Looking Back on a Year of Astronomy News with AAS Nova
Join us as we close out the year by looking back on some of the most-read AAS Nova highlights from 2022.
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Selections from 2022: Tracing Satellite Tracks in Survey Images
Satellites are increasingly prevalent in orbit around Earth and in our astronomical images. How has the impact of Starlink satellites changed over time, and what are the prospects for the future?
Selections from 2022: Would Changing Jupiter’s Orbit Affect Earth’s Habitability?
If the orbit of our solar system’s most massive planet were slightly different, would it make Earth more or less hospitable to life?
Selections from 2022: New Observations of a Spectacular Active Galactic Nucleus
OJ 287 is an active galactic nucleus containing one of the most massive black holes currently known. New observations give insight into its magnetic field structure and jet creation.
Selections from 2022: JWST Sees Sparkles in a Strongly Lensed Galaxy
The very first image from JWST held plenty of surprises. Researchers investigated several “sparkles” that might be individual globular clusters seen from billions of light-years away.
Selections from 2022: Prospects for Growing Crops in Asteroid Soils
The loose surface material on certain types of asteroids contains small amounts of nutrients necessary for plants. But can Earth plants really grow in space “soil”?
Selections from 2022: A Pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Astronomers found one of the most luminous known extragalactic radio pulsars, which may have previously escaped noticed due to its unusual pulse profile.
Identifying Rocks: Humans vs. Mars Rovers
Would human-collected data lead us to the same conclusions as rover-collected data? Since we can’t (yet) send human geologists to Mars, scientists used human “rovers” on Earth to find out.
Finding Ways to Catch Collapsars Making Heavy Metals
Massive stars that collapse to form black holes might be one way to make heavy metals. Now, astronomers have explored ways to identify heavy-metal creation from supernova light curves.
Dancing with the (Six) Stars: A 200-Year Story of the Castor System
Astrobites reports on a sextuple star system and efforts to measure the six stars’ masses once and for all.
Featured Image: Re-tuning Our Understanding of the Guitar Nebula
A fast-moving pulsar has created a spectacular guitar-shaped wake that astronomers have been studying for more than 25 years.
Dotting the i’s, Crossing the t’s: Follow-Up of an Exo-Venus
Fortune favors astronomers who take meticulous follow-up observations: sometimes you set out to confirm one planet candidate and end up authenticating two.