American Astronomical Society

The AAS has had repeated requests from members for information on topics likely to be featured in the news media during and immediately after the national meetings of the Society. The most likely topics are those featured in press conferences at the meetings.

Here is a list of the press events anticipated at the Nashville meeting, along with the abstract numbers of the related papers. It is emphasized that topics are selected on the basis of what we believe is newsworthy (likely to be reported widely) and that the Society does not endorse individual scientific results nor judge their scientific significance. All times are CDT.

Monday, 26 May 2003

9:30 AM CDT Press Conference:

        DISTANT SUPERNOVAE AND WHAT THEY TELL US
        Based on abstracts:
                23.06        Probing Dark Energy with High Redshift Supernovae
                23.08        ESSENCE: Measuring the Equation of State of the Universe with Supernovae
                54.03        A New High-Redshift SN Ia Dataset that Addresses Extinction Questions in Cosmology Measurements

12:30 PM CDT Press Conference:

        AMAZING DISKS
        Based on abstracts:
                24.06    Evolution of Circumstellar Disks in Young Stellar Clusters
                24.08    X-rays from T Tauri Stars: Probing Star-Disk Interactions
                24.09    Do gas disks persist once the emission from circumstellar dust disappears?
                28.01    A Multi-year Photometric Study of IC 348: Period Changes and an Unusual Eclipse
                28.09    Nearly Edge on Silhouette Disks From the FLAMINGOS Molecular Cloud Survey

Tuesday, 27 May 2003 

10:00 AM CDT Press Conference:

            DISCOVERY OF A NEW OBJECT IN ARP 299
            Based on abstract:
                30.12    Discovery of an Obscured Supernova in Arp 299

12:30 PM CDT Press Conference:

            ROBOTIC TELESCOPES
            Based on abstract:
                38.01    Science Results and Expansion Plans for the Global Network of Astronomical Telescopes (GNAT)
                38.06    Building and operating the Automated Telescope Array for the Taiwanese-American Occultation Survey (TAOS)
                47.04    The refurbished 1.3-m Robotically Controlled Telescope at Kitt Peak

Wednesday, 28 May 2003 

10:00 AM CDT Press Conference:

            GAMMA RAY BURSTS
            Based on abstract:
                57.01    High Resolution Radio Observations of GRB
                57.02    ROTSE-III Observations of GRB 030329
                57.03    Discovery of Polarization in the Prompt Gamma-ray Emission of GRB 021206