IAU Division D Bulletin N. 14: July 1st, 2017

INDEX:

• Changes to Bulletin frequency and submission procedure
• Call for Institute for Nuclear Theory (INT) program and workshop proposals
• The ESO-Athena Synergy White Paper
• Upcoming Meetings
• In memoriam

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• Changes to Bulletin frequency and submission procedure

  Over the last year it has become apparent that 3 months between Bulletins is too long for us to keep Division members fully informed of all items of interest, since many have short deadlines.  This has resulted in an increasing number of special announcements being sent out between Bulletins. We are therefore making some changes so that we can be more responsive to the needs of our community.

  From now on the Bulletin will be issued monthly, on the first of the month.  Inputs can be sent to the Division Secretary Anna Watts (by email, to A.L.Watts@uva.nl) **at any time**, for inclusion in the next Bulletin (replacing the previous formal call for inputs).

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• Call for Institute for Nuclear Theory (INT) program and workshop proposals

  Proposals are invited for INT programs for 2019 and/or workshops for 2018.  Proposals must be  submitted by July 12, 2017 so that they can be considered by the INT's National Advisory Committee at their meeting on August 2-3.  Information on how to submit proposals can be found at http://www.int.washington.edu/instructions.html
  
  For a list of recent and future INT programs that have already been scheduled, see:
  http://www.int.washington.edu/PROGRAMS/programs_all.html
  http://www.int.washington.edu/PROGRAMS/current.html
  http://www.int.washington.edu/PROGRAMS/past_programs.html
  
  If your proposal is selected the INT has excellent staff to take care of the business end of the organization of programs, so that the organizers can focus on the scientific agenda.

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• The ESO-Athena Synergy White Paper

  The Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics (Athena) is the X-ray observatory mission selected by ESA within its Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme to address the Hot and Energetic Universe scientific theme. The ESO-Athena Synergy Team has been tasked to single out the potential scientific synergies between Athena and optical/near-infrared (NIR) and sub/mm ground based facilities, in particular those of ESO (i.e., the VLT and ELT, ALMA and APEX). The result of this work is the ESO-Athena Synergy White Paper, which deals with the following topics: 1. he Hot Universe: Early groups and clusters and their evolution, Physics of the Intracluster medium, Missing baryons in cosmic filaments; 2. the Energetic Universe: Supermassive black hole (SMBH) history, SMBH accretion disks, Active Galactic Nuclei feedback - Molecular outflows, Ultra-fast outflows, Accretion Physics, Transient Science; 3. Observatory Science: Star Formation, Stars. It then discusses the optical-NIR-sub-mm perspective by providing details on VLT/MOONS, the ELT instruments, in particular the MOS, VISTA/4MOST, the ESO and ALMA archives, future ALMA and ESO developments, and finally the (likely) ESO - Athena astronomical scene in the 2020s. The White Paper is available at https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.06064

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• Upcoming Conferences, Meetings, Workshops and Schools

  Sesto Summer School in Gamma-Ray Astrophysics
  24 – 28 July, 2017
  Sexten, Italy
  http://www.sexten-cfa.eu/en/conferences/2017/details/88-gamma-ray-astrophysics-with-cta.html

  XGI Workshop eXtreme Matter meets eXtreme Gravity
  August 17-19, 2017
  Bozeman, Montana, USA
  http://www.montana.edu/xgi/events/workshops.html

  International Symposium on nuclear symmetry energy
  September 4-7 2017
  GANIL, Caen, France
  https://nusym17.sciencesconf.org

  The power of X-ray spectroscopy
  September 6-8, 2017
  Warsaw, Poland
  www.camk.edu.pl/conferences/xray2017

  Frontiers of astrophysical modeling
  September 21-22, 2017
  Leuven, Belgium
  https://wis.kuleuven.be/events/frontiers2017

  From quiescence to outburst: where microquasars go wild
  September 25-29, 2017
  Porquerolles Island, France
  https://microquasar.sciencesconf.org/

  New perspectives on Neutron Star Interiors Workshop
  October 9-13, 2017
  Trento, Italy
  http://www.ectstar.eu/node/2230

  2017 EU Einstein Toolkit Workshop + Black Holes, Red Square, and Blue Waters: A Symposium in Honor of Edward Seidel’s 60th Birthday
  October 11-14, 2017
  Mallorca, Spain
  http://grg.uib.es/EinsteinToolkit2017/

  International Conference on Neutrinos and Nuclear Physics 2017 (CNNP2017)
  October 15-21, 2017
  Catania, Italy
  http://agenda.infn.it/event/CNNP2017

  Alsacian Workshop on X-ray polarimetry
  November 13-15, 2017 
  Strasbourg, France
  http://awoxpol.u-strasbg.fr/

  Black hole formation and growth
  January 28 – February 3, 2018
  Saas-Fee, Switzerland
  http://www.isdc.unige.ch/sf2018

  IAU Symposium 340:  Long – Term Datasets for the Understanding of Solar and Stellar Magnetic Cycles
  February 19-24, 2018
  Jaipur, India
  http://www.iiap.res.in/iaus340/

  XIV International Workshop on Hadron Physics
  March 18-23, 2018
  Florianopolis, Brazil
  https://indico.cern.ch/event/388766/

  27th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2018)
  May 14-19, 2018
  Venice, Italy
  http://qm2018.infn.it

  12th International LISA Symposium
  July 8-13, 2018
  Chicago, USA
  http://ciera.northwestern.edu/LISA12.php

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• In memoriam

  We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of the following IAU  Division D Members: Giovanni Bignami: Giovanni Fabrizio Bignami passed away on May 25th, 2017.  He was a former director of the Italian Space Agency, of the Italian Institute of Astrophysics, and of the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France. He contributed to many space missions, served for 10 years in the role of Principal Investigator of the ESA XMM-Newton satellite, was a former President of the ESA Space Science Advisory Committee, a former President of COSPAR, and the current Chair of the Square Kilometre Array Board of Directors.  He was a member of Accademia dei Lincei.  His scientific legacy includes seminal work on neutron stars and pulsars, notably the lack of radio detection from the Geminga pulsar, for which he was awarded, with J. Halpern, the Bruno Rossi Prize in 1993.  As a professor of physics and astronomy in various Italian universities he has been a mentor for many students and young scientists.  He was known to the public for his popular astronomy articles and books and frequent appearances in TV programs of scientific outreach.

  Pierre Binetruy: APC obituary: https://www.apc.univ-paris7.fr/APC_CS/en/memoriam-pierre-binetruy-1955-2017-0

  Gary Steigman: New York Times Obituary: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/27/science/space/gary-steigman-died-big-bang-astrophysicist.html

  Shi-Tsan Wu: Born in 1933 in Nanchang, China, Professor Wu came to the U.S in 1957. He was a pioneer in the field of aerospace engineering, developing theoretical models to predict solar magnetic storms on the sun. With energy and optimism, he advised 49 graduate students and mentored many others who would go on to have successful careers in science and engineering; his impact was international. He founded the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research (CSPAR) and served as chair until he retired from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2005. As Distinguished Professor Emeritus, he remained active in the scientific community: giving lectures, obtaining grants, collaborating on research, and advising others up to his death.

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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 August 1^st 2017.  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
Email:  A.L.Watts@uva.nl
http://staff.fnwi.uva.nl/a.l.watts