***IAU Division D Bulletin N. 25: July 1, 2018***

INDEX:

• Results of Division and Commission Committee Elections
• Simultaneous Near-infrared and X-ray Monitoring of Sgr A*
• Upcoming conferences, meetings, workshops and schools (new announcements)
• In memoriam: Professor Giorgio Palumbo

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*Results of Division and Commission Committee Elections

We would like to express our thanks to all of our colleagues who put their names forward as candidates for the Division D Steering Committee and Commission D1 Committee elections, and to congratulate those who have been elected for the next triennium.

For the Division Steering Committee, 414 votes were cast (21% of the membership), and the composition of the 2018-21 committee will be as follows:

Division D Steering Committee

President:
Elena Pian (Italy)

Vice-President:
Isabelle Grenier (France),

Elected Members, First Term:
Aya Bamba (Japan), Matthew G. Baring (United States), Dipankar Bhattacharya (India), Silvia Zane (United Kingdom)

Second Term Members:
Anna Watts (Netherlands), Tadayasu Dotani (Japan)

Ex-Officio Members (Commission Presidents):
D1: Marica Branchesi (Italy)
X1: Christine Jones (United States)

Advisor (Past President):
Chryssa Kouveliotou (USA)

For Commission D1 (Gravitational Wave Astrophysics), a total of 71 votes were cast (41% of the membership), and the 2018-21 committee composition will be as follows:

Commission D1 Committee

President:
Marica Branchesi (Italy)

VP:
Robin Stebbins (United States)

At-large members (elected):
Martin A. Hendry (United Kingdom), Eleonora Troja (United States), Marta Volonteri (France)

Second-term members:
Richard N. Manchester (Australia), David H. Shoemaker (United States)

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*Simultaneous Near-infrared and X-ray Monitoring of Sgr A*

Time has been granted by the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory for two 24-hour monitoring observations of Sgr A*, the variable radiation source at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Observations are possible in 2019 Jul-Aug. Astronomers interested in monitoring Sgr A* in this time frame are encouraged to observe during the same times if possible in order to maximize the value of all data sets.

For more information, see https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/irac/gc/

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*Upcoming Conferences, Meetings, Workshops and Schools

Fundamental Physics with LISA
Florence, Italy
November 12-14, 2018
http://www.ggi.infn.it/showevent.pl?id=305

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*In memoriam: Professor Giorgio Palumbo (1939-2018)

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Prof. Giorgio Palumbo on June 20, 2018. Giorgio was a retired Astronomy Professor at University of Bologna, Italy, where he had spent almost his entire professional life, after studying at University of Calgary, Canada, and working at the Italian National Research Council.

In Bologna, Giorgio advised dozens of students, contributed to the birth of high energy astronomy, and fostered the growth of cosmic ray physics, thus laying the seeds of modern high energy astrophysics and astroparticles projects, like the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array.

In 1995, Giorgio was selected as Mission Scientist of the INTEGRAL satellite for X- and gamma-ray astronomy of the European Space Agency (ESA). He was for many years an advisor for ESA and member of the ESA Astronomy Working Group, and in this capacity he was instrumental in supporting the development of the ATHENA satellite design. He also collaborated with the Italian Space Agency, in particular in 1997-2002 as a coordinator of its Space Science Department.

His eclectic and creative scientific personality, testified by more than 300 published articles and active role in outreach initiatives, informed and inspired the careers of young astronomers and provided guidance to senior colleagues and friends. His enormous breadth of knowledge, brilliant intellect, generous nature, lucid pragmatism, and infectious humour left an indelible mark in all those who interacted with him and set an example to follow. He will be very sorely missed by the international astronomical community. Our thoughts and deep condolences go to his children Jeremy and Jennifer, and their families.

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If you wish to share with IAU Div D any information about matters that may be relevant to the activities of Div D Members, please send an e-mail to A.L.Watts@uva.nl . This will appear in the next Bulletin, which will be sent out on September 1, 2018 (there will be no Bulletin in August). Thank you in advance for your inputs, and best regards.

Dr Anna Watts, Secretary of IAU Div D Steering Committee
Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam