Experts will discuss new research from NASA missions at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), on topics ranging from the universe’s early galaxies to planets outside our solar system. The meeting will take place Jan. 8-12 at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle.
Scientists and agency leaders will present the latest developments in astrophysics during various press conferences, scientific sessions, and town halls. Press conferences – highlighting results enabled by NASA missions such as the James Webb Space Telescope (also called “Webb” or “JWST”), Hubble Space Telescope, Chandra X-ray Observatory, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) – will stream live to the public on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel.
In addition to press conferences, NASA highlights for registered attendees include:
- NASA Town Hall: Monday, Jan. 9, 12:45 p.m. PST
- James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall: Monday, Jan. 9, 6:30 p.m. PST
- “NASA’s Transform to Open Science (TOPS) Initiative” Town Hall: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 12:45 p.m. PST
- Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall: Tuesday, Jan. 10, 6:30 p.m. PST
- “The Heliophysics Big Year in 2023 and 2024” Town Hall: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 12:45 p.m. PST
- Plenary and award lectures by NASA scientists discussing the Webb mission, the future of exoplanet and galaxy research, and the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission
Expert talks at the NASA Exhibit Booth throughout the week will cover topics including early galaxy, exoplanet, and solar system research with Webb; Hubble in the era of Webb; discoveries from the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) after its first year in space; updates on current and future missions; and NASA’s Year of Open Science, heliophysics, and astrobiology.
The full list of NASA meeting highlights is as follows. All times are Pacific.
Monday, Jan. 9
8:10 a.m. PST: Fred Kavli Plenary Lecture by Jane Rigby
Ballroom 6E
Jane Rigby, Webb operations project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, will present on “The Science Performance of JWST.”
10:15 a.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
Five studies highlighting galaxy research with the Webb telescope will be featured:
- “An Early Look at the Evolution of Galaxy Structure at z = 3–9 with JWST”
- “Finding Peas in the Early Universe with JWST”
- “Zooming In on the Shocked and Turbulent Intergalactic Medium in Stephan’s Quintet with JWST and ALMA”
- “A Large Number of Candidate Galaxies at z ~ 11–20 Revealed by the JWST Early Release Observations”
- “Unveiling the Dusty Hearts of Galaxies with JWST”
11:40 a.m. PST: Plenary Lecture by Jessie Christiansen
Ballroom 6E
Jessie Christiansen, of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech, will present a discussion on “Towards an Exoplanet Demographics Ladder: The Emerging Picture of Planet Populations.”
12:45 p.m. PST: NASA Town Hall
Ballroom 6E
Mark Clampin, director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, will provide a status update on NASA’s astrophysics programs.
2 p.m. PST: Great Observatories Splinter Session
Room 4C-3
Agency experts will provide a status update on NASA’s Great Observatories Maturation Program, established to lay the groundwork for science objectives, mission architecture, and key technologies for future flagship astrophysics missions.
2:15 p.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
News from NASA’s Hubble, Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the retired Compton Gamma Ray Observatory will be highlighted:
- “The Closest-Separation Confirmed Multiwavelength Dual Active Galactic Nuclei”
- “Hypermassive Neutron Stars Found in Short Gamma-ray Bursts”
6:30 p.m. PST: James Webb Space Telescope Town Hall
Ballroom 6B
Mission experts will provide a status update on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. After one year in space, with its optics performing nearly twice as well as mission requirements, Webb has already spotted some of the earliest galaxies ever observed, peered through dusty clouds to see stars forming, and provided a more detailed look at the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system than ever before.
Tuesday, Jan. 10
10:15 a.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
A new citizen science program and news from NASA’s TESS mission will be highlighted:
- “A Second Earth-Sized Planet in the Habitable Zone of the M Dwarf TOI-700”
- “Exoplanet Watch: Inviting Citizen Scientists to Observe Transiting Exoplanets”
12:45 p.m. PST: NASA’s Transform to Open Science (TOPS) Initiative Town Hall
Room 602/603
This town hall will discuss 2023 as NASA’s “Year of Open Science,” to increase access to knowledge for a more equitable, impactful, efficient scientific future.
2:15 p.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
News from NASA’s TESS mission will be highlighted: “Measuring Ages of Stars Through Their Angular Momentum.”
4:40 p.m. PST: HEAD Bruno Rossi Prize Lecture
Ballroom 6E
Zaven Arzoumanian and Keith Gendreau of NASA Goddard will present a plenary lecture on “The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer [NICER]: Astrophysics on the International Space Station.”
6:30 p.m. PST: Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Town Hall
Room 618/619
Mission experts will provide a status update on the Roman Space Telescope, which is currently in development and planned to launch no later than May 2027.
Wednesday, Jan. 11
10:15 a.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
News from Webb and the now-retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will be highlighted:
- “JWST Images of a Young Planet-Hosting Debris Disk System”
- “Nearby Earth-Sized Exoplanet Confirmed with JWST Transmission Spectrum”
- “Early Imaging Results with JWST: Young Star Formation in NGC 346”
- “Protostellar Feedback in Massive Star-Forming Regions”
12:45 p.m. PST: “The Heliophysics Big Year in 2023 and 2024” Town Hall
Room 602/603
NASA’s Heliophysics Division and the Heliophysics Citizen Science Strategic Working Group team will preview opportunities for engagement during the Heliophysics Big Year (Oct. 2023 to Dec. 2024). The Heliophysics Big Year will include two solar eclipses (annular and total) occurring in North America and end with Parker Solar Probe making its closest approach to the Sun.
2:15 p.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
News from NASA’s Hubble and Chandra will be highlighted:
- “Discovery of Three Ultra-Faint Dwarf Galaxies Beyond the Local Group”
- “Astronomers Dig Out Buried Black Holes with NASA’s Chandra”
- “The Supernova-Driven Winds of the Large Magellanic Cloud Galaxy”
- “The Structure of the Triangulum Galaxy in Stellar Populations Surveyed by the Hubble Space Telescope”
Thursday, Jan. 12
8:10 a.m. PST: Plenary Lecture by John Mather
Ballroom 6E
John Mather, Webb senior project scientist at NASA Goddard, will present a plenary lecture on “Getting JWST to space, what might we find, and what’s next?”
10:15 a.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
News from the SOFIA mission will be highlighted: “SOFIA and ALMA Investigate the Case of the Masquerading Monster in BYF 73.”
11:40 a.m. PST: Plenary Lecture by Sangeeta Malhotra
Ballroom 6E
Sangeeta Malhotra, Roman deputy program scientist for NASA Headquarters and astrophysicist at NASA Goddard, will present a plenary lecture on “Tiny Mighty Galaxies.”
2:15 p.m. PST: AAS News Conference
Room 307/308
News from NASA’s Hubble and Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescopic Array (NuSTAR) missions will be highlighted:
- “Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Analysis of Tidal Disruption Event AT 2022dsb”
- “PSR J1023+0038: The Discovery of an Ultraviolet Millisecond Pulsar”
For more information on the meeting, including press registration and the complete meeting schedule, visit:
https://aas.org/meetings/aas241
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Alise Fisher / Liz Landau
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-2546 / 202-358-0845
alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov / elizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov