Andreas Kaufer has been appointed the new Director General of ESO (European Southern Observatory), replacing Xavier Barcons, who had served for ~8 years. Kaufer first joined ESO as the VLT (Very Large Telescope) was in preparation. Now he oversees final… Read More »Drift Into Field, Drift Out of Field (Al Nagler…)
In November 1’s issue (vol. 993 #1) of Astrophysical Journal Letters: Farnocchia, D. Vokrouhlicky, D. Santana-Ros, T. et al. Radiation Forces and Trajectory of Hayabusa2# Target 1998 KY26 L9 ae10b8Salazar Manzano, L. E. Lin, H-W. Taylor, A. G. et al.… Read More »Note, Paper: Non-Pusher
Wow, what an Icarus issue for 15 Nov (vol. 441): Wesołowski, M. Bober, Z. Ożóg, Ł. et al. Is it possible to create a realistic structure of a cometary nucleus analog in the laboratory? Art. 116646Michikami, T. Hagermann, A. Statistical… Read More »Note, Paper: Stats And Smatterings Chatterings
This week’s Science (23 Oct 2025, vol. 390, #6771) proudly features: Andy Lawrence, Interstellar visitors: Smoking and nonsmoking aec2085 Not only was this editorial commissioned by the title (the flagship title of the Science family), but it was blurbed prominently… Read More »Billions and Billions of… Not-Stars
The latest (22 Oct 2025) Science Advances (vol. 11, #43) has: Srivastava, B. Izidoro, A. The late formation of chondrites as a consequence of Jupiter-induced gaps and rings ady4823 Given what we know about planet formation (including some meteoritic evidence,… Read More »Note, Paper: Jupiter Shooting-Star Scooper
Of late, in Planetary Science Journal (all vol.6): Salazar Manzano, L. E. Gerdes, D. W. Napier, K. J. et al. Prospects of a New L5 Trojan Flyby Target for the Lucy Mission 213 adf5c2Dorsey, R. C. Hopkins, M. J. Bannister,… Read More »Note, Paper: PSJ Particle Population Post
Our interstellar friend is behind the Sun (to observers on or near Earth). Good time to recap activity (emission of coma and tail(s)) so far: Astrophysics > Earth and Planetary Astrophysics arxiv.org/abs/2510.18769[Submitted on 21 Oct 2025]Jewitt, D. Luu, J. Pre-perihelion… Read More »First-Half ATLAS Activity Track
In case you hadn’t already marked your calendar: the Rubin Users Committee will meet on Monday: https://rubinobservatory.org/events/rubin-users-committee-2025a-meeting Rubin Users Committee 2025B Meeting, Oct 27, 8 AM – 10 AM PDT This is your chance to give feedback on initial performance,… Read More »Vera Rubin Users Meeting, Monday
Just in from JGR:Planets (Journal of Geophysical Research), vol. 130, #10: Onodera, K. Ino, Y. Tanaka, Satoshi et al. Elastic Properties of Returned Samples From Asteroid (162173) Ryugu Art. e2025JE008944 2025JE008944 Short version: the authors measured the stiffness of Ryugu grains, and… Read More »Note, Paper: Small-Bod Modulus Products
Everybody’s getting in on planetary science; LPSC was the first but is no longer the only game in ‘town’. The Planetary Science Conference 2025 starts tomorrow, Krakow, Poland, until Oct 25: https://mars.uj.edu.pl/index.php/planetary-science-conference/planetary-scienceconference-2025/ As per this blog, my pick of relevant… Read More »Polish Planetary Science Conference