Letters of Intent received in 2014

LoI 2016-249
Transient and Variable Astronomical Phenomena

Topics

Astrophysics of time-variable/transient sources
Current and future instrumentation for transient astronomy
Algorithms and methods for automated and/or real-time detection
Software and data management approaches
Multi-wavelength/multi-messenger transient observing

Rationale

The most recent IAU symposium devoted to time-domain astronomy was held in 2011 (IAUS 285). In the several years since, there has been an explosion of new interest in this topic, and it is widely seen as a rich and largely unexplored future discovery space for astronomy. This has been driven by a combination of several factors: Unanticipated new discoveries, for example the population of as-yet unexplained millisecond duration radio signals, apparently of extragalactic origin (Fast Radio Bursts; e.g., Thornton et al 2013); the recent or near-future arrival of a new generation of sensitive, wide-field instrumentation across the entire electromagnetic - and eventually gravitational - spectrum designed specifically with transient event detection in mind (e.g., LOFAR, ASKAP, JVLA, Pan-STARRs, LSST, Fermi, Advanced LIGO, etc); and finally, ongoing progress in computational capability has enabled new approaches to transient astronomy, including real-time event detection and 24/7 commensal observing.

We feel the time is right to convene a meeting of international researchers in this field to both review recent progress and continue planning for the future of time-domain astronomy. In particular we would like this meeting to enable continued discussion of how different facilities can interact to realize the full potential of multi-wavelength/multi-messenger astronomy in the time domain. This includes addressing both the unique technical challenges (real-time detection, fast followup triggering) and organizational/cultural changes to how astronomy has often been practiced traditionally.