242nd meeting
Press Information
26 May 2023 (materials updated 14 June)
Contact:
Dr. Susanna Kohler
AAS Press Officer
+1 202-328-2010 x127
Dr. Kerry Hensley
AAS Deputy Press Officer
+1 202-328-2010 x138
Around 1,000 astronomers, educators, students, and journalists will gather in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from 4 to 8 June 2023 for the 242nd meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS). This joint conference with the AAS Laboratory Astrophysics Division (LAD) will feature a variety of scientific presentations, workshops, town halls, and more. Of particular interest to reporters, the AAS Press Office will also host five press conferences on the latest discoveries in astronomy, planetary sciences, space sciences, and more. Meeting hashtag: #aas242.
The venue for this summer's AAS meeting is the Albuquerque Convention Center, 401 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102. The AAS offers complimentary press registration for the meeting to bona fide working journalists and public-information officers (PIOs), as explained below.
Meeting links:
Important Preliminaries
All attendees at the meeting — including press registrants — are expected to follow our Guide to AAS Meeting Etiquette, Anti-Harassment Policy for AAS & Division Meetings & Activities, and Code of Ethics. Your participation in the meeting is taken to signify your acknowledgment that you have read these guidelines/policies and your agreement to adhere to them. Accordingly, please read them before you come to Albuquerque and abide by them once you arrive.
AAS 242 Virtual Access
All in-person and virtual attendees will have access to the online meeting platform, Engagefully, in both desktop and app form. In addition, all attendees will be able to join the AAS 242 Slack community, which will include a channel for press communications. Instructions for accessing these platforms will be sent to registrants via email before the meeting.
Press Registration
The AAS offers complimentary press registration to bona fide working journalists and PIOs. To request press registration, first check our eligibility criteria, then contact the AAS Press Office with your name and media affiliation (or “freelance” if applicable). If your eligibility is confirmed, you'll receive a special promotional code that you can use to register for the meeting the same way regular attendees do, i.e., via the AAS 242 registration page.
The press registration deadline is Wednesday, 31 May 2023. After this date, we will be unable to process your press registration to attend the meeting.
See our list of current press registrants.
Press Facilities
The AAS will operate a press office in Room 210 on Level 2 of the Albuquerque Convention Center, with working space, printer/photocopier, power strips, and internet connectivity for reporters and PIOs. Thanks to the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) for generously sponsoring the press office with refreshments for on-site press registrants!
Press office staff:
- Susanna Kohler, AAS Press Officer, +1 202-328-2010 x127
- Kerry Hensley, AAS Deputy Press Officer, +1 202-328-2010 x138
- Benjamin Cassese, AAS Media Fellow
AAS 242 Astrobites Media Intern Sumeet Kulkarni will also assist in the press office.
There will be a dedicated press interview room in San Juan Room (#22), Lower Level West Complex, Albuquerque Convention Center. Use the online signup sheet to reserve this room for use for press interviews at specific dates and times.
Press Conference Schedule, Topics & Speakers
News briefings will be held each morning and afternoon, Monday, 5 June through Tuesday, 6 June, in Room 240, on Level 2 of the Albuquerque Convention Center. An additional Seminar for Science Writers will be held the morning of Wednesday, 7 June. The press conference room will be equipped with a sound system and internet connectivity. Note that morning and afternoon briefings occur in parallel with morning and afternoon oral science sessions.
Following is the press-conference program, which remains subject to change (all times are MDT = UTC − 6 hours):
Briefing audio, slides, and video will be available via livestream to the virtual vFairs platform, where registered journalists will be able to ask questions of the presenters via text chat with an on-site press officer. The briefings will also be livestreamed to the AAS Press Office YouTube channel, where attendees will be able to view the stream but not ask questions. (See below.)
In [square brackets] under the speakers’ names are the abstract or session numbers on which their presentations are based. Next to the session number, the designation IP or V indicates whether the speaker will be presenting their press briefing in person or virtually, respectively.
All findings are embargoed until the time of presentation at the meeting. “Time of presentation” means the start time of the oral or poster session in which the paper will be given, or the start time of the corresponding press conference (if any), whichever comes first. See the complete AAS embargo policy for more information.
Note: All new discoveries are subject to confirmation by independent teams of scientists. Inclusion here does not imply endorsement by the American Astronomical Society. The AAS does not endorse individual scientific results.
Monday, 5 June 2023, 10:15 am MDT
Discoveries in Distant Galaxies (Briefing video)
Jetted and Turbulent Stellar Deaths: New LIGO-Detectable Sources of Gravitational Waves
Ore Gottlieb (Northwestern University)
[211.03] | V | Press release
Introduction to the JWST/JADES Project
Marcia Rieke (University of Arizona)
IP
The Cosmos in Its Infancy: JWST/JADES Reveals Hundreds of Galaxies at z > 8
Kevin Hainline (Steward Observatory)
[212.02] | IP | Press release
Uncovering Properties of Dwarf Galaxies in the Early Universe with JWST
Ryan Endsley (The University of Texas at Austin)
[212.05] | IP | Press release
JWST Smokes Out Organic Molecules in Early Universe
Jane Rigby (NASA Goddard SFC)
[211.06] | IP | Press release
Illuminating Star Formation in the Warped, Dusty Galaxy El Anzuelo with JWST
Patrick Kamieneski (Arizona State University)
[207.05] | IP
Monday, 5 June 2023, 2:15 pm MDT
Solar Swirls, Satellites, and Saving the Night Sky (Briefing video)
Characterizing Tornadoes on the Sun
Oana Vesa (New Mexico State University)
[103.03] | IP | Press release
ORCASat: Calibrating Earth-Based Telescopes from Space
Justin Albert (University of Victoria)
[317.02] | V | Press release
Improved Detection of Satellite Trails in Hubble Imaging
David Stark (Space Telescope Science Institute)
[304.02] | V | Press release
Flagstaff, Arizona and Coconino County Show How to Save the Night Sky for Astronomy, People, and Nature
James Lowenthal (Smith College / AAS COMPASSE Light Pollution Subcommittee)
IP | Press release
Tuesday, 6 June 2023, 10:15 am MDT
Resolving Stars and Hunting Nearby Galaxies (Briefing video)
Rare Signals from Stars in the Triangulum Galaxy
Olivia Gaunt (Tufts University)
[128.06] | V
Star Formation Triggered by an Expanding Bubble in the Nessie Nebula
Jim Jackson (Green Bank Observatory)
[410.03] | IP | Press release
X-ray Observations of a Group of Galaxies Falling into the Coma Cluster
Stephen Walker (University of Alabama in Huntsville)
[333.06] | IP | Press release
Tuesday, 6 June 2023, 2:15 pm MDT
Hot Jupiters and Hungry Black Holes (Briefing video)
Hot Jupiters Are Not as Lonely as We Thought
Songhu Wang (Indiana University)
[312.07] | IP | Press release
Radio Images of the Fastest Nova
Montana Williams (New Mexico Tech)
[109.06] | IP | Press release
First Detection of the Secondary Supermassive Black Hole in a Well-Known Binary System
Mauri Valtonen (University of Turku)
[322.03] | IP | Press release
Quantifying the Activity of Supermassive Black Holes in Cosmic Voids
Anish Aradhey (James Madison University)
[341.04] | IP | Press release
Wednesday, 7 June 2023, 10:15 am MDT
Get Ready for the North American Solar Eclipses (Briefing video)
The Great American Solar Eclipse Double-Header
Angela Speck (Univ. of Texas, San Antonio, and AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force)
IP
Where to Go for the Best Views, and How to Watch Safely
Rick Fienberg (AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force)
IP
Albuquerque Prepares for Its Day in the Sun
Jayne Aubele (New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science)
IP
From the Corona to the Heliosphere: Solar Eclipse Science & NASA’s PUNCH Mission
Craig DeForest (Southwest Research Institute; NASA’s PUNCH Mission)
IP
Ancient & Modern Sun-Watching in New Mexico and Beyond
Cherilynn Morrow (Southwest Research Institute; NASA’s PUNCH Mission)
IP
Press Conference Livestreams
Journalists (and anyone else) unable to attend the meeting in person may tune in to our livestreamed briefings via one of two methods:
- Meeting registrants may access the livestreams via Zoom links that will be provided within the vFairs platform for each press conference event. Viewers who join the livestreams via these links will be able to ask questions via a Q&A chat box.
- Non-registrants may access the livestreams via the AAS Press Office YouTube channel. Viewers here will not be able to ask questions.
After the meeting, archived webcasts will be freely available via our online archive, which links to the individual briefing videos on the AAS Press Office YouTube channel.
Press Tour to the Very Large Array
Join the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico on Thursday, 8 June 2023. This tour will be separate from the tour offered to non-press meeting registrants.
You will learn the history, mechanics, and science mission of the VLA along with receiving a primer to the science mission for the upcoming next generation Very Large Array. Depending on weather, the NRAO will offer all media tour guests an antenna climb while on the site in addition to time allocated to speak with on-site engineers, scientists, and staff. Transportation to and from the VLA, lunch, water, snacks, hard hats, and media kits are included for all participants; there is no registration cost.
The tour will leave the convention center at 10 am on Thursday morning (immediately following the closing breakfast). The drive to the VLA from Albuquerque takes approximately 2 hours, and we will spend roughly 2-3 hours on the site, so please plan to spend a full day visiting and learning more about the VLA and radio astronomy.
What to bring: Please wear closed-toe shoes (no sandals!) and long pants; these are required to participate in the antenna climb at the VLA. As June in Socorro can be either windy and chilly or very hot, we suggest bringing a jacket, a hat, and sunscreen.
Due to the antenna climb, the number of registrants allowed on this tour is limited. To express interest, please fill out the form here. If interest exceeds the number of participants allowed, members of the media will be given priority over PIOs and participation will otherwise be decided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Additional Program Highlights
Please see the 1st Media Advisory for a list of program highlights at AAS 242 that may be of interest to journalists.
For additional information, visit the AAS 242 Block Schedule, which can be filtered by session type to identify specific events of interest like Plenaries, Town Halls, or Attendee Events.
AAS on Twitter
During the meeting, the AAS Press Office will post announcements of interest to reporters on Twitter at @AAS_Press. Other AAS Twitter handles include @AAS_Office, @AAS_Policy, @AAS_Publishing, and @AASNova. Journalists (and scientists) tweeting from the meeting are encouraged to use the hashtag #aas242.
A Note on Visas and COVID-19 Restrictions for Travel to the United States
If you are an international traveler, you are responsible for determining the current COVID-19 travel restrictions and visa requirements that apply to you. Additional information is available from the US State Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you need a letter for a visa application certifying that you are registered for the meeting, please request your complimentary press registration as soon as possible; only after you complete it can the AAS Press Office send you such a letter.
AAS Press List
If you don't already receive press releases by email from the AAS Press Office, you should sign up now to guarantee that you receive future meeting advisories as well as other important announcements. To sign up for the AAS Press List at no charge, please fill out and submit the form you'll find linked from our Join the AAS Press List page. With few exceptions, only accredited journalists and PIOs are eligible to receive press releases from the AAS, as described on our press-credentials page.
