Special Events and Activities

All times are listed in Mountain Standard Time (MST)

Tuesday, January 6

10:15 a.m. Press Conference: News from the High-Redshift Universe

144.01. The ALPINE-CRISTAl-JWST Survey: REsolving the Chemical and Structural Properties of Galaxies 12 Billion Years Ago

Featuring Andreas Faisst, Caltech/IPAC

Thursday, January 8

10:15 a.m. Press Conference: High Redshifts and High Energies

338.08. A Precessing Radio Jet Drives Super-Heated Gas Outflow from a Disk Galaxy

Featuring Vivan U, Caltech/IPAC

Talks, Sessions, and Splinters

All times are listed in Mountain Standard Time (MST)

Sunday, January 4

NASA Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG) Meeting

9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Phoenix Convention Center, 226 B

Meeting of NASA's Cosmic Origins Program Analysis Group (COPAG) to discuss science topics and concerns within the community.

Co-chair: Vivian U, Caltech/IPAC

NASA Joint Program Analysis Group (PAG)

2:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 301 D

Joint meeting of the three NASA program offices, Physics of the Cosmos, Cosmic Origins and Exoplanet Exploration. The Astrophysics community joins to discuss current topics and interests to the community.

Co-chair & presenter: Vivian U, Caltech/IPAC

Monday, January 5

43.04. W43 Main–An Average Massive Star Forming Region in an Extraordinary Galactic Location

10:40 to 10:50 a.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 221 C

Giant H II (GH II) regions are extreme sites of massive star formation, hosting the largest young OB star clusters within a galaxy. We have been conducting a systematic study of such regions in the Milky Way using mid-infrared imaging data from SOFIA-FORCAST, and here we present the results from our analysis of W43 Main. By combining the 11 to 37 micron SOFIA maps with complementary observations spanning wavelengths from the near-infrared to radio, we investigated the properties of compact sources and dust substructures. Spectral energy distribution fitting of the multi-wavelength photometric data was used to constrain the properties of the compact infrared sources. In total, we identified 20 compact infrared objects, 16 of which we classify as containing massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) or MYSO candidates.

Located at the junction of the Scutum spiral arm and the Galactic Bar, W43 Main occupies a Galactic location and environment where elevated turbulence is expected and has been proposed as a factor influencing star formation. Nevertheless, in the context of our observed GHII region sample, W43 Main has an average Lyman continuum photon rate. Consistent with this, we find that most of the properties we derived from our data--including the highest mass MYSO and the MYSO density – are consistent with the median values found across our GH II region survey. Thus, despite the unusual Galactic environment, we conclude that the present star formation in W43 Main is largely typical of an average GH II region.

James De Buizer, SETI Institute; Wanggi Lim, Caltech/IPAC; James Radomski, Independent Researcher; Nicole Karnath, SSI.

SPHEREx Early Science Results and Community Data Access (Splinter)

1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 126 C

SPHEREx, the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, launched in March 2025 and has been releasing data to the community since July. In this session, we will present several early science results, including stellar and brown dwarf spectra, molecular cloud structure, detection of molecules from the 3I/Atlas comet, and maps of dust and line emission features in galaxies. We will also describe how to access the SPHEREx data and archival tools.

Vivian U, Caltech/IPAC; Wanggi Lim, Caltech/IPAC; Patrick Lowrance, Caltech/IPAC

144.01. The ALPINE-CRISTAL-JWST Survey: Resolving the Chemical and Structural Properties of Galaxies 12 Billion Years Ago at z = 5

10:00 to 10:10 a.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 228 B

Andreas Faisst, Caltech/IPAC, ALPINE-CRISTAL Collaboration

Tuesday, January 6

NASA Active Galactic Nuclei Science Interest Group (Splinter)

9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 131 A

Meeting of NASA's Active Galactic Nuclei Science Interest Group (AGN SIG) to discuss science topics and concerns within the community.

Co-chair: Vivian U, Caltech/IPAC

Roman Space Telescope Proposal and Science Planning (Splinter)

10:00 a.m. to noon in Phoenix Convention Center, 121 B

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is currently scheduled to launch no later than May 2027, and as early as September 2026. The recently released Call for Proposals includes support for analyzing the archival data as well as the opportunity to propose for new surveys.

This splinter meeting will equip attendees with the knowledge and resources needed to prepare competitive Roman proposals. Representatives from the Roman project and the Roman Science Centers at IPAC and STScI will provide updates on the implementation of community-defined surveys, available simulations, forthcoming data products, and the proposal process itself.

The session will also highlight essential tools that support understanding the community-defined surveys as well as proposal preparation and science planning. These include the Roman Telescope Proposal System (RTPS), the Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT), the Exposure Time Calculator (ETC), the Roman Image Simulator (Roman I-Sim), and the Roman Research Nexus, a powerful platform for collaborative research, data analysis, and community engagement.

230.04. A Spectral Zoo of Brown Dwarfs with SPHEREx

10:30 a.m. to 10:40 a.m. in Phoenix Convention Center, 222 B

SPHEREx is the first all-sky infrared survey spectrometer, measuring the entire sky in 102 narrow wavelength channels every 6 months. With its broad wavelength coverage and relatively high signal-to-noise, SPHEREx is uniquely poised to discover and characterize brown dwarfs spanning the entire LTY spectral sequence. We present a preliminary assortment of several dozen brown dwarf spectra spanning 2000 K in effective temperature, alongside model atmosphere fits with metallicity and cloud coverage constraints. We obtain refined luminosities, temperatures, and ages, and show trends of the bulk properties across the L-T transition.

Zafar Rustamkulov, Caltech/IPAC; J. Kirkpatrick, Caltech/IPAC; Rachel Akeson, Caltech/IPAC; Federico Marocco, Caltech/IPAC; Rocio Kiman, California Institute of Technology

263.03. Three Ultra-Faint Dwarfs on the Periphery of M31

2:30 to 2:40 p.m. in Phoenix Convention Center, 227 C

Pisces VII, Pegasus V, and Pegasus W are three recently discovered ultra-faint dwarfs (UFDs) near the edge of the M31 system. In this talk I will present analysis of recent Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging and Very Large Array (VLA) observations of all three galaxies. As expected for UFDs, the VLA observations confirm that all are gas-poor, with stringent limits on their neutral gas content (MHI < 104 Msol). Their stellar populations are resolved with HST and accurate distances to each object were determined via the location of the horizontal branch in their color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). The star formation history of each object was also derived from the CMDs using a new Python version of the SFH fitting code StarFISH. We confirm previous findings for Peg W, that suggest it may have hosted significant star formation within the recent past. While, in contrast to some slightly more massive M31 UFDs, Peg V and Pis VII both appear to have quenched in the ancient past, likely due to cosmic reionization. These findings indicate for the first time that, similar to those around the Milky Way, lower mass UFDs in the vicinity of M31 likely quenched in the ancient past.

Michael Jones, Caltech/IPAC; David Sand, University of Arizona; Paul Bennet, Space Telescope Science Institute; Denija Crnojevic, University of Tampa; Amandine Doliva-Dolinsky, University of Surrey; Catherine Fielder, University of Arizona; Laura Hunter, Dartmouth College; Ananthan Karunakaran, University of Toronto; Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil, Dartmouth College; Deepthi Prabhu, University of Arizona; Kristine Spekkens, Queen's University in Canada; Dennis Zaritsky, University of Arizona.

Wednesday, January 7

338.03. Lighting Up the Early Universe: Constraining the Ionizing Budget of Dwarf Galaxies at Cosmic Noon

10:20 to 10:30 a.m., Phoenix Convention Center 224 A

JWST continues to uncover faint galaxies from the epoch of reionization (EoR), yet it remains uncertain whether low-mass, faint galaxies or their brighter counterparts were the primary drivers of this process. To investigate this, we measure the ionizing photon production efficiency (ξion) of dwarf galaxies to estimate their contribution to the ionizing photon budget. By leveraging gravitational lensing, we extend previous ξion measurements to include very faint galaxies (MUV~ -14). Moreover, JWST’s Grism spectroscopy allows for unbiased sample selection. Our analysis is part of a Cycle 3 JWST archival program which utilizes the ERS data targeting the Abell 2744 cluster. From this dataset, we have identified 148 lensed galaxies at 0.5 < z < 2.3, all with robust detections in both H-alpha and UV continuum (SNR > 3 for each). We analyze how ξion varies with galaxy properties such as stellar mass and UV luminosity to assess whether dwarf galaxies are particularly efficient at producing ionizing photons. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for models of cosmic reionization and highlight JWST’s powerful infrared spectroscopy for enabling unbiased studies of faint galaxy populations.

Keunho Kim, Caltech/IPAC; Anahita Alavi, Caltech/IPAC; Peter Watson, INAF-OAPd; James Colbert, Caltech; Vihang Mehta, Caltech/IPAC; Takahiro Morishita, Caltech/IPAC; Brian Siana, UC Riverside; Zahra Sattari, Caltech/IPAC; Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC; Xin Wang, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)

The PRobe Infrared Mission for Astrophysics (PRIMA) Mission Concept Special Session

2:00 to 3:30 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center 224 B

PRIMA (PRobe Infrared Mission for Astrophysics) is a far-infrared probe mission concept in Phase A for NASA’s call for Astrophysics Explorers (APEX). PRIMA’s cryogenic design and highly sensitive detectors enable unprecedented far-infrared science. PRIMA’s PI science focuses on the astrochemical signatures of planet formation, the co-evolution of galaxies and their supermassive black holes across cosmic time, and measuring the formation and buildup of galaxies, heavy elements, and interstellar dust from cosmic noon to today.

With at least 75% of its observing time available for General Observer (GO) science, PRIMA will be a community mission and is designed to address a wide range of astrophysics. In this special session, we invite the astronomical community to come learn about this mission concept, share their ideas for GO programs, and help make this mission their own. The special session will feature two talks from PRIMA team members describing an overview of PRIMA, its science goals and capabilities. The majority of the session will be devoted to talks highlighting community-led GO science cases for volume 2 of our GO book (120 total submissions, with ~430 unique authors from 34 countries). We will have 4-6 community GO science talks. We hope to welcome posters from all members of the community and aim to have the poster session be a time for community engagement and conversation.

338.08. A Precessing Radio Jet Drives Super-heated Gas Outflow From a Disk Galaxy

2 to 3:30 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center 230

To reproduce observed galaxy properties, cosmological simulations require that massive galaxies experience feedback from active galactic nucleus, which regulates star formation within those galaxies. However, constraining the energetics and timescales of these feedback processes has been challenging due partially to the multi-scale, multiphase nature of the impacted gaseous medium. In this talk, I will present results from our recently accepted Science paper that reports the discovery of a galactic-scale outflow driven by a precessing, low-power radio jet in an early-merger, active disc galaxy VV 340a. Through a study combining optical, infrared, submillimeter and radio observations, we report the first observation of a S-shaped kiloparsec jet driving massive super-heated gas in an outflow, the most extended and coherent of coronal gas structures known to date. Our multi-faceted analysis demonstrated the radio jet as the origin of the galactic-scale outflows, and that the outflow is substantially reducing the gas depletion timescale. The star formation history of VV 340a reflects the likely impact of AGN feedback from the radio jet.

Vivian U, Caltech/IPAC; Hajar Aziz, University of California, Riverside; Archana Aravindan, University of California, Riverside; Raymond Remigio, University of California, Irvine; Gabriela Canalizo, University of California, Riverside; Justin Kader, University of California, Irvine; Yiqing Song, ESO; Jeffrey Rich, Carnegie Observatories; Rosalie McGurk, W. M. Keck Observatory

354.05. Searching for Habitable Exoplanets with Relative Astrometry (SHERA); SMEx Mission Concept: Science Objectives

2:50 to 3:00 p.m. Phoenix Convention Center 230

SHERA (Searching for Habitable Exoplanets with Relative Astrometry) is a Small Explorer mission concept to search for Earth-like planets. SHERA will search the habitable zones of nearby Sun-like stars in intermediate separation (20-200 au) binary pairs for small planets, relying on the relative astrometry between the two stars and novel diffractive pupil technology to achieve sub-microarcsecond astrometric precision over a three-year mission. The mission has three science objectives, outlined in this talk: (1) search for rocky planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars in nearby binary systems, (2) test whether stellar binarity suppresses planet formation across the solar system terrestrial zone (0.3-1.5 au) and (3) characterize the 3D architectures of nearby binary systems with planets by combining relative astrometry with radial velocity data.

Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute; SHERA Science Team.

354.06. Searching for Habitable Exoplanets with Relative Astrometry (SHERA); SMEx Mission Concept: Target Star Selection and Characterization

3:00 to 3:10 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center 230

SHERA (Searching for Habitable Exoplanets with Relative Astrometry) is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission concept designed to survey a sample of bright, nearby, Sun-like binary stars with sub-microarcsecond astrometry using diffractive pupil technology in order to detect small exoplanets. Constraints on the size of the primary mirror, field of view, survey pointing constraints, projected astrometric accuracy performance, projected sensitivity to planetary companions, and survey duration, led to a down selection to 14 target stars in 7 binary systems. The target stars include the primary and secondary components in the following d<20pc binary systems: Alpha Cen, 61 Cyg, 70 Oph, 36 Oph, Xi Boo, p Eri, and HR 2667/2668. The systems are also prime targets for direct imaging surveys for exoEarths and other exoplanets with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The projected performance of SHERA would enable the detection of temperate, rocky exoplanets orbiting Alpha Cen A (Rigil Kentaurus) and B (Toliman), and dynamically detect and measure the mass of the imaged exoplanet candidate Alpha Cen Ab. We summarize the state of knowledge of these bright, nearby, G/K-type binary stars, and the SHERA team's efforts to improve our pre-mission knowledge of their stellar parameters and orbits. Accurate measurements of the orbital motion now will greatly improve the precision of the orbital parameters and masses of any planets discovered in each binary system.

Eric Mamajek, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Catherine Clark, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Yiting Li, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Michael Meyer, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Juliette Becker, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Eduardo Bendek, NASA Ames Research Center; Pierre Kervella, Observatoire de Paris; Cullen Blake, University of Pennsylvania; Ruslan Belikov, NASA Ames Research Center; Charles Beichman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Alex Davis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Alyssa Jankowski, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Kaitlin Kratter, University of Arizona; Eric Nielsen, New Mexico State University; William Roberson, New Mexico State University; Armen Tokadjian, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology; Peter Tuthill, The University of Sydney; Gautam Vasisht, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Institute of Technology

354.08. Searching for Habitable Exoplanets with Relative Astrometry (SHERA); SMEx Mission Concept: Orbit-Fitting Methodology

3:20 to 3:30 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center 230

SHERA is a proposed space mission that will use microarcsecond astrometry of nearby binary systems to detect S-type Earth-analog planets (habitable zone planets with masses as low as 1 Earth mass). SHERA will measure the reflex motion of one binary component due to orbiting planets, but is only sensitive to this motion in the direction of the other star. The unique form and high precision (~1 microarcsecond) of SHERA data means special care is required in detecting planets and extracting their orbital parameters. We introduce a specialized SHERA orbit-fitting pipeline that is able to detect and characterize planets using these data and present a preliminary sensitivity analysis using simulated data from the alpha Centauri AB system. We demonstrate that this pipeline is able to accurately recover simulated planets, their orbital parameters, and masses for injected planets down to ~1 Earth mass orbiting in the habitable zone of both alpha Cen A and alpha Cen B.

William Roberson, New Mexico State University; Eric Nielsen, New Mexico State University; Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Gautam Vasisht, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Eric Mamajek, NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program, JPL; Eduardo Bendek, NASA Ames Research Center; Pierre Kervella, Observatoire de Paris; Juliette Becker, University of Wisconsin; Cullen Blake, University of Pennsylvania; Ruslan Belikov, NASA Ames Research Center; Charles Beichman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Catherine Clark, Caltech/IPAC-NExScI; Kaitlin Kratter, University of Arizona; Yiting Li, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Michael Meyer, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Armen Tokadjian, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Peter Tuthill, The University of Sydney.

Thursday, January 8

The Euclid Mission: Science with Quick Data Release 1 and Plans for the Future (Special Session)

10 to 11:30 a.m., Phoenix Convention Center 225 B

Euclid is an ESA mission with NASA participation to study the geometry and nature of the dark Universe. Euclid launched on 1 July 2023. During its 6 year mission, Euclid will survey about 14,000 sq. deg. of extragalactic sky and obtain images in the optical (530-920nm band) and near-infrared (Y,J,H), together with slitless grism spectra (1206nm-1892nm, R~480). Euclid data will be made public to the international community after a proprietary period. Quick Data Release 1 (Q1; 63 sq. deg.) data became public on March 19, 2025, and the first year of data will be released in Data Release 1 (DR1; almost 2000 sq. deg.) in 2026. Data will be available from the ESA’s Euclid Archive System and from the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). In this session, we will give an overview of Euclid mission status and the science results from Q1. We will discuss the opportunities and science potential for archival research with public Euclid data, and the plans for future data releases.

Session Chair: Harry Teplitz, Caltech/IPAC

Talks in this session:

• 425.01. US Opportunities for Euclid Research
• 425.02. A Comprehensive Survey of Dwarf Galaxies and Star Clusters with Euclid
• 425.03. Galaxy Zoo Tidal Tales: Tracing Tidal Features in Euclid Galaxy Mergers
• 425.04. Polar-Structure Galaxies in Euclid Q1: A First Look
• 425.05. DeepDISC: Deep Learning-Based Classifications and Photometric Redshifts for Euclid Quick Data Release in Deep Field North
• 425.06. The roadmap for producing Rubin/Euclid derived data products
• 425.07. The Complementary Euclid Archive at IRSA by Vandana Desai, Caltech/IPAC

Workshops

All times listed in Mountain Standard Time (EST)

Sunday, January 4

Preparing for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope: Working in the Roman Research Nexus

9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 221 C

Euclid Quick Release 1 (Q1) Data Access and Exploration Workshop

2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Phoenix Convention Center, 121 A

Curious about Euclid Space Telescope data but not sure where to start? This workshop offers an introduction to the Euclid Q1 data release, including available data products and data access. You will work through Python Jupyter notebooks with hands-on exercises designed to help you understand how to use Euclid data for your science. The session will also introduce the NASA Fornax initiative, show how it can be used to access Euclid data, and provide further hands-on experience.

Presentations:

2:00 to 2:10 p.m.: Euclid Tutorial Notebooks with Tiffany Meshkat, Caltech/IPAC

2:10 to 2:20 p.m.: Euclid Archive at IRSA & Fornax: The NASA Astrophysics Science  Platform with Vandana Desai, Caltech/IPAC

Posters/iPosters

All times are listed in Mountain Standard Time (MST). iPosters are located in Exhibit Hall B/C/D.

Monday, January 5

102.02. Interactive Astronomy Visualization in Python with Firefly

9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

The Firefly Python client extends Firefly’s web-based, interactive visualization framework directly into Python workflows. Within a Python session or Jupyter notebook, astronomers can query archives, load local FITS or Parquet files, and interactively explore images, tables, and spectra. Firefly’s Python interface enables exploratory data analysis (EDA) in the environment where data science happens, providing WCS-aware images, linked plots and tables, and catalog overlays with just a few lines of code.

115.06. Studying Exoplanet Atmospheres from the Moon: The LUSTER Mission

9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

The LUSTER (LUnar-based Survey for Time-domain Exploration and Research) mission is advancing the technology and science investigations of a lunar-based telescope, featuring a 20-cm aperture with detectors efficient in the Near UV (center ~315 nm) and the visible (center ~520 nm). The telescope will be stationed on an upcoming NASA-sponsored robotic lunar lander via the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, scheduled for launch in the late 2020’s. The payload will deliver exoplanet transit photometry that will allow for the characterization of their atmospheres by distinguishing between hazes, clouds, and metallicity content. This will be accomplished with transit enabled planet radius measurements of ~20 exoplanets in both the Near UV and visible thus allowing for the determination the spectral slope. In addition to providing constraints on atmospheric models when combined with data at longer wavelengths, this data can facilitate the selection of the most suitable, non-haze dominated targets for follow-up with JWST. Exoplanet atmospheres encompass one of three of the science goals for this mission, with the other two involving studies of comets and asteroids including NEAs (see iPoster by A. Graykowski). This iPoster will review the design and capabilities a lunar-based telescope, how the exoplanet science goals will be accomplished and what considerations need to be made when designing an observing program from the moon. We will also discuss the potential for future telescopes in this unique location given NASA’s consistent interest in advancing lunar exploration and infrastructure.

Angelle Tanner, Mississippi State University; Tabetha Boyajian, Louisiana State University; Jon Morse, BoldlyGo Enterprises, LLC; Ahmad Sohani, Louisiana State University; Matthew Penny, Louisiana State University; Franck Marchis, SETI Institute & Unistellar; Ariel Graykowski, SETI Institute; Ian Crossfield, KU (University of Kansas); Jessie Christiansen, Caltech/IPAC-NASA Exoplanet Science Institute

Tuesday, January 6

217.04. Star Finders: Assembling a Multi-Wavelength Catalog of Young Stellar Objects in Serpens Main

9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Serpens Main is a well-known, extensively studied star-forming region 1-2 million years old and 415 parsecs away (Rebull et al. 2014 and references therein) (NASA, 2018). There is a wealth of literature about Serpens with over 1,100 journal articles written since 1974. About 100 of the most recent have published lists of candidate or confirmed young stellar objects (YSOs). Researchers have identified YSOs within Serpens using multiwavelength data. However, to the best of our knowledge, no one has yet combined all of the most recent multi-wavelength data into a single comprehensive catalog of YSOs in Serpens Main. It is useful to assemble a catalog of known or suspected YSOs in this region since YSOVAR (time series data in Spitzer IRAC-1&2), SPHEREx, and Roman data are either currently available or will be available in the future. We have begun to assemble such a catalog by merging large catalogs and literature-identified YSOs/candidate YSOs in Serpens Main. We have merged Gaia, PanSTARRS, SDSS, UKIDSS, 2MASS

NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) participants supervised by Luisa Rebull, Caltech/IPAC:  Ace Schwarz, The Shipley School; Aaron Carmichael, The Shipley School; Iris Hoffmann, The Shipley School; Olivia Lindsay, The Shipley School; Ava MacDermaid, The Shipley School; Ben Neiman, The Shipley School; Milo Nottonson, The Shipley School; Ella Weiner, The Shipley School; Eliana Yee, The Shipley School; Sophia Lindsay, The Shipley School.

220.01. Stellar Rotation Within the Beta Pictoris Moving Group Using TESS Lightcurves

9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

The Beta Pictoris Moving Group (BPMG) is a nearby (~50 pc), young (~23 Myr) stellar association at a stage where circumstellar disks have largely dissipated and stellar angular momentum is actively evolving. We compiled archival photometric data from Gaia, 2MASS, WISE, and other surveys to construct spectral energy distributions, color-magnitude diagrams, and color-color diagrams for BPMG members. Using time-domain photometry from TESS, Kepler, ZTF, and ASAS-SN, we extracted and analyzed light curves using Python, IDL, and Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) web-based tools to measure stellar rotation periods and characterize variability across a wide range of spectral types.Together, these diagnostics enable a comprehensive examination of rotation, infrared excess, and youth indicators within the moving group. By comparing BPMG with other young associations and clusters, we place its members in the broader context of stellar angular momentum evolution and disk dispersal during a critical transition toward the m

NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) participants supervised by Luisa Rebull, Caltech/IPAC:  Clayton Edwards, Chicago Public Schools; Jeff Benter, Tri-Valley High School; Steve Jones, FCS Innovation Academy; Eden Pfahler, Falmouth High School; Kyle Benter, Le Roy High School; Ellery Hurliman, Tri-Valley High School; Connor Lund, Falmouth High school; Jad Meliani, FCS Innovation Academy; Evan Otis, FCS Innovation Academy; Sam Seymour, Falmouth High school; Hayden Shine, Tri-Valley High School; Sara Tennent, Falmouth High school; Ryan Werthman, Falmouth High school; Laura Wilkinson, Tri-Valley High School.

Wednesday, January 7

370.06. PRIMA's Science Data Center at IPAC

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 

PRIMA is a 1.8-m diameter, cryogenically-cooled, far-infrared observatory concept for the community in the 2030 decade. PRIMA includes both a sensitive wideband spectrometer, FIRESS, and a multi-band spectrophotometric imager/polarimeter, PRIMAger. PRIMA’s sensitivity unlocks the potential of the far-infrared to advance astrophysics across a broad range of topics spanning from galaxy and dust evolution in the early Universe to the formation of planets and planetary atmospheres. IPAC, at Caltech, is the Science Data Center (SDC) for PRIMA. The SDC processes all PI and GO science data through an automated science data pipeline and delivers the data to the PRIMA archive at the InfraRed Science Archive (IRSA) for the community. IPAC is responsible for developing, operating, and maintaining the PRIMA science pipeline. In this poster we will describe the basic processing steps, data flow, and expected data products from the PRIMA science data pipeline.

Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; David Imel, Caltech/IPAC; Klaus Pontoppidan, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The Euclid Mission: Science with Quick Data Release 1 and Plans for the Future

5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Posters in this session:

• 367.01. Euclid Study of a Dwarf Ring Galaxy
• 367.02. Star Clusters Around Local Group Dwarf Galaxy NGC 7822: Spectroscopic Follow-up of Euclid Imaging with the Keck Cosmic Web Imager
• 367.03. Decomposing Components of the Extragalactic Background Light Using Multi-Band Intensity Mapping Cross-Correlations

370.10. Design and Estimated Performance of the FIRESS Spectrometer for PRIMA

5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 

The Far-Infrared Enhanced Survey Spectrometer (FIRESS) provides 24-235 micron spectroscopic capability for the Probe Mission for Far-Infrared Astrophysics (RPIMA). FIRESS uses four slit-fed, 1st-order grating spectrometer modules feeding arrays of kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs). Each band covers a 1:1.8 spectral range, so the four band cover the full range instantaneously, including small overlap at band edges, permitting measurement of fine-structure and PAH transitions in galaxies at all redshifts. The base grating modules are optimized for detection, not resolving transitions; they provide R>85 everywhere, with median value R of 140. Each FIRESS slits has a length corresponding to 24 spatial pixels, and each band delivers the dispersed spectrum to a 24 (spatial) by 84 (spectra) pixel array of kinetic inductance detectors. Point sources will be chopped along the slit with the steering mirror to remove low-frequency detector noise, subtract the background, and provide half-pixel spectral sampling given the hexagonally-packed array. FIRESS will also use the steering mirror and/or the motion of the entire observatory to map by scanning, in a manner similar to that used on Herschel and Planck. For high-resolution spectroscopy, a Fourier-transform interferometer module (FTM) is engaged to process the light between the telescope and the grating modules. In this hi-res mode, the FTM splits the light, interferes it with itself after a phase delay between the two arm, and recombines it before delivering it to the FIRESS slits. In hi-res mode, FIRESS achieves R up to 4,400 x (112 microns / lambda) across the full FIRESS band, allowing extraction of faint HD rotational transitions and water lines in protoplanetary disks, with sensitivity limited by the photon noise in each narrow FIRESS grating channel band (R>85). With the cold PRIMA telescope and sensitive detectors, the observing speed of FIRESS in all modes is factor of thousands or more greater than that of previous far-IR platforms. In this contribution we provide an overview of the instrument, its observing modes, and expected sensitivities.

Current theoretical modeling of the accretion disks around supermassive black holes (SMBH) at the center of galaxies, known as active galactic nuclei (AGN), does not match well to that determined by observations. A way to measure the unresolved accretion disk size is through reverberation mapping (RM) of short timeframe variable AGN. Unfortunately, there is a very small sample size of candidate AGN with known short-term variability. These objects have short period emission events where variations in high energy light close to the SMBH travel outward and are absorbed at larger radii of the accretion disk and re-emitted at longer wavelengths. The time delay between initial detection of these short wavelength variations and their later detections at longer wavelengths provide a way to measure the span of the accretion disk. Measuring the size of the accretion disk can be used to derive its luminosity so the AGN can then be used as a standard candle. This in turn can be used to determine the Hubble constant over the vast distances over which the AGN can be observed. This project looked for short-term variable AGN that exist as background sources in the Young Stellar Object VARiability survey (YSOVAR) conducted by the Spitzer Space Telescope of multiple star forming regions. Potential AGN from multiple fields of YSOVAR data were first selected by color ([3.6]-[4.5]>0.4) and then by magnitude (m3.6>14). Approximately 30 potential short-term variable AGN were identified. These sources have the potential to provide reliable candidates for the follow-up reverberation mapping to help determine the physical dimensions of the accretion region around an SMBH.

NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) participants supervised by Varoujan Gorjian, JPL, Caltech/IPAC:  Meredith Cullen, UMS-Wright Preparatory School; Varoujan Gorjian, JPL/Caltech; Benjamin Senson, Madison College and MMSD Planetarium; Lauren Albin, Young Harris College and O. Wayne Rollins Planetarium; Kevin Molohon, NITARP-Champlin Park High School; Cooper Buchman, UMS-Wright Preparatory School; Khandro Butler, UMS-Wright Preparatory School; Emma Marmande, UMS-Wright Preparatory School; Allen Moore, UMS-Wright Preparatory School; Samuel Williams, UMS-Wright Preparatory School; Asyn Su, Asheville School

NITARP and IRSA: Authentic Classroom Research Tools, Lessons, and Impact (iPoster Session)

9:00 to 10:00 a.m.

Posters in this session:

403.01: Student and Teachers as Scientists: The Impact of Authentic Research Experiences 

403.02: From Young Stars to Active Galaxies: Development of Foundational Lessons for Authentic Astronomy Research

403.03: Easy Next Gen Astronomy Visualization

403.04: Photometry Catalog Integration in a Python Framework for Spectral Energy Distribution Construction and Young Stellar Object Classification

403.05: From NITARP Experience to Community Practice

403.06: NITARP Influences Multiple Generations, Communities, and Careers

403.07: Stellar Life Cycles: Improved Methods of Education

443.10. Dust Evolution in Dense Infrared Dark Clouds

1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Understanding how dust evolves in the earliest phases of massive cluster formation remains a major observational challenge due to the extreme densities and high extinction of infrared dark clouds. We present a study of dust evolution in such environments, where direct measurements of dust properties have been largely inaccessible. Multi-wavelength extinction analysis reveals significant spatial variations in dust opacity and the sub-millimeter spectral index β, indicating that the opacity law flattens in the coldest and most compact regions. To interpret these trends, we use the OpTool dust modeling framework to generate theoretical opacity curves and fit them to the observations by varying grain size distribution, ice mantle thickness, and chemical composition. The resulting fits provide spatially resolved maps of dust properties, revealing evidence for grain coagulation and ice mantle growth - processes that dominate the earliest stages of massive protocluster evolution.

443.40. Gas Dynamics, Excitation, and a Potential AGN Outflow in ESO 148-IG002 Revealed by JWST MIRI

Joahan Castaneda Jaimes, Caltech/IPAC; Lee Armus, Caltech/IPAC; Jeffrey Rich, Carnegie Observatories