Highlights from AAS Nova: 16-29 August 2015
Susanna Kohler American Astronomical Society (AAS)
AAS Nova is a new website that provides brief highlights of recently published articles from the AAS journals. Its intent is to gain broader exposure for AAS authors and to provide astronomy researchers and enthusiasts with summaries of recent, interesting research across a wide range of astronomical fields.
The following are the AAS Nova highlights from the past two weeks; follow the links to read more, or visit the AAS Nova webpage for more posts.
28 August 2015
Searching for Planets Around Pulsars
The very first exoplanets ever confirmed were found around a pulsar — but since then we’ve only found one other similar case. In this study, a team of researchers tries to figure out why.
26 August 2015
Metallicity of the Stars at the Galactic Center
This study suggests that the stars in the central parsec of our galaxy are not a single, roughly solar-metallicity population, as previously thought.
24 August 2015
Hidden Pair of Supermassive Black Holes
Could a pair of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) be lurking at the center of the galaxy Mrk 231?
21 August 2015
An Explanation for Saturn’s Hexagon
For over three decades, we’ve been gathering observations of the mysterious hexagonal cloud pattern encircling Saturn’s north pole. Now, researchers believe they have a model that can better explain its formation.
19 August 2015
Einstein@Home Finds an Elusive Pulsar
Personal-computer time volunteered through the Einstein@Home project has resulted in the discovery of a pulsar that has been hiding from observers for years.
17 August 2015
Hot-Jupiter Breakfasts Realign Stars
A new model proposes that early stellar ingestion of planets might be very common, and this can have significant effect on the snacking star.