Highlights from AAS Nova: 4-17 July 2021

AAS Nova provides brief highlights of recently published articles from the AAS journals, i.e., The Astronomical Journal (AJ), The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), ApJ Letters, ApJ Supplements, The Planetary Science Journal, and Research Notes of the AAS. 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.

16 July 2021
Dynamic Desorption: A Tale of Cosmic Rays
Astrobites reports on how cosmic rays can knock molecules from the ice layers on dust grains into gas, a process known as desorption.

14 July 2021
FAST Discovery of New Distant Pulsars
The largest filled-aperture radio telescope in the world has discovered a new assortment of distant, pulsating neutron stars.

13 July 2021
The Von Trapp Family Planets: A Sixth Planet Confirmed for K2-138
Astrobites reports on the discovery of K2-138g, another sub-Neptune in K2’s most harmonious system.

12 July 2021
Featured Image: Do Planets Make Only Puffy Gaps?
In the simulated cross-section of a protoplanetary disk shown here, dust swirls around as a consequence of the recent passage of an orbiting planet.

9 July 2021
Science with a Single Merger Event
Future gravitational-wave observatories could enable us to use a single binary neutron star merger to measure the universe’s rate of expansion.

7 July 2021
Connecting the Pieces of a Black Hole Temper Tantrum
Recent observations shed light on a dramatic outburst from a black hole X-ray binary.

6 July 2021
How Do You Find the Surface of an Exoplanet? Ask Its Atmosphere!
Astrobites reports on atmospheric clues that could indirectly pinpoint the location of an exoplanet’s surface.