AAS 247 in Phoenix

I attended the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Phoenix, Arizona in January 2026. It was a great week of science, and I came away energized and full of new ideas.

Talks

I gave two oral presentations at the meeting.

Probing the Hubble Constant with JWST: Updated Time-Delay Measurements from the Triply-Imaged Type Ia Supernova SN H0pe (slides)

SN H0pe is the first lensed Type Ia supernova used to measure H₀ through time-delay cosmography. This talk presented new JWST template imaging obtained after the SN faded, enabling clean host-galaxy subtraction and recovery of SN flux in two additional infrared bands that were previously undetected. The improved light curves reduce systematic uncertainties and yield a more precise inference of H₀, highlighting JWST’s unique role in extending time-delay cosmography to high redshift.

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Testing Lens Models of PLCK G165.7+67.0 Using Lensed SN H0pe (slides)

This talk analyzed seven independent cluster lens models for PLCK G165.7+67.0, comparing their predicted magnifications against SN-inferred values and ΛCDM expectations. Lens model magnifications systematically overestimate observed values by >1 mag — a robust detection of magnification bias in cluster lens models. With LSST, Roman, and Euclid expected to discover dozens of new lensed supernovae, establishing validated lens modeling frameworks will be critical for precision cosmology.

Highlights

One of the standout parts of the meeting for me was the Astronomers Turned Data Scientists (ATDS) sessions. It was wonderful to see the breadth of ongoing work in the field and to connect with so many people working on related problems.

I also had a great time meeting collaborators and new faces throughout the week — conferences like AAS are a reminder of how much of science happens in the conversations between sessions.