This week, Astrobites and AAS Nova are attending the American Astronomical Society (AAS) winter meeting in New Orleans, LA.
Astrobiters Ali Crisp, Pratik Gandhi, Ivey Davis, Isabella Trierweiler, Mark Popinchalk, William Lamb, Yoni Brande, Junellie Gonzalez Quiles, Briley Lewis (Astrobites Media Intern), and Ben Cassese (AAS Media Fellow), and former Astrobiters (and current AAS Nova editors Kerry Hensley and Susanna Kohler) will be live-blogging the meeting for all those who aren’t attending or can’t make all the sessions they’d like. We plan to cover all of the plenaries and press conferences, so follow along here on astrobites.org or on aasnova.org! You can also follow Astrobites on BlueSky at astrobites.bsky.social for more meeting content.
Where can you find us during the meeting? We’ll be at the Astrobites booth in the Exhibit Hall all week — stop by and say hello! We’ll also be engaged in several education and outreach activities throughout the meeting (please note that many of these links will take you to the AAS 243 block schedule; you must be logged in for the links to take you to the correct session):
Briley Lewis will give a talk during the Enhancing Learning Experience in Astronomy Courses session titled “Exploring the Effects of Astrobites Lesson Plans on Undergraduate Astronomy Students” on Wednesday, January 10, from 3:00 to 3:10 pm CST in Room 222 (program number 345.07). Briley will also be giving a presentation on Astrobites at the exhibitor theater in the Exhibit Hall on Wednesday, January 10, at 3:30 pm CST.
Junellie Gonzalez Quiles invites all meeting attendees to stop by the Rainbow Village in the Exhibit Hall throughout the week. The Rainbow Village is a collaboration between the AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (CSMA), #BlackinAstro, VanguardSTEM, and the League of Underrepresented Minoritized Astronomers (LUMA) that aims to create a gathering place for people of color and allies at AAS meetings. Stop by for support, celebration, daily discussions, and more! They’re even collecting a list of presentations by BIPOC astronomers, so you can show your support. You can learn more about the Rainbow Village and read interviews with organizers Junellie Gonzalez Quiles, Arianna Long, Ashley Walker, and Nicole Cabrera Salazar.
There are several social events associated with the Rainbow Village, including a dinner hosted by 1400 degrees on Monday from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, an AAS Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy LGBTQIA+ Meet and Greet on Monday from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, a Black in Astro networking dinner on Tuesday from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, and a CSMA meet and greet on Wednesday from 6:00 to 7:30 pm. Lastly, be sure to attend the Astronomy’s Poverty Problem session and the Effective Partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities session.
Mark Popinchalk will be representing Astronomy on Tap NYC. You can join Astronomy on Tap Tuesday, January 9, at Republic NOLA (Doors and food at 6 pm CST, event starts 7 pm CST), which aims to be the largest Astronomy on Tap yet!
Finally, you can read the currently published AAS 243 keynote speaker interviews here. Be sure to check back all week as the remainder are released!
