Highlights from AAS Nova: 11–24 January 2026

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.

23 January 2026
Getting a Peek of Kitt Peak National Observatory
A mountain top in the Arizona desert scattered with telescopes, the Kitt Peak National Observatory is home to cutting-edge research and cultural connections.

21 January 2026
JWST Follows Up on a Rare Gamma-Ray Burst
Lasting multiple hours and featuring several bursts, GRB 250702B is a rare, powerful, and unusual gamma-ray burst. What do JWST observations tell us about the host galaxy and origins of this event?

20 January 2026
Are Water Worlds Just Made of Soot?
Astrobites reports on whether the low-density planets that keep popping up in our growing collection of exoplanets are really the water worlds that we imagine them to be.

16 January 2026
Supernovae, Shocks, and Spindown: A Possible Origin Story for Ultra-Long-Period Pulsars
New research suggests that ultra-long-period pulsars might begin their lives as massive stars in close binary systems.

14 January 2026
When Winds Collide: Predicting the Effects of Stream Interaction Regions
Though less destructive than coronal mass ejections, moderate space weather events like stream interaction regions can still cause geomagnetic storms. Researchers have used machine learning to investigate the drivers behind these events.

13 January 2026
A Black Hole Egg That Forgot to Hatch
Astrobites reports on how astronomers got a closer view of the distant and mysterious little red dots.

12 January 2026
Featured Image: Galaxy Cluster in Technicolor
The CANUCS survey brought five galaxy clusters into focus, painting a portrait of galactic life in the early universe.

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