Highlights from AAS Nova: 27 January - 9 February 2019

AAS Nova provides brief highlights of recently published articles from the AAS journals, i.e., The Astronomical Journal (AJ) and The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), ApJ Letters, and ApJ Supplements. The website's 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.

8 February 2019
Citizen Scientists Find an Unexpected Planet
In the era of big data, we often rely on computers to do sorting, searching, and analyzing. Sometimes, however, there’s just no substitute for the human eye and brain.

6 February 2019
When Stellar and Black-Hole Binaries Meet
You might think that a passing star getting ripped apart by a supermassive black hole sounds like more than enough drama. But let’s take this a step further…

5 February 2019
Seeing Double: Binary Stars in Dwarf Galaxies
Astrobites reports on why two (stars) aren’t always better than one — especially when you’re trying to track down dark matter in tiny galaxies.

4 February 2019
AAS Publishing News: What Should Astronomers Do with Their Software?
In today’s world of astronomy research, software is centrally integrated into nearly everything we do. Isn’t it time we develop a consistent system for citing and preserving it?

1 February 2019
Update on the Search for Planets with TESS
Here are some recent discoveries by NASA’s newest planet-hunting spacecraft, TESS, which launched last year.

30 January 2019
The Hunt for Enormous Early Stars
The collapse of enormous stars in our early universe may have given birth to the first supermassive black holes. But can we spot these early giants?

29 January 2019
Traits of Accreting Galaxies
Astrobites reports on the MaNGA survey’s exploration of galaxies that may have recently accreted gas.

28 January 2019
Featured Image: Detail in the Birth Environments of Planets
What do we know about the detailed structures of protoplanetary disks, the disks of gas and dust in which planets are born?