Tootfinder

The 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society #AAS247 is underway, coming with 8 press conferences - https://aas.org/meetings/aas247/press-kit#briefings - streaming on https://www.youtube.com/@AASPressOffice. There were already two yesterday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gAjRP1xLtQ about Galaxies Big and Small, covering e.g. https://public.nrao.edu/news/hidden-giants-of-the-early-universe/ / https://news.ucmerced.edu/news/2026/astronomers-reveal-hidden-activity-early-universe’s-most-massive-galaxies / https://keckobservatory.org/aas247-magaz3ne/ and https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae1584 (The First RELHIC? Cloud-9 is a Starless Gas Cloud) -> https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasas-hubble-examines-cloud-9-first-of-new-type-of-object/ / https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Cloud-9_a_new_celestial_object_found_by_Hubble / https://public.nrao.edu/news/starless-dark-matter-failed-galaxy-near-m94/.
And https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvpDVq-7h6E about Stars and Their Behavior, covering e.g. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.00470 (Betelgeuse: Detection of the Expanding Wake of the Companion Star) -> https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/cfa-scientists-detect-wake-betelgeuses-elusive-companion-star / https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/nasa-hubble-helps-detect-wake-of-betelgeuses-elusive-companion-star/ and https://aas.org/sites/default/files/2026-01/Steven and Tyler AAS Press Release.pdf and https://public.nrao.edu/news/alma-devours-cosmic-hamburger-reveals-potential-for-giant-planet-formation/

The fifth #AAS press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dHXMm3pbWU about Asteroids, Low-Mass Stars, and a Mystery from History covered the papers Lightcurves, Rotation Periods, and Colors for Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s First Asteroid Discoveries (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae2a30 with https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-record-breaking-asteroid-pre-survey and https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2601/ and https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2026-01-07-nsf-doe-vera-c-rubin-observatory-spots-record-breaking-asteroid-pre-survey), Dearth of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Suggests No Complex Life on Late M-Star Exoplanets (https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02548 with https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1LlyzaK1wTk0hnqNGRCEMNe8BZEaMMFde), A Plasma Torus around a Young Low-mass Star (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ade39a with https://carnegiescience.edu/naturally-occurring-space-weather-station-elucidates-new-way-study-habitability-planets-orbiting-m) and Barnard's mysterious star near Venus - a strange interloper noted during a satellite search (https://scicomm.xyz/@cosmos4u/115849624944298844).