[ismarc]

Considering that I'd guess the number of phd astrophysisists at under 10000, a generous 50% female ratio, and 95th percentile for level of attractiveness, we're looking at 250 potential matches, or .4%. Odds are low, but not off the charts low and only improve if there's less than 50% women. Whether awkward or not, it's not unreasonable to ask given the chances.

[tesseractive]

Ah. I didn't think about the fact that the overall pool of astrophysicists was small.