I was shocked to read in the news of the case of a lecturer at University College Dublin who has been charged with offences relating to unlawfully access of students’ personal information and use of that information to harass students. According to news reports, over 100 students were affected by these actions.
The case is still before the courts so it would not be appropriate to comment any further on it, but I hope it sets alarm bells ringing in universities everywhere about access to student information. University registry systems store personal data on each student, from home addresses and telephone numbers to photographs and confidential medical records. It has always worried me that a determined hacker could have access to very sensitive information they could use for nefarious purposes.
Higher education institutions do take data security very seriously. In the UCD case mentioned above the person concerned is alleged to have used some sort of malware to read student passwords and access personal data that way. That in itself is a criminal offence, quite apart from what this lecturer may have done with the information subsequently.
On the other hand, it does concern me greatly how much information about students may be routinely accessible by teaching staff without needing to do anything unlawful. For example, I can see no reason for lecturers to be able to access home addresses and private telephone numbers of students. The university needs to hold that information, of course, but I can see no legitimate purpose for individual lecturers to have access to it. Access to such data should be strictly limited to departmental administrators or other carefully selected staff, for use in very specific situations (e.g. emergencies). Otherwise a student database may become a stalker’s paradise.
I hope universities in Ireland and elsewhere will be sufficiently worried about this case that they will review not only the defence of their systems against unlawful access from outside, but also their policies on who inside the institution is actually allowed access to what data and why.
I’ve walked past this imposing head of St Patrick countless times since I arrived in Maynooth, seven and a half years ago, but it was only last week that I found out a bit about it.
The statue is called Naomh Patrick (Saint Patrick) and it was created by Irish sculptor Séamus Murphy. It is on public view in St Patrick’s House, Maynooth, just inside the main entrance. It is made of polished limestone and was first unveiled in 1949. Here is an old newspaper article in which the photograph on the right shows the artist beside the sculpture…
(The picture on the left seems to show the artist, on the far left, dozing off during a speech…)
So now after a half-term mid-semester study break, including one day of actual holiday, that was both pleasant and eventful it will soon be time to return to the fray, at least for 9 working days. A full week of lectures, labs and tutorials starts tomorrow but the following week end a day early, on Thursday 2nd April, because 3rd April is Good Friday. Campus is closed then, as it is on Easter Monday and there are no lectures for the rest of that week. I’ll miss a lecture on Good Friday. I’m sure the students will be distraught, but that’s the way of things.
Anyway, with the Eastertide coming in and yesterday being World Poetry Day I thought I’d share a couple of pictures (taken two days apart) of the Japanese cherry trree in my back garden along with this haiku on a theme by A.E. Housman:
Loveliest of trees? Not yet, but soon there will be Bloom along the bough...
It’s Saturday once more, so it’s time for another update of activity at the Open Journal of Astrophysics. Since the last update we have published a further eight papers, bringing the number in Volume 9 (2026) to 59 and the total so far published by OJAp up to 507. We passed the 500 mark on Monday, and the week was also notable because we once again published at least one paper each working day.
I will continue to include the posts made on our Mastodon account (on Fediscience) to encourage you to visit it. Mastodon is a really excellent service, and a more than adequate replacement for X/Twitter (which nobody should be using); these announcements also show the DOI for each paper.
The first paper to report this week is our 500th publication. The title is “The causal structure of galactic astrophysics” and the authors are Harry Desmond (U. Portsmouth, UK) and Joseph Ramsey (Carnegie Mellon U., USA). This paper was published on Monday March 16th 2026 in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies. It proposes using causal discovery, a method for inferring data structure, to better utilize information in astrophysical data, demonstrated through an algorithm applied to a large galaxy dataset.
The overlay is here:
You can find the officially accepted version on arXiv here and the announcement on Fediverse here:
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "The causal structure of galactic astrophysics" by Harry Desmond (U. Portsmouth, UK) and Joseph Ramsey (Carnegie Mellon U., USA)
The second paper for this week, also published on March 16th in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies, is “Finding the boundary: Using galaxy membership to inform galaxy cluster extent through machine learning” by Christine Hao, Stephanie O’Neil, Mark Vogelsberger, & Vinh Tran (MIT, USA), Lamiya Mowla (Wellesley College, USA) and Joshua S. Speagle (U. Toronto, Canada). This study uses neural networks and simulations to identify and map the transitional region between cluster and field galaxies, revealing it as a scattered area rather than a sharp boundary.
The overlay for this one is here:
The official version of the paper can be found on arXiv here and the Fediverse announcement here:
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Finding the boundary: Using galaxy membership to inform galaxy cluster extent through machine learning" by Christine Hao, Stephanie O'Neil, Mark Vogelsberger, & Vinh Tran (MIT, USA), Lamiya Mowla (Wellesley College, USA) and Joshua S. Speagle (U. Toronto, Canada)
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "The Manticore-Local Cluster Catalogue: A Posterior Map of Massive Structures in the Nearby Universe" by Stuart McAlpine (Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm U., Sweden)
The fourth paper this week, published on 18th March 2026 in the folder Solar and Stellar Astrophysics is “Vision-Based CNN Prediction of Sunspot Numbers from SDO/HMI Images” by Fabian C. Quintero-Pareja, Diederik A. Montano-Burbano, Santiago Quintero-Pareja & David Sierra Porta (Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia). This article describes a deep learning framework that uses convolutional neural networks to estimate daily sunspot numbers from solar images, offering a scalable and accurate method for solar monitoring.
The overlay is here:
The finally accepted version of this paper can be found here and the Mastodon announcement is here:
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Vision-Based CNN Prediction of Sunspot Numbers from SDO/HMI Images" by Fabian C. Quintero-Pareja, Diederik A. Montano-Burbano, Santiago Quintero-Pareja & David Sierra Porta (Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, Colombia)
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "RABBITS –III. Modelling relativistic accretion discs around spinning black holes in galaxy formation simulations" by Dimitrios Irodotou (ICR, London) and 8 others based in China, Korea, Belgium, France, Finland and the UK.
The sixth paper this week is “A novel algorithm for GPU-accelerated particle-mesh interactions implemented in the QUOKKA code” by Chong-Chong He (Australia National University), Benjamin D. Wibking (Michigan State U., USA), Aditi Vijayan (ANU), Mark R. Krumholz (ANU) and Pak Shing Li (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, China). This was published on Thursday 19th March in the folder Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics. The article introduces a GPU-optimized algorithm for particle-mesh interactions in hydrodynamics simulations, improving efficiency and scalability in simulations of star formation and feedback in galaxies.
The overlay is here:
The officially accepted version of this paper can be found on arXiv here, and the Mastodon announcement is here:
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "A novel algorithm for GPU-accelerated particle-mesh interactions implemented in the QUOKKA code" by Chong-Chong He (Australia National University), Benjamin D. Wibking Michigan State U., USA), Aditi Vijayan (ANU), Mark R. Krumholz (ANU) and Pak Shing Li (Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, China)
The penultimate, seventh, paper for this week is “The SEEDZ Simulations: Methodology and First Results on Massive Black Hole Seeding and Early Galaxy Growth” by Lewis Prole (NUI Maynooth, Ireland) and 15 others based in Ireland, Germany and the UK. This paper was also published on Thursday March 19th 2026 in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies. Ir presents the SEEDZ simulations, studying the formation and growth of the universe’s first massive black holes, finding that these black holes initially grow faster than their host galaxies.
The overlay for this one is here:
The official version of this paper can be found here. This is the Mastodon announcement:
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "The SEEDZ Simulations: Methodology and First Results on Massive Black Hole Seeding and Early Galaxy Growth" by Lewis Prole (NUI Maynooth, Ireland) and 15 others based in Ireland, Germany and the UK.
And finally for this week, published yesterday (Friday 20th March 2026) in the folder Astrophysics of Galaxies, we have “Planes of satellites, at once transient and persistent” by Till Sawala (University of Helsinki, Finland). This study resolves the contradiction in the lifespan of satellite systems around galaxies, showing they are short-lived but maintain spatial coherence over billions of years.
Here is the overlay for this one:
The officially accepted version can be found on arXiv here and the Mastodon announcement is here:
New Publication at the Open Journal of Astrophysics: "Planes of satellites, at once transient and persistent" by Till Sawala (University of Helsinki, Finland)
And that concludes the update for this week. Will we keep the rate up next week? Tune in next Saturday to find out!
P.S. Thank you once again to the many people who have responded to the latest call for editors. The Editorial Board has grown substantially over the last few weeks – an up-to-date version can be found here – and there are still some people waiting to get onboard, so please bear with me!
Loughcrew Cairn: for a few days on and around the Vernal Equinox the rays of the rising Sun penetrate the passage and illuminate the back stone.
Just a quick note to mention that the Vernal Equinox (Spring Equinox) in the Northern hemisphere happens this afternoon, Friday 20th March 2026, at 14.46 UTC (which is 2.46 pm local time here in Ireland. Many people in the Northern hemisphere regard the Vernal Equinox as the first day of Spring, atlhough round these parts that is taken to be 1st February (Imbolg). Of course in the Southern hemisphere, this is the Autumnal Equinox.
The date of the Vernal Equinox is often given as 21st March, but in fact it has only been on 21st March twice this century so far (2003 and 2007); it was on 20th March in 2008, has been on 20th March every spring from then until now, and will be until 2044 (when it will be on March 19th). I’ll be retired by then.
Anyway, people sometimes ask me how one can define the `equinox’ so precisely when surely it just refers to a day on which day and night are of equal length, implying that it’s a day not a specific time? The answer is that the equinox is defined by a specific event, the event in question being when the plane defined by Earth’s equator passes through the centre of the Sun’s disk (or, if you prefer, when the centre of the Sun passes through the plane defined by Earth’s equator). Day and night are not necessarily exactly equal on the equinox, but they’re the closest they get. From now until the Autumnal Equinox, days in the Northern hemisphere will be longer than nights, and the days will continue get longer until the Summer Solstice on June 21st before beginning to shorten again.
I dreamed that, as I wandered by the way, Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring, And gentle odours led my steps astray, Mixed with a sound of waters murmuring Along a shelving bank of turf, which lay Under a copse, and hardly dared to fling Its green arms round the bosom of the stream, But kissed it and then fled, as thou mightest in dream.
There grew pied wind-flowers and violets, Daisies, those pearled Arcturi of the earth, The constellated flower that never sets; Faint oxlips; tender bluebells, at whose birth The sod scarce heaved; and that tall flower that wets— Like a child, half in tenderness and mirth— Its mother's face with Heaven's collected tears, When the low wind, its playmate's voice, it hears.
And in the warm hedge grew lush eglantine, Green cowbind and the moonlight-coloured may, And cherry-blossoms, and white cups, whose wine Was the bright dew, yet drained not by the day; And wild roses, and ivy serpentine, With its dark buds and leaves, wandering astray; And flowers azure, black, and streaked with gold, Fairer than any wakened eyes behold.
And nearer to the river's trembling edge There grew broad flag-flowers, purple pranked with white, And starry river buds among the sedge, And floating water-lilies, broad and bright, Which lit the oak that overhung the hedge With moonlight beams of their own watery light; And bulrushes, and reeds of such deep green As soothed the dazzled eye with sober sheen.
Methought that of these visionary flowers I made a nosegay, bound in such a way That the same hues, which in their natural bowers Were mingled or opposed, the like array Kept these imprisoned children of the Hours Within my hand,—and then, elate and gay, I hastened to the spot whence I had come, That I might there present it!—Oh! to whom?
(This poem, also known as The Question, was first published in 1822 (the year of Shelley’s death) although it was probably written earlier, probably in 1820, while the poet was living in Italy.)
With all the excitement yesterday I missed the news that novelist Len Deighton had passed away (at the age of 97). I learnt from his obituary that he began his career as an illustrator and cartoonist, but he is far more famous as an excellent writer, especially of spy stories. The IPCRESS File (left) is one of my favourite novels in this genre.
It’s superbly written in a very down-to-earth fashion, and as a result far more credible than the more famous James Bond stories of Ian Fleming. In my opinion Deighton was a far better writer than Fleming. The IPCRESS File was in fact, Deighton’s first espionage novel, written in 1962, and the first appearance of Harry Palmer. Deighton was roughly contemporary with John le Carré though the characters of Harry Palmer and George Smiley could hardly be more different!
I found the copy shown above on my shelves and must read it again. Funeral in Berlin is another cracker, but I can’t find my copy. I probably lent it to someone and never got it back…
Well, it’s St Patrick’s Day, which means I’m on holiday. I’ll soon be toddling off to watch the parade in Maynooth, which passes quite close to my house. In accord with tradition, it’s very cold today – and not a little windy – but at least it’s not raining.
Not many facts are known about the life of St Patrick, but it seems he was born in Britain, probably in the late 4th Century AD, probably somewhere around the Severn Estuary and possibly in Wales. It also appears that he didn’t know any Latin. When a young man, it seems he was captured by Celtic marauders coming up the River Severn and taken as a slave to Ireland. He eventually escaped back to Britain, but returned to Ireland as a missionary and succeeded somehow in converting the Irish people to Christianity.
Or did he? This interesting piece suggests his role was of lesser importance than many think. On the other hand, if even a fraction of what is said about him is true, then he must have been a very remarkable man.
However it happened, Ireland was the first country to be converted to Christianity that had never been part of the Roman Empire. That made a big difference to the form of the early Irish Church. The local Celtic culture was very loose and decentralized. There were no cities, large buildings, roads or other infrastructure. Life revolved around small settlements and farms. When wars were fought they were generally over livestock or grazing land. The church that grew in this environment was quite different from that of continental Europe. It was not centralized, revolved around small churches and monasteries, and lacked the hierarchical structure of the Roman Church. Despite these differences, Ireland was well connected with the rest of the Christian world.
Irish monks – and the wonderful illuminated manuscripts they created – spread across the continent, starting with Scotland and Britain. Thanks to the attentions of the Vikings few of these works survive but the wonderful Lindisfarne Gospels, dating from somewhere in the 8th Century were almost certainly created by Irish monks. The Book of Kells was probably created in Scotland by Irish Monks.
The traffic wasn’t entirely one-way however. A while ago I saw a fascinating documentary about the Fadden More Psalter. This is a leather-bound book of Psalms found in a peat bog in 2006, which is of similar age to the Lindisfarne Gospels. It took years of painstaking restoration work to recover at least part of the text (much of which was badly degraded), but the leather binding turned out to hold a particularly fascinating secret: it was lined with papyrus. The only other books from the same period with the same structure that are known are from the Coptic Church in Egypt. That doesn’t mean that whoever owned the Fadden More Psalter had actually been to Egypt, of course. It is much more this book made its way to Ireland via a sort of relay race. On the other hand, it does demonstrate that international connections were probably more extensive than you might have thought.
Anyway, back to St Patrick’s Day.
Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th, the reputed date of his death in 461 AD. Nobody really knows where St Patrick was born,, and the when of his birth isn’t known either.
In any case, it wasn’t until the 17th Century that Saint Patrick’s feast day was placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church. Indeed, St Patrick has never been formally canonized. In the thousand years that passed any memory of the actual date of his birth was probably lost, so the choice of date was probably influenced by other factors, specifically the proximity of the Spring Equinox (which is this year on Saturday March 20th).
The early Christian church in Ireland incorporated many pre-Christian traditions that survived until roughly the 12th century, including the ancient festival of Ēostre (or Ostara), the goddess of spring associated with the spring equinox after whom Easter is named. During this festival, eggs were used a symbol of rebirth and the beginning of new life and a hare or rabbit was the symbol of the goddess and fertility. In turn the Celtic people of Ireland probably adapted their own beliefs to absorb much older influences dating back to the stone age. St Patrick’s Day and Easter therefore probably both have their roots in prehistoric traditions around the Spring Equinox, although the direct connection has long been lost.
One of the things I learnt during my sabbatical in Barcelona a couple of years ago is that un Puente (a Bridge) is a term used to describe a day in between a weekend and a public holiday. In Spain, it is quite normal to take such a day off work so as to create a long weekend. A sequence of such days is called un Aqueducte, the ideal version of which involves public holidays on Tuesday and Thursday leading to a whole week off!
Tomorrow being St Patrick’s Day (Tuesday 17th March), it is a public holiday in Ireland so I have decided to adopt Spanish practices and declared today La Puente de San Patricio. I am not going to campus (though I will be doing some work, including participating in a Euclid telecon). Officially this week is a Study Break, not a holiday (apart from tomorrow), but there are no lectures or labs or tutorials.
This reminds me to mention that I have made it to the final round of the annual St Patrick’s Day Beard of Ireland competition, which I actually won way back in 2020. The poll has been conducted mainly on Xitter in recent years, and I’ve hardly registered because I have had no presence there since 2023. This year, however, voting is possible via Bluesky (though I don’t think you have to be registered on Bluesky to vote). Last time I looked I was in the lead, but that’s by no means guaranteed to last. Here is a picture of me and my beard:
Anyway, if you feel like voting for me (or indeed any of the other candidates) you can do so here.
The views presented here are personal and not necessarily those of my employer (or anyone else for that matter).
Feel free to comment on any of the posts on this blog but comments may be moderated; anonymous comments and any considered by me to be vexatious and/or abusive and/or defamatory will not be accepted. I do not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify or agree with the opinions or statements of any information or other content in the comments on this site and do not in any way guarantee their accuracy or reliability.
In the Dark 