The three issues of MNRAS (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society) for May are now out: Volume 539, Issue 1 May 2025Ali-Dib, M. Walton, C. Protoplanetary cores drove chondrule formation P. 127 staf505Anslow, R. J. Bonsor, A. Todd, Z.… Read More »Note, Paper: Bits about Bits
…see Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 It’s now Day 5 of a weeklong conference: wrapping up loose ends. Here, the less technical but no less important soft sciences. And posters; lots and lots of posters. Panel Session… Read More »2025 Planetary Defense Conference, Day 5
…see Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 And now on Day 4 of the PDC, we get to the dramatic, unlikely (and hopefully never likely in our era) part of planetary defense: mitigation. That’s action taken when the impactor has… Read More »2025 Planetary Defense Conference, Day 4
…see Day 1, Day 2 Now, in Day 3, we get into the telescopes (and one antenna) for both detection and tracking: Session 4: Near-Earth Object (NEO) DiscoveryThe Pan-STARRS Search for Near-Earth Objects: 10+ Years old and going strong… Read More »2025 Planetary Defense Conference, Day 3
…see Day 1 The last post was the first day of a big, multi-day conference: lots of pleasantries and generalities. Here now we get into some real meat of the matter. Session 1: Hypothetical Threat Exercise Technical SessionThe international… Read More »2025 Planetary Defense Conference, Day 2
The IAA’s Planetary Defense Conference for 2025 (every odd year) is now going on in Stellenbosch (basically Cape Town), South Africa. No, I am not attending, and …arrg, the program still says “preliminary.” Well, for what it’s worth, here’s the… Read More »2025 Planetary Defense Conference, Day 1
It may seem a bit early for the July Journal of Astronomical Telescopes Instruments and Systems (vol. 11 issue 3)- it’s ‘in progress’. But considering the next (October) issue is already being served on the site, I’m going to go… Read More »Note, Paper: Water-Rich Print
An ‘inhuman’-interest piece in MIT Technology Review: April 14, 2025 Robin George Andrews Meet the researchers testing the “Armageddon” approach to asteroid defense www.technologyreview.com/2025/04/14/1114306/space-nuclear-explosion-asteroid-protection-research/ Don’t accuse me of fearmongering just because I include planetary defense coverage in the wider small-body… Read More »Hammer of the ‘Don
In light of the Lucy mission’s asteroid flyby tomorrow (1:51 PM EDT), it’s time for another batch of papers from Planetary Science Journal. In volume 6: Runyon, K. D. Durda, D. D. Klein, V. et al. Methods for Experimental Planetary… Read More »Note, Paper: Pre-Flyby Write
The April Meteoritics & Planetary Science (vol. 60, #4) is finally here: Larsen, K. Krot, A. N. Wielandt, D. et al. Type B–type C CAI in a CR chondrite: Evidence for multiple melting events, gas–melt interaction, and oxygen-isotope exchange Page… Read More »Note, Paper: Hot Rock Copy