Letters of Intent received in 2015

LoI 2017-291
Locating Astrophysical Transients 2017

Date: 6 June 2017 to 9 June 2017
Category: Non-GA Symposium
Location: Noto (TBC), Italy
Contact: Marcello Giroletti (giroletti@ira.inaf.it)
Coordinating division: Division B Facilities, Technologies and Data Science
Other divisions: Division D High Energy Phenomena and Fundamental Physics
Division G Stars and Stellar Physics
Division J Galaxies and Cosmology
Co-Chairs of SOC: Marcello Giroletti (INAF Osservatorio di Radioastronomia)
Zsolt Paragi (Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe - ERIC)
Co-Chairs of LOC: Marcello Giroletti (INAF Osservatorio di Radioastronomia)
Carlo Stanghellini (INAF Osservatorio di Radioastronomia)

 

Topics

Stellar explosions and eruptions
Galactic and extragalactic transients
Non electromagnetic counterparts and neutrinos
Locating and studying new classes of transients
Multifrequency time-domain astronomy: the role and legacy of future surveys
The extreme physics of compact objects and supermassive BH

 

Rationale

Rationale: The next decade is going to bring us a revolution in the accessibility of the dynamic sky thanks to new facilities from radio (with the Square Kilometre Array, SKA), through optical (with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, LSST), X-rays (e-ROSITA), up to very high energies (with the Cherenkov Telescope Array, CTA); non-electromagnetic detectors will also play an unprecedented role in unveiling the transient sky. As we approach the opening of these new facilities, it is time to focus on the current state of the art for transient studies and to plan the best strategies for extracting the best science from the new facilities.

The range of astrophysical sources of interest in this context is quite broad: slow and fast transients can be associated to various stages of stellar evolution (novae, supernovae, gamma-ray bursts), compact objects (rotating neutron stars, pulsars, microquasars, black holes, X-ray and gamma-ray binaries), or supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (tidal disruption events and blazar flares). A number of yet unclassified transients is also present in many wavelengths, which is only the tip of the iceberg of entire populations that will be discovered by various facilities such as the SKA pathfinders and precursors (LOFAR, MWA, MeerKAT, ASKAP). Gravitational waves, cosmic rays, and neutrino detectors will also become main characters in this field. New classes of transient will be discovered and their understanding can only be possible through a multi-wavelength approach.

A “Locating Astrophysical Transients” workshop was held in May 2013 in Leiden (NL). About sixty participants from the five continents participated in this lively 4-day event. The event was organised in sessions with both talks and open discussion time. Exciting results were announced, including the discovery of new Lorimer-type fast radio transients and a new determination of a dwarf nova (published in Nature and Science, respectively). The workshop had a great success in connecting the various communities and several new collaborations and projects started from that networking.

Given the fast progress in this field, a follow-up event is an obvious necessity. We plan to organise another four day meeting in 2017 as a IAU Symposium. We will form a Scientific Organising Committee that includes both experienced people from the previous workshop (Zsolt Paragi, one of the chairs, Steven Tingay, Joeri Van Leeuween, and more tbc), new young members from various fields of the transient community (Giancarlo Ghirlanda for GRBs, and others tbc for novae, pulsars, binaries, and more) and representatives from the major observing facilities (SKA,, LSST, CTA).

Invited speakers will cover the details of the most important and recent results in the dynamic sky: open questions on individual classes (the origin of gamma-ray emission in novae, the energetics and geometry of gamma-ray bursts, the very nature of fast radio bursts, the rate of occurrence of tidal disruption events and their use for galaxy dynamics and evolution, and more) as well as plans for a proper characterisation of the plethora of new transients that will be detected by the new facilities.

In this context, the relevance of locating the transients with high angular resolution will be carried over from the previous meeting. Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) will also be a key technique to contribute to many of the science areas of the workshop; for known transients as well, it contributes the possibility to reveal and monitor the geometry of the sources, being in general the only way to spatially resolve them.

The scientific groups working on the new facilities, given their timescales, involve several young scientists at the start of their career. This symposium will therefore be an opportunity for them to show up and present their work while getting in touch with the largest community working on transients. The SOC will consider the opportunity to allocate a dedicated session to the promotion/presentation of young researchers/post-docs/phd.

The proposed host city for the symposium is Noto, in the province of Siracusa of the mediterranean island of Sicily (Italy). Noto is the site of a 32m radio telescope that operates as an element of several VLBI arrays. In particular, the Noto radio telescope is the southernmost station of the European VLBI Network (EVN) and could serve as an ideal link to the future African VLBI Network (AVN). The AVN will significantly improve the science which can be done with the global VLBI network and will help to develop skills and interest in electronics, communications technology, and astronomy in the participating countries. Moreover, the Noto radio telescope is capable of real-time data transfer, which is a key feature for prompt reaction and characterisation

Moreover, Noto is one of the “Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto" listed in the UNESCO world heritage list. It is a beautiful city, with nice weather, excellent food, and unique hospitality. It is served by Catania Fontanarossa international airport. The Noto radio telescope is operated by the newly founded INAF Osservatorio di Radioastronomia (ORA). The ORA carries the legacy of the Instituto di Radioastronomia, a historical institution of Italian astronomy, with a long tradition in the organisation of conferences and workshops, including IAU Symposia IAUS 100 (VLBI and Compact Radio Sources, as early as 1983) and IAUS 175 (Extragalactic Radio Sources, in 1995).