Featured Astrobites
Our latest posts
Investigating Early Populations of Galaxies with the Best Telescopes in the Universe
Galaxy clusters act like cosmic telescopes, magnifying our view of the universe. These exceptionally massive structures allow astronomers to gaze deep into the cosmos and study galaxies during early ages of the universe in fantastic detail. With the completion of the Frontier Fields survey, we can now study a population of magnified, distant galaxies like never before.
Disturbed Naps and Black Hole Mass Gaps
LIGO-Virgo open public alerts give you a chance to listen in to the latest discoveries as they happen – in real time! For instance, you can follow astronomers getting closer to figuring out where the dividing line lies between neutron stars and black holes.
Uncovering a Cosmic Matter Reservoir
Uncovering promising evidence that may reveal the location of the missing baryonic matter in the universe.
FRB 121102 CHIMEs in Again
Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are a newer and somewhat mysterious phenomenon in radio astronomy. This paper details how the authors used a new instrument called CHIME/FRB to observe and put new constraints on FRB 121102, one of the few FRBs known to repeatedly send signals.
It Takes Two to Tango: Eclipsing White Dwarfs Push General Relativity to its Limit
The Zwicky Transient Factory (ZTF) observes the entire northern sky and collects data on as many stars as possible. Combing through the light curves of 20 million stars with periodic changes in brightness, the authors of today’s paper found a hidden gem called ZTF J1539+5027, an eclipsing white dwarf binary with an orbital period of only 6.91 minutes.
Using a Random Forest to Classify ASAS-SN Variable Stars
ASAS-SN searches for supernova and finds variable stars too! They found so many (~90,000) that they decided to classify them all. How do you go about classifying 90,000 things? Machine learning, of course!
Beyond astro-ph
Astronomy beyond the research
You should get Twitter…for science!
If you’ve been to a conference, you’ve probably seen a Twitter handle on someone’s poster. Come find out why that is, and learn about other ways we can use Twitter in astro!
Astrobites at AAS 235: Day 4
We report on Day 4 of the winter AAS meeting in Honolulu, HI.
Astrobites at AAS 235: Day 3
We report on Day 3 of the winter AAS meeting in Honolulu, HI. Highlights include
Navigating careers in astronomy
Career advice
You should get Twitter…for science!
If you’ve been to a conference, you’ve probably seen a Twitter handle on someone’s poster. Come find out why that is, and learn about other ways we can use Twitter in astro!
Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Dr. Daniel Kasen
Neutron star mergers are incredible events! Come hear Professor Daniel Kasen talk all about them on Monday, January 6th at 4:40 PM at #AAS235!
Meet the AAS Keynote Speakers: Dr. Robert Kennicutt
Professor Robert Kennicutt has been at the forefront of research on the star formation rate of galaxies for decade. Come here about his thoughts on the next decade of astronomy research at his talk on Tuesday, January 7th at 3:40 PM at #AAS235!