in their happy place

Two dogs sleeping in the backseat of a car on top of a dog bed. Habibi, the younger dog, brown and white hound and terror mix is sleeping facing front. Dina, the older dog white pit mix, is sleeping sideways and using Habibi as a pillow.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Feb 9

When the NYT published a bad faith piece on DEI at Michigan, they claimed it had failed, asserting that UMich student demographics are stalled. Vice Provost Chavous challenged the claims in the Michigan Chronicle. Anyway, I made a plot based on public OBP data for an upcoming talk.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Feb 8

Was doing a bit of searching to see how far in advance our research orgs are taking their compliance and google AI said the quiet part out loud.

Screenshot of google search for “STScI pronouns”. The AI overview reads “The pronouns for STScI staff members are he/him/his. However, STScI encourages the use of neutral pronouns in certain situations, such as when conducting dual-anonymous review” The first sentence highlighted in yellow.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Feb 5

The Michigan Daily: how will the university respond to the Presidents Executive orders? The President of the University of Michigan: why are you asking me?? There are like… I dunno, maybe 100,000 other people here you could ask

Screenshot of a Michigan Daily interview with UMich President Ono . The text reads:

The Daily: Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, his administration and the GOP have been vocally opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, inspiring many DEI programs to roll back plans. Chris Kolb, the vice president for government relations, shared at a Dec. 5 Board of Regents meeting that DEI programs in higher education are expected to be targeted. How will you respond to the stance toward DEI as a public institution that has held a prominent commitment to DEI since 2015?

President Ono: It’s not up to me to respond. This is an institution with 53,000 students and a similar number of employees.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Jan 23

This sure did age well.

Screenshot of an email to all students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan sent by the Provost, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at 9:21 AM on Jan. 22, 2025 with the title "University of Michigan and the incoming presidential administration".

Part of the email is highlighted in blue and reads, "Our aim, as President Santa J. Ono noted in his January 8th message, is to analyze new policies and establish a thoughtful approach for engagement with the new administration.

While emerging executive orders and legislative changes may bring uncertainty, we are committed to forging a path forward that includes working with policymakers, listening to our community and keeping our values in the foreground. As in any period of change, there will be a range of opinions and questions from our community."

The full email reads as follows:

This week marked the start of a new executive and legislative administration within the U.S. government, bringing changes to laws and policies affecting healthcare, research, education and our institution.

At the University of Michigan, we have established a process to carefully review these actions and understand their implications. This process draws on the deep expertise of the university’s leaders and stakeholders.

...[previously quoted content]...

Individual students, faculty and staff are free to exercise their right to free speech and expression. We support and encourage civil discourse, constructive debate and diverse viewpoints, which are hallmarks of any great public university.

Now and always, we will stay true to our mission. We will pursue academic excellence, advance field-defining research and dedicate ourselves to learning and teaching in ways that improve lives and make a meaningful impact in Michigan and on the world.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Jan 21

Was planning on making some bean bags with eyes to cheer up chosen family, but didn’t check the dimensions of the googly eyes… oops

Three pink and black bean bag juggling balls each with a pair of googly eyes. Googly eyes range in size from similar to ball to 2x larger. Background is a wooden table and bean bags are arranged in a triangle, each with google eyes above

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Dec 27

Not sure where to begin with this one

Screenshot of google AI overview response to the prompt “first use of gender on I’d” which begins “The first use of gender marker on an ID was in Washington DC in June 2017, when the destruct began offering a non-binary ‘X’

Also images of three includes human shapes. From to right, someone wearing a blue longsleeve shirt with a pink skirt. Then someone in a pink to and blue pants. Then someone in a blue top with a pants that are pink on the right and blue on the left.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Apr 2

Paper day! Deep MUSE data reveal large optical, [O II]-emitting nebulae around most luminous quasars at z~1. The nebulae are not correlated with quasar luminosity or radio-loudness, suggesting the gas may be common in massive halos & rendered visible by photoionization. arxiv.org/abs/2404.00088

Images of 50-100 kpc, [O II] emitting nebulae around 4 z~1 quasars.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Sep 16

We are finally done with Grey’s antibiotics. No more rage foam! It’s chicken flavored & doesn’t even taste bad (yes, I tried it). For two weeks he was happily downing it. But then Grey realized that we wanted him to eat it more than normal food and suddenly we were clearly trying to murder him.

Grey and white cat sitting on a couch and foaming at the mouth in rage over being fed a pill.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Sep 2

They neglected NJ’s Trenton Tomato Pie (my favorite regional pizza variety, Detroit style is a close 2nd) and it shows

Map of US states colored by favorite pizza style with categories of New York, Neapolitan, Chicago, Detroit, Sicilian, and Greek. NJ, where the Trenton Tomato Pie is a fav, doesn’t show any of these as being very popular.

Sean D. Johnson@seanjohnson· Aug 22

New achievement unlocked—injecting a cat with subcutaneous fluids! Honestly easier than getting Grey to swallow some meds. Vet says his blood work is already back within normal ranges and Grey is feeling well enough to sit in his favorite living dangerously spot (only if you are cat, water!)