Daniel FischerJan 6

The 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society #AAS247 is underway, coming with 8 press conferences - https://aas.org/meetings/aas247/press-kit#briefings - streaming on https://www.youtube.com/@AASPressOffice. There were already two yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gAjRP1xLtQ about Galaxies Big and Small, covering e.g. https://public.nrao.edu/news/hidden-giants-of-the-early-universe/ / https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2026/astronomers-reveal-hidden-activity-early-universe%E2%80%99s-most-massive-galaxies / https://keckobservatory.org/aas247-magaz3ne/ and https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae1584 (The First RELHIC? Cloud-9 is a Starless Gas Cloud) -> https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-examines-cloud-9-first-of-new-type-of-object/ / https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cloud-9_a_new_celestial_object_found_by_Hubble / https://public.nrao.edu/news/starless-dark-matter-failed-galaxy-near-m94/.

And https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvpDVq-7h6E about Stars and Their Behavior, covering e.g. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00470 (Betelgeuse: Detection of the Expanding Wake of the Companion Star) -> https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/cfa-scientists-detect-wake-betelgeuses-elusive-companion-star / https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-hubble-helps-detect-wake-of-betelgeuses-elusive-companion-star/ and https://aas.org/sites/default/files/2026-01/Steven%20and%20Tyler%20AAS%20Press%20Release.pdf and https://public.nrao.edu/news/alma-devours-cosmic-hamburger-reveals-potential-for-giant-planet-formation/

Show threadDaniel FischerJan 6
The third #AAS247 presser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfDmYXvBbV4 about News from the High-Redshift Universe and Local Analogs dealt with the papers The ALPINE-CRISTAL-JWST Survey: JWST/IFU Optical Observations for 18 Main-sequence Galaxies at z = 4–6 (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ae0928 with https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/young-galaxies-grow-up-fast and https://public.nrao.edu/news/young-galaxies-grow-up-fast/), A New Population of Point-like, Narrow-line Objects Revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope (https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.12177 with https://showme.missouri.edu/2026/scientists-discover-platypus-galaxies-in-the-early-universe/ and https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/scientists-identify-astronomys-platypus-with-nasas-webb-telescope/; slide), Supermassive Stars Match the Spectral Signatures of JWST's Little Red Dots (https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.12618 with https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/scientists-use-jwst-examine-ancient-monster-stars-may-reveal-birth-black-holes) and Discovery of SiC and Iron Dust around AGB Stars in the Very Metal-poor Sextans a Dwarf Galaxy with JWST: Implications for Dust Production at High Redshift & JWST Captures Growth of Aromatic Hydrocarbon Dust Particles in the Extremely Metal-poor Galaxy Sextans A (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adf06a / https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.04060 with https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasa-webb-finds-early-universe-analogs-unexpected-talent-for-making-dust/).
Show threadDaniel Fischer
The fourth #AAS247 press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZmP4fC07-Q about The Milky Way and Stellar Explosions covered the paper Resolving the Fe K-alpha Doublet of the Galactic Center Molecular Cloud G0.11-0.11 with XRISM (https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02482), 25 years of observing the Kepler supernova remnant with Chandra (https://chandra.si.edu/photo/2026/kepler/ and https://chandra.si.edu/press/26_releases/press_010626.html and https://www.nasa.gov/missions/chandra/supernova-remnant-video-from-nasas-chandra-is-decades-in-making/) and the paper Where do stars explode in the ISM? -- The distribution of dense gas around evolved massive stars in M33 (https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.17694 with https://public.nrao.edu/news/stars-that-die-off-the-beaten-path/).
AAS 247 Press Conference: The Milky Way and Stellar Explosions

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Jan 7 at 2:10amWeb
Show threadDaniel FischerJan 7
The fifth #AAS press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dHXMm3pbWU about Asteroids, Low-Mass Stars, and a Mystery from History covered the papers Lightcurves, Rotation Periods, and Colors for Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s First Asteroid Discoveries (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae2a30 with https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-record-breaking-asteroid-pre-survey and https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2601/ and https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2026-01-07-nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory-spots-record-breaking-asteroid-pre-survey), Dearth of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Suggests No Complex Life on Late M-Star Exoplanets (https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02548 with https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LlyzaK1wTk0hnqNGRCEMNe8BZEaMMFde), A Plasma Torus around a Young Low-mass Star (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ade39a with https://carnegiescience.edu/naturally-occurring-space-weather-station-elucidates-new-way-study-habitability-planets-orbiting-m) and Barnard's mysterious star near Venus - a strange interloper noted during a satellite search (https://scicomm.xyz/@cosmos4u/115849624944298844).
AAS 247 Press Conference: Asteroids, Low-Mass Stars, and a Mystery from History

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Show threadDaniel FischerJan 7
The 6th #AAS247 press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nss3zNi5SYA about Cosmology and Galaxy Clusters discussed the lensed supernova Ares from the Vast Exploration for Nascent, Unexplored Sources (VENUS) program (https://www.stsci.edu/jwst-program-info/download/jwst/pdf/9478/), the paper PASSAGES: The Discovery of a Strongly Lensed Protocluster Core Candidate at Cosmic Noon (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/adf4d5 with https://public.nrao.edu/news/cosmic-lens-reveals-hyperactive-cradle-of-future-galaxy-cluster/), new results from the One-hundred-deg^2 DECam Imaging in Narrowbands (ODIN) survey (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ad165e) and the paper Sunyaev–Zeldovich detection of hot intracluster gas at redshift 4.3
(https://scicomm.xyz/@cosmos4u/115849463900911844 with https://public.nrao.edu/news/alma-galaxy-clusters/).
AAS 247 Press Conference: Cosmology and Galaxy Clusters

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Show threadDaniel FischerJan 9
The penultimate #AAS247 presser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiBq0KdXU9c about High Redshifts and High Energies dealt e.g. with An Unlensed Barred Spiral Before Cosmic Noon (https://www.newswise.com/articles/pitt-student-finds-familiar-structure-just-2-billion-years-after-the-big-bang and https://www.umass.edu/news/article/astronomers-find-one-oldest-barred-spiral-galaxies-universe), A precessing jet from an active galactic nucleus (https://public.nrao.edu/news/record-breaking-stream-of-super-heated-gas/ and https://keckobservatory.org/vv340a/ and https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/ecz5crtdymxrlodycogpt/AB32N_1Bh3pyI2SyzbRGkTs?rlkey=zbyz1muz40y1rh8ierpw1yfok&e=1&st=ebs24tqb&dl=0) and the papers AT2024wpp: An Extremely Luminous Fast Ultraviolet Transient Powered by Accretion onto a Black Hole & Multiwavelength Modeling of the Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient AT2024wpp (https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03337 and https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.03372 with https://docs.google.com/document/d/1foKS2AQJlWvI4_ZzUlV8pYfkyAsElzkRQ5yo82VWy4s/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0 and https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/news/articles/2026/1/6/cow and https://public.nrao.edu/news/radio-telescopes-uncover-invisible-gas-around-record-shattering-cosmic-explosion/).
AAS 247 Press Conference: High Redshifts and High Energies

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Show threadDaniel FischerJan 9
The final (8th) #AAS247 presser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFyIBkNlk5A about Active Galactic Nuclei Across the Universe covered e.g. https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/scientists-find-more-active-black-holes-dwarf-and-milky-way-sized-galaxies-cutting-through-glare and https://www.sdss.org/black-holes-flip-galaxies and https://news.ucsc.edu/2026/01/red-geyser-galaxies/ - but *the* most important announcement from this astronomy conference could well have been the philanthropic donation (!) of an optical 3.1 meter space telescope - #Lazuli, described in detail the paper https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02556 - and several large ground observatories (see https://www.schmidtsciences.org/schmidt-observatory-system/) like the #ArgusArray to the astronomical community: https://carolinastories.unc.edu/developing-the-worlds-largest-sky-survey-telescope/ and https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/eric-schmidt-will-massively-invest-in-private-telescopes-including-hubble-replacement/ and https://www.astronomy.com/science/eric-and-wendy-schmidt-to-fund-space-telescope-three-ground-based-observatories/ and https://www.space.com/space-exploration/former-ceo-of-google-spearheads-4-next-gen-telescopes-3-on-earth-and-1-in-space and https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/schmidt-sciences-announces-plan-for-lazuli-a-private-space-telescope/
AAS 247 Press Conference: Active Galactic Nuclei Across the Universe

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Show threadDaniel FischerMar 10
The privately funded large space telescope #Lazuli now has a company (SSTL) that will build the spacecraft bus and a university (UofA) building two of its three instruments: https://www.sstl.co.uk/media-hub/latest-news/2026/sstl-joins-the-eric-and-wendy-schmidt-observatory-system%E2%80%99s-lazuli and https://news.arizona.edu/news/u-build-instruments-new-space-telescope
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Show thread0xPsiJan 9
now i’m wondering if late m-dwarf systems might only get complex life if it hitchhikes in on asteroids from brighter neighbors – and if those plasma tori are actually the best spots to watch for that kind of panspermia in action.