This week, AAS Nova and Astrobites are attending the American Astronomical Society (AAS) summer meeting in Pasadena, CA.
AAS Nova Editors Kerry Hensley and Susanna Kohler and AAS Media Fellow Lexi Gault will join Astrobites Media Intern Niloofar Sharei and Astrobiter Lucas Brown 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 in Ballroom H Monday and Tuesday at 10:15 am and 2:15 pm PDT and Wednesday at 10:15 am PDT. AAS press conferences are open to all attendees, and they can also be found on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel for anyone not attending the meeting.
In addition to the usual press conferences, the AAS Press team has collaborated with Los Angeles’s own Griffith Observatory to arrange a special live recording of the Observatory’s acclaimed astronomy program, All Space Considered. This event is open to all AAS 248 attendees and will take place Wednesday, 17 June, at 2:15 pm PDT in Ballroom H. We hope to see you there!
Finally, you can read the currently published AAS 248 keynote speaker interviews, which were conducted by Astrobiters Niloofar Sharei, Amaya Sinha, Sowkhya Shanbhog, Katya Gozman, and Natalie Price. Be sure to check back all week as the remainder are released!
Education, Outreach, and More at AAS 248
AAS 248 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 Director of Education Programs Tom Rice. Here are a few highlights (all times PDT; must be logged in to aas.org for links to work correctly); note that times and locations are subject to change:
On Monday, kick off the meeting with the Astronomy Education, Outreach, and Night-Sky Stewardship iPoster session, 9:00–10:00 am in Exhibit Hall A. Wrap up your day by attending the Reception for Astronomy Educators from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in Room 107.
Tuesday morning, hear about pressing issues relating to climate change at the Special Session What Astronomers Can Do About Climate Change: Infrastructure, Education, and Communication, from 10:00 to 11:30 am in Ballroom G. That afternoon from 2:00 to 3:30 pm, tune in to the Pathways into Modern Space Science oral session in Ballroom C.
On Wednesday, learn how to Make Your Voice Heard as an Advocate for Science in a Special Session co-sponsored by the AAS and the American Institute of Physics from 10:00 to 11:30 am in Ballroom G. Throughout the week, check in with the League of Women Voters in the Exhibit Hall — they’ll be conducting a voter registration drive during the meeting.
Thursday, the final day of the meeting, closes with a look at a local institution in the 40 Years of Community Engagement at IPAC: Lessons Learned Special Session from 2:00 to 3:30 pm in Ballroom F.
If you’re sticking around Pasadena after the meeting, consider heading to Griffith Observatory for their open house on Saturday, 20 June, 2:00–10:00 pm, which will showcase accessible observing techniques like tactile images, 3D models, live camera feeds, and sonification.
And remember, you can find a longer curated list of education-related sessions here!