Highlights from AAS Nova: 19 January – 1 February 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 two 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.

31 January 2025
Testing a Recipe for a Star Within a Star
A Thorne–Żytkow object is a star with a neutron star at its core. New work examines whether these theoretical objects could be made, as proposed, in X-ray binary systems.

29 January 2025
Monthly Roundup: Exo-Neptunes and Sub-Neptunes
The discovery of nearly 6,000 exoplanets has made it clear that not all planets in our galaxy resemble those in our solar system. Today’s Monthly Roundup introduces three studies involving planets entirely unlike our own.

28 January 2025
Stellar Express: Irregular Moon Delivery
Astrobites reports on how a star flying by the early solar system could have delivered irregular moons to the giant planets.

27 January 2025
Featured Image: Not a Supernova Remnant, But a Nova Super-Remnant
In advance of T Coronae Borealis's much-anticipated outburst, astronomers went searching for a super-remnant surrounding the system.

24 January 2025
Catching Core-Collapse Supernovae Before They Happen
What happens right before a massive star explodes violently in a supernova explosion? A recent study predicts an influx of pre-explosion observations will arise after the Vera C. Rubin Observatory turns on this summer, unlocking the mysteries surrounding massive stars’ ends.

22 January 2025
Now That’s Ingenuity: First Aircraft Measurement of Winds on Another Planet
The Ingenuity helicopter made history as the first aircraft to carry out a controlled, powered flight on another planet. Now, just over a year after its final flight, Ingenuity is still enabling more firsts.

21 January 2025
Unmasking the Little Red Dots: Active Galactic Nuclei or Not?
Astrobites reports on a deep dive into the nature of "little red dot" galaxies seen by JWST. Do they harbor active galactic nuclei, or are stars solely responsible for the extreme properties of these galaxies?

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