This week, AAS Nova and Astrobites are attending the American Astronomical Society (AAS) winter meeting in Phoenix, AZ.
AAS Nova Editors Kerry Hensley and Susanna Kohler and AAS Media Fellow Lexi Gault will join Astrobites Media Intern Amaya Sinha along with Astrobiters Neev Shah, Drew Lapeer, Skylar Grayson, Lindsey Gordon, Bill Smith, and Niloofar Sharei to live-blog the meeting for all those who aren’t attending or can’t make it to all the sessions they’d like. We plan to cover all of the plenaries and press conferences, so follow along here on aasnova.org or on astrobites.org! You can also follow Astrobites on Bluesky at astrobites.bsky.social for more meeting content.
Where can you find us during the meeting? We’ll be at the Astrobites booth in the Exhibit Hall all week — stop by and say hello! You can also find Susanna, Kerry, and Lexi at the press conferences Monday through Thursday at 10:15 am and 2:15 pm MST. AAS press conferences are open to all attendees, and they can also be viewed on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel for anyone not attending the meeting.
Finally, you can read the currently published AAS 247 keynote speaker interviews, which were conducted by Astrobiters Neev Shah, Sowkhya Shanbhog, Sarah Stevenson, Skylar Grayson, Nathalie Korhonen Cuestas, Lindsey Gordon, Katherine Lee, and Bill Smith. Be sure to check back all week as the remainder are released!
Education, Outreach, and More at AAS 247
AAS 247 features a broad range of sessions related to education and outreach. For a comprehensive and curated list of sessions, check out this post from AAS Education Program Manager Tom Rice. Here are a few highlights (all times MST; must be logged in to aas.org for links to work correctly):
Start things off on Monday with education-related poster sessions at 9:00–10:00 am in the Exhibit Hall, then check out The National Landscape of Undergraduate Astronomy Majors session from 2:00 to 3:30 pm (organized by the AAS Education Committee). Wrap up the day with a Reception for Astronomy Educators from 7:30 to 9:00 pm.
On Tuesday, check out a panel and discussion from the AAS Working Group on Graduate Admissions, happening from 10:00 to 11:30 am. After lunch, join the special session on Disability and Accessibility in Education/Outreach from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, or hear from notable amateur astronomers in the 2:00–3:30 Promoting Professional–Amateur Collaboration in Astronomy splinter session. Be sure not to miss the 2025 AAS Education Prize Winner’s talk, “The Creating Equity in STEAM (CrEST) Experiential Learning Programs” from 3:40 to 4:30 pm. Finally, take a break from the convention center to join the public star party that the AAS Education Committee is organizing from 3:00 to 8:00 pm; don’t forget to sign up if you want to attend or help out!
Wednesday kicks off with the Bridging AAS Outreach Efforts into the 2020s and Beyond: Eclipse Efforts, Shapley Lectures, and More splinter session from 10:00 to 11:30 am. In the afternoon, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, check out a special session on Transforming Astronomy Classrooms: Active Learning in Practice by APS/AAS/AAPT Faculty Teaching Institute Alumni, or hear about astronomy-adjacent careers at the Beyond Academe: Exploring Astronomy-Powered Career Paths splinter session. End your day by learning about how to Get Involved with NASA Citizen Science during an iPoster session from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in the Exhibit Hall.
Finally, on Thursday, the 9:00–10:00 am poster session in the Exhibit Hall will feature a number of education-related sessions. Immediately following the poster session is the Non-Federal Funding Mechanisms for Undergraduate Research Programs special session, organized by the AAS Education Committee.
And remember, you can find a longer curated list of education-related sessions here!