SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT FOR A JOINT DISCUSSION AT THE
XXVII IAU GENERAL ASSEMBLY, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, 3-14 AUGUST 2009
Joint Discussion: NEUTRON STARS: TIMING IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
Duration: 1.5 days
Coordinating IAU Divisions: XI
Participating IAU Divisions: V, X
Participating IAU Commissions: 40, 44
This is the second announcement of the JD on NEUTRON STARS: TIMING IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS. As the JD will take place during the IAU General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro, the process of registration will be dealt with by the GA and the deadlines are coordinated with the organization of the main event. There is no need to register for this specific JD. Abstract submission will also be dealt with centrally at the GA site.
You can find info on the JD at http://www.brera.inaf.it/IAU2009extreme/index.html .
For registration, logistics and abstract submission, please visit the GA web site http://www.astronomy2009.com.br/
Pre-registration is already open, while registration will open on 2008 November 1st.
IMPORTANT DEADLINES
Opening of registration, abstract submission: 2008 November 1st
Opening of applications for travel grants: 2008 November 1st
Deadline for abstract submission and application for travel grants: 2009 March 1st
STRUCTURE OF THE JD
The Joint Discussion will take place on a total of 1.5 days. In addition to the ten invited speakers listed below, solicited speakers will be selected. We have room for 14 contributed talks, plus a poster session.
Scientific rationale:
Astronomical systems harboring a neutron star, from isolated and binary radio pulsars to magnetars and accreting X-ray binaries, constitute a unique tool for the study of matter under extreme conditions. Testing General Relativity in the strong-field regime and the determination of the equation of state of neutron matter are major goals which appear more and more within reach. The availability of high-energy missions such as XMM-Newton, Chandra and Suzaku for energy spectra and RossiXTE for fast time variability, as well as the discovery of a new binary radio pulsar, have spurred these lines of research. The results from high-energy Cherenkov experiments like MAGIC and HESS are opening a new window to study the extreme environment close to compact objects. Agile and GLAST will be fully operational, providing an unprecedented view of this type of systems. The proposed Joint Discussion aims at getting together experts in these fields for an analysis of the current situation and a view toward future prospects. 2009 will be the fourteenth year of operation of RossiXTE and it will mark the 10-year anniversary of the launch of XMM-Newton and Chandra. The Indian satellite for X-ray astronomy ASTROSAT will be in orbit, providing crucial fast-timing information. In addition, ESA, NASA and JAXA are currently analyzing the possibility of joining forces by merging the two major X-ray programs (Constellation-X and XEUS) into one large mission and we expect that the conclusions reached in this JD will help shape up the science program for it. All these constitute an ideal milestone for such a meeting. The proposed program includes nine major topics for which two solicited talks are envisioned, together with a small number of selected contributed talks. An additional session, distributed through the two days, will address future instrumentation for timing analysis. A poster session is also envisioned. A IAU JD provides an ideal setting for such a meeting and will allow discussions focused to these topics. Although the emphasis is on time variability, all aspects will be addressed, from radio observations to high-resolution spectra and high-energy emission.
Invited speakers:
- F. Aharonian (Germany)
- N. Andersson (UK)
- D. Barret (France)
- D. Bhattacharya (India)
- A. Cumming (Canada)
- C. Kouveliotou (USA)
- J. Lattimer (USA)
- M. McLaughlin (USA)
- M. Méndez (Netherlands)
- R. Wijnands (Netherlands)
Scientific organizing committee:
Tomaso Belloni (co-chair, Italy), Mariano Méndez (co-chair, Netherlands), Chengmin Zhang (co-chair, China), Ali Alpar (Turkey), Didier Barret (France), Deepto Chakrabarty (USA), Marat Gilfanov (Germany/Russia), Jorge Horvath (Brazil), Vicky Kaspi (Canada), Duncan Lorimer (USA), Michiel van der Klis (Netherlands), Donald Melrose (Australia), Dany Page (Mexico), Andreas Reisenegger (Chile) Gustavo Romero (Argentina)
Information on the XXVII IAU GA can be found at http://www.astronomy2009.com.br/
Information on this JD will soon be available at
http://www.brera.inaf.it/IAU2009extreme/index.html
Conference email: IAU2009extreme@brera.inaf.it
Best Regards
Chair:
Tomaso M. Belloni
INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera
Via E. Bianchi 46, I23807 Merate, ITALY
E-mail: tomaso.belloni@brera.inaf.it
Mariano Méndez
Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, THE NETHERLANDS
E-Mail: mariano@astro.rug.nl
Chengmin Zhang
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
E-mail: zhangcm@bao.ac.cn