Ryan Lynch et al 2018 ApJL 861 L24
Changing the GW-alert threshold to roughly double the number of detectable astrophysical events would increase the false-alarm rate by 5+ orders of magnitude — from 1 per 100 years to more than 1000 per year.
Yoichiro Hanaoka et al 2018 ApJ 860 142
Coronal jets extending to beyond 2 R⊙ were observed during the total solar eclipse in August 2017, suggesting that ordinary polar jets generally reach high altitudes and escape from the Sun as part of the solar wind.
Audrey Thirouin and Scott S. Sheppard 2018 AJ 155 248
Observations of 12 Plutinos over two separated years with the 4.3 m Lowell’s Discovery Channel Telescope reveal large-amplitude variation in three of their light curves, suggesting these Plutinos are contact binaries.
Wei Zhu et al 2018 ApJ 860 101
New modeling suggests that the fraction of Sun-like stars with Kepler-like planets — planets with radii Rp > R⊕ and orbital periods P < 400 days — is only ~30%, not 50% as previously indicated.
Christopher N. A. Willmer 2018 ApJS 236 47
Recent estimates are presented for the absolute magnitude of the Sun — a value that must be precisely known since the properties of other astronomical objects are described in relation to solar values.
J. Zhong et al 2018 ApJL 860 L20
First observations are reported of a rapidly evolving magnetic reconnection process in Mercury’s magnetotail by the MESSENGER spacecraft, showing the processes that may be responsible for Mercury’s dynamic magnetosphere.