Roan Haggar
Gather.town id
ASR05
Poster Title
Astrobites: Blogging about astrophysics
Institution
University of Nottingham
Abstract (short summary)
Astrobites is a blog run by postgraduate students, which aims to make astronomy more accessible and approachable for undergraduates and astronomy enthusiasts. Our daily posts summarise cutting-edge research papers in clear, concise “bites”, reaching tens of thousands of visitors each month, and amassing over 750,000 views in 2020. As well as presenting contemporary research, we publish “Beyond” posts, covering topics including careers advice, commentaries on classic astronomy papers, and other astronomy news. Astrobites also takes an active role in promoting diversity within the field, such as through our #BlackInAstro series of posts, highlighting the contributions and experiences of Black astronomers. Using the Astrobites platform we aim to broaden our reach, and continue making astronomy and astrophysics as accessible as possible to everyone, regardless of their experience or background.
Plain text (extended) Summary
Astrobites is a blog run by postgraduate students, which aims to make astronomy more accessible and approachable for undergraduates and astronomy enthusiasts. Our daily posts summarise cutting-edge research papers in clear, concise “bites”, aimed at making contemporary research as accessible as possible and so broadening the appeal of astronomy.
Since its founding in December 2010, Astrobites has featured nearly 150 regular contributors posting over 2800 posts. It has continued to grow over the years, and in 2020 Astrobites received an average of 33,000 visitors per month. In total, 75,000 people visited Astrobites last year from Europe, including over 25,000 from the UK, and in our most successful month we had 115,000 page views.
Astrobites has sparked a network of "ScienceBites" sites, which post similar short posts from fields including particle physics (Particlebites), chemistry (Chembites) and immunology (Immunobites). Additionally, we publish “Beyond” posts, covering a huge range of topics including mental health, gender bias and LGBTQ+ issues.
Astrobites takes an active role in promoting diversity within the field of astronomy. Over the past decade, our aim has shifted towards making astronomy accessible in as many ways as possible, not just through “cutting out the jargon”. For example, our #BlackInAstro series of posts highlight the contributions and experiences of Black astronomers, and the ways in which racism affects their experiences. Using the Astrobites platform we aim to broaden our reach, and continue making astronomy and astrophysics as accessible as possible to everyone, regardless of their experience or background.
If you are interested in learning more about Astrobites, please get in touch with us and we will try our best to answer any questions!
Since its founding in December 2010, Astrobites has featured nearly 150 regular contributors posting over 2800 posts. It has continued to grow over the years, and in 2020 Astrobites received an average of 33,000 visitors per month. In total, 75,000 people visited Astrobites last year from Europe, including over 25,000 from the UK, and in our most successful month we had 115,000 page views.
Astrobites has sparked a network of "ScienceBites" sites, which post similar short posts from fields including particle physics (Particlebites), chemistry (Chembites) and immunology (Immunobites). Additionally, we publish “Beyond” posts, covering a huge range of topics including mental health, gender bias and LGBTQ+ issues.
Astrobites takes an active role in promoting diversity within the field of astronomy. Over the past decade, our aim has shifted towards making astronomy accessible in as many ways as possible, not just through “cutting out the jargon”. For example, our #BlackInAstro series of posts highlight the contributions and experiences of Black astronomers, and the ways in which racism affects their experiences. Using the Astrobites platform we aim to broaden our reach, and continue making astronomy and astrophysics as accessible as possible to everyone, regardless of their experience or background.
If you are interested in learning more about Astrobites, please get in touch with us and we will try our best to answer any questions!
URL
astrobites@gmail.com
Poster file