AAS - first day summaries

Sounds like the usual bustle down in Austin at the annual American Astronomical Society meeting.

Therese at "Random Thoughts of an Astro Major" is reporting for the SPS and has a good summary of the day's press releases, and links to audio of press conferences.

Phil also has his usual thorough summary of the highlights and pretty pictures.

My correspondent tells me Griffin's talk was interesting. Sounds like SIM was on the chopping block, and was saved by a Congressional earmark line. Something will give elsewhere, the word "scalpel" apparently was used.

NASA education funding is substantial but 50% earmarks, space station supply flights after shuttle are to be done by commercial flights. Essentially none such exist right now, but several are in the pipeline and may well fly in time, and there's always the Russians.

HST servicing still go, but delayed, of course. Wonder when they will run out of WFPC2 and NIC projects while waiting for COS.

Sounds like Griffin would like Aries to be a general purpose launcher, not just for exploration. Wonder what the cost will be.

So, lets see what else is going on...

Congrats to Sara for the Warner Prize.

McGrath et al are reviving the monolithic ELS scenario for rapid formation of disk galaxies in the early universe. Hmmm.

Byrd et al are pushing that NGC 4622 swings both ways - interesting puzzle, possibly theory prover, in the old sense of the word.

Gawiser, Gronwall et al have a nice press release on observing galaxy building blocks in the early universe. Somewhat contradicts McGrath et al, but of course they are looking at different blobs... I don't suppose the universe is obliged to build things using just one technique.

Star formation seen in tidal gas tails in the M82 group.
Heh, I remember this being a theory prediction 15 years ago...

VLBA has a gallery of proper motion movies of AGN jets. Cool.
MOJAVE movies.