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The faces of AAS PublishingIntroducing your new Lead Editors

AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETYAMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY

INTERSTELLAR MATTER AND THE LOCAL UNIVERSE

THE SUN AND THE HELIOSPHERE

INSTRUMENTATION, SOFTWARE,

LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS

AND DATA

HIGH-ENERGY PHENOMENA AND FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

STARS AND STELLAR PHYSICS

PLANETARY SYSTEMS AND ASTROBIOLOGY

Judith Pipher University of Rochester, New York, US

Judith’s primary research is in the area of infrared astronomy and infrared-detector-array development. With Prof. William J. Forrest, she developed over a 20 year period sensitive InSb arrays for the Spitzer Space Telescope infrared array camera, launched in August 2003. Currently their group is developing longer-wavelength arrays that can be passively cooled for space missions. Her scientific emphasis has been the study of star-forming regions. Pipher was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007 for her work in infrared-detector-array development for astronomy. She has been a Scientific Editor of The Astrophysical Journal since 2002, and has served on the Board of Trustees of USRA – the Universities Space Research Association – since April 2011; Pipher is currently Vice-President of the Board.

Article picks:

1. A spitzer view of the giant molecular cloud Mon OB1 East/NGC 2264, V. A. Rapson et al 2014 ApJ 794 124

2. The Off-Nuclear Starbursts in NGC 4038/4039 (The Antennae Galaxies), Z. Wang et al 2004 ApJS 154 193

3. A structural analysis of star-forming region AFGL 490, L. C. Masiunas et al 2012 ApJ 752 127

Chris Lintott Oxford University, UK

@chrislintott

Chris Lintott is a professor of astrophysics at the University of Oxford, where he is also a research fellow at New College. As Principal Investigator of the Zooniverse, he leads a team who run the world’s most successful citizen science projects, including Galaxy Zoo and Planet Hunters, work for which he was awarded the AAS’ Tinsley Prize. His own research focuses on problems of galaxy formation, and on resolving the data problems presented by the next generation of astronomical surveys. He is part of the ‘brains trust’ behind the dotAstronomy series of conferences, which bring together those using the web for astronomical research and outreach. A passionate advocate of the public understanding of science, he is the co-presenter of the BBC’s long running Sky at Night program and the author, with Queen guitarist Brian May and Sir Patrick Moore of two books, both available in more than 13 languages.

Article picks:

1. yt: A multi-code analysis toolkit for astrophysical simulation data, Matthew J. Turk et al 2011 ApJS 192 9

2. Three-dimensional Radiation Transfer in Young Stellar Object, B. A. Whitney et al 2013 ApJS 207 30

3. Astropy: A community Python package for astronomy, The Astropy Collaboration, Thomas P. Robitaille et al 2013 A&A 558 A33

Leon Golub Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Massachusetts, US

Leon Golub is Senior Astrophysicist in the High Energy Division at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. He specializes in studies of solar and stellar magnetic activity, and has built numerous rocket and satellite instruments to study the Sun and its dynamic behavior.

He has published two books in this field, The Solar Corona and Nearest Star: The Surprising Science of our Sun, both with Jay M. Pasachoff.

Article picks:

1. How gas-dynamic flare models powered by Petschek reconnection differ from those with ad hoc energy sources, D. W. Longcope and J. A. Klimchuk 2015 ApJ 813 131

2. Thermalization of heavy ions in the solar wind, Patrick J. Tracy et al 2015 ApJ 812 170

3. The relation between solar eruption topologies and observed flare features. I. Flare ribbons, A. Savcheva et al 2015 ApJ 810 96

INTERSTELLAR MATTER AND THE LOCAL UNIVERSE

INSTRUMENTATION, SOFTWARE, LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS AND DATA

THE SUN AND THE HELIOSPHERE

Ethan Vishniac John Hopkins University, Maryland, US

@EthanVishniac

For many of you, Ethan will need no introduction. Not only is he heading up the Galaxies and Cosmology section, he is now also Editor-in-Chief for all AAS journals.

Ethan is a theoretical astrophysicist who conducts research on the dynamics of magnetic fields in the accretion disks, stars and galaxies. He is probably best known for the study of instabilities in expanding blast waves. In 1983 he demonstrated that a blast wave expanding in a sufficiently compressible medium would be subject to a linear overstability growing as the square root of time. This is usually known as the Vishniac instability.

Article picks:

1. Testing lambda and the limits of cosmography with the Union2.1 supernova compilation, Brett Bochner et al 2015 ApJ 814 7

2. The role of star formation and an AGN in dust heating of z = 0.3–2.8 galaxies. I. Evolution with redshift and luminosity, Allison Kirkpatrick et al 2015 ApJ 814 9

3. Simulating the galaxy cluster “El Gordo” and identifying the merger configuration, Congyao Zhang et al 2015 ApJ 813 129

We’re changing

As a result of recommendations from the AAS Journals Futures Task Force, we are breaking new ground in the way that our journals serve their communities.

The first step is focusing more on the individual research areas that we publish. That’s why we’ve appointed new Lead Editors to take on the responsibility for their own specialist subjects, supported by a team of Scientific Editors. When you publish with us you’ll be choosing the subject area that you want to publish in, as well as the journal. This will lead to better and more efficient peer review, giving you more supportive and faster feedback.

Steve Kawaler Iowa State University, Iowa, US

@SteveKawaler

Our new Lead Editor on Stars and Stellar Physics usually tackles the interior structure and evolution of stars, although he has also flexed his detective muscles as part of the team that solved the mystery of the VJ Day kiss.

His research interests broadly cover the life (and demise) of stars like our Sun, although he has been particularly interested in their upheavals between departure from the main sequence and settling into their ultimate and permanent white-dwarf senescence. He has been a long-time proponent of asteroseismology, and is involved with the asteroseismic efforts of the Kepler, K2, and TESS missions. In his own words, “We’re excited about what we can learn about stars using data that the Kepler, K2, and TESS missions have and will provide in the hunt for Earth-like planets around other stars”.

Article picks:

1. How massive single stars end their life, A. Heger et al 2003 ApJ 591 288

2. Modules for experiments in stellar astrophysics (MESA), Bill Paxton et al 2011 ApJS 192 3

3. A comprehensive spectroscopic analysis of DB white dwarfs, P. Bergeron et al 2011 ApJ 737 28

Frank Timmes Arizona State University, Arizona, US

Frank has been working with the AAS journals since 2009. His research interests span many different areas, including supernovae, cosmic chemical evolution, astrobiology, gamma-ray astronomy, and high-performance computing.

In 2015 Frank was awarded the Simons Fellows Award in Theoretical Physics, and his articles are regularly among the most cited in astronomy and astrophysics.

Article picks:

1. On the origin and physics of gamma flares in crab nebula, George Machabeli et al 2015 ApJ 814 38

2. The rate of core collapse supernovae to redshift 2.5 From the candels and clash supernova surveys, Louis-Gregory Strolger et al 2015 ApJ 813 93

3. Super strong magnetic fields of neutron stars in Be X-ray binaries estimated with new torque and magnetosphere models, Chang-Sheng Shi et al 2015 ApJ 813 91

Melissa McGrath SWRI and SETI, Huntsville, Alabama, US

@astromel

Melissa’s distinguished CV includes her recent role at NASA as the Deputy Director of the Science Mission Directorate’s Planetary Science Division until 2006. She then returned to Marshall, where she served as the Chief Scientist until her retirement from NASA in January 2015.

Her research expertise includes planetary and satellite atmospheres and magnetospheres, particularly imaging and spectroscopic studies of Jupiter’s Galilean satellites. She is currently a Co-investigator on the Ultraviolet Spectrometer instrument on the ESA JUICE mission to Ganymede, as well as a Co-investigator on two instruments selected for flight on NASA’s Europa Mission (UVS and MASPEX, a mass spectrometer).

Article picks:

1. MOST 1.6 Earth-radius planets are not rocky, Leslie A. Rogers 2015 ApJ 801 41

2. A quantitative criterion for defining planets, Jean-Luc Margot 2015, AJ 150 185

3. Chaotic disintegration of the inner solar system, Konstantin Batygin et al 2015 ApJ 799 120

GALAXIES AND COSMOLOGY

STARS AND STELLAR PHYSICS

HIGH-ENERGY PHENOMENA AND FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS

PLANETARY SYSTEMS AND ASTROBIOLOGY