Philip J. Armitage et al 2016 ApJL 828 L2

Prompt planetesimal formation is shown to be possible early on beyond the snow line via known physical processes. This leads to a broad and massive belt of planetesimals well outside the snow line.

Bryan A. Terrazas et al 2016 ApJ 830 L12

Observations of 91 central galaxies show that quiescent galaxies host more massive black holes than star-forming galaxies, supporting the theory that AGN feedback may suppress star formation.

Stephen R. Kane et al 2016 ApJ 830 1

A list of habitable-zone (HZ) exoplanet candidates from Kepler Q1–Q17 data includes 104 candidates within the optimistic HZ and 20 candidates with radii of <2 Earth radii within the conservative HZ.

Mariah G. MacDonald et al 2016 AJ 152 105

Kepler-80, a system of five tightly spaced inner planets, is analyzed. The system is found to be long-term stable, and the four outer planets are discovered to be in a dynamically rare configuration.

Eric David Kramer and Lisa Randall 2016 ApJ 829 126

A thin dark matter disk could be discovered in the Milky Way by measuring the relationship between the midplane densities and scale heights of interstellar gas, but current models/data are inadequate.

Takashi Tsukagoshi et al 2016 ApJ 829 L35

~3-AU resolution imaging of the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya with ALMA indicates a deficit of mm-sized grains within the most prominent gap at 22 AU, suggesting an unseen planet has cleared it.