Highlights from AAS Nova: 15 December 2024 – 4 January 2025

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 three weeks; follow the links to read more, or visit AAS Nova for more posts. You can also sign up to receive emails each time a new post is published.

3 January 2025
Reading a Chapter of Galactic History from a Single Star
The star SOS1 is not like its neighbors — what do high-precision chemical abundances tell us about where this star might have come from?

31 December 2024
Looking Back on Astronomy in 2024 with AAS Nova
2024 has been another wonderful year for astronomy! Check out our year-end top 10 post to see what readers were most fascinated by this year.

30 December 2024
Selections from 2024: First Images of Turbulent Eddies in the Outer Corona
Using the Parker Solar Probe, researchers have collected images of turbulent eddies in the Sun's outer corona. This likely marks the first time this instability has been directly imaged so far out in the Sun's atmosphere.

27 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Sampling Shredded Stars in the Infrared
Dust might be responsible for hiding many shredded stars from view — but a new search at infrared wavelengths has revealed them at last.

26 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Which Came First, Supermassive Black Holes or Galaxies?
Researchers have proposed a new solution to a cosmic chicken-and-egg problem, suggesting a new role for supermassive black holes in the formation of stars in young galaxies.

23 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Possible Proto-Galactic Fragments in the Milky Way
Two stellar structures discovered in the Milky Way this year may be fragments of proto-galaxies that formed before our galaxy was assembled.

20 December 2024
Selections from 2024: First Unambiguous Detection of Water on an Asteroid
Researchers have spotted what might be water on asteroids before, but 2024 brought the first definitive detection.

19 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Faintest Known Milky Way Satellite Discovered
The Milky Way's faintest known satellite contains just 57 stars and has a total mass of 16 solar masses: meet Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1.

18 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Mapping Quasars Across the Universe
Need more than a million quasars for your study of large-scale structure, accretion, or black hole growth? The Quaia catalog has you covered.

17 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Earth Predicted to Gain (and Lose) a Mini-Moon
In September 2024, researchers predicted that the asteroid 2024 PT5 would soon join Earth as a short-lived "mini-moon." Today, we're giving a brief recap of how the prediction played out.

16 December 2024
Selections from 2024: Weighing the North Star
Though the North Star appears to be an unwavering single star, it's actually a variable star belonging to a triple star system. This year, researchers reported a new mass estimate for the North Star and discovered spots on its surface.