Issue 15-06, February 3, 2015
+—————————–CONTENTS——————————–+
- ABSCICON 2015: FINDING HABITABLE WORLDS AND LIFE BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
- FOCUS MEETING “HIGHLIGHTS IN THE EXPLORATION ON SMALL WORLDS” FM9 AT IAU-GA
- CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: LOW-COST PLANETARY MISSIONS CONFERENCE
- NASA SEEKING VOLUNTEERS FOR REVIEW PANELS
- 26th IUGG GENERAL ASSEMBLY
- NESSF DEADLINE EXTENDED
+——————————————————————————————–+
1———1———1———1———1———1———1———1———1———1
ABSCICON 2015: FINDING HABITABLE WORLDS AND LIFE BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Please join us for the session on “Finding Habitable Worlds and Life Beyond the Solar System” at the upcoming AbSciCon meeting this summer, June 15-19 in Chicago, Illinois. This session invites contributions on the science and technology requirements for the next generation of observatories that will undertake the search for life beyond the solar system. Topics to be covered in this session include signs of exoplanet habitability and global biosignatures that can be sought with upcoming instrumentation; instrument requirements and technologies to detect these markers; strategies for target selection and prioritization; and impacts of planetary system properties, telescope architecture, and instrument capabilities on the yield of potentially inhabited exoplanets.
Abstract submission is now open (deadline March 4), and details, as well as a list of other session topics, are available at the AbSciCon website (http://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/abscicon2015/).
Theme: Habitability of Exoplanets
Session Title: Finding Habitable Worlds and Life Beyond the Solar System
Summary: What could the near future hold for detecting habitable, and eventually inhabited, extrasolar planets? This session will focus on the science and technology requirements for the next generation of observatories that will undertake the search for life beyond the solar system. Topics to be covered in this session include signs of exoplanet habitability and global biosignatures that can be sought with upcoming instrumentation; instrument requirements and technologies to detect these markers; strategies for target selection and prioritization; and impacts of planetary system properties, telescope architecture, and instrument capabilities on the yield of potentially inhabited exoplanets. This session will also be an opportunity to discuss longer term, visionary ideas for finding Earth 2.0 and even technological civilizations — potentially answering the question “Are we alone?” We encourage abstracts on space- and groundbased facilities and on concepts that can discover potentially habitable worlds around other stars (such as MEarth, Kepler, TESS, and PLATO), as well as characterize them spectrally and temporally (such as groundbased ELTs, JWST, WFIRST, Exo-C, Exo-S, and ATLAST) and search for signs of intelligent life (such as the SKA). The session will review current perspectives on these topics, consider some even bolder ideas, and imagine where we could be in one, two, or three decades. This session is co-organized by Victoria Meadows (University of Washington), Avi Mandell (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), Franck Marchis (SETI Institute), and Margaret Turnbull (Global Science Institute).
2———2———2———2———2———2———2———2———2———2
FOCUS MEETING “HIGHLIGHTS IN THE EXPLORATION ON SMALL WORLDS” FM9 AT NEXT IAU-GENERAL ASSEMBLY, HONOLULU, AUG 11-13, 2015
Rationale
This focus meeting will highlight results obtained from various ongoing space missions to small Solar System bodies (Rosetta, Dawn, New Horizons, Cassini-Huygens, HERSCHEL, Gaia, …), as well as recent achievements obtained from other space facilities, including past space missions, ground-based telescopes, and geochemical analyses. The meeting aims at discussing aspects of the Solar System formation and evolution,through studies on the complex and rich evolution of the diverse small bodies of the Solar system. The meeting will also address the cosmo-chemistry and physical properties across the continuum of small bodies (asteroids, comets, planetary satellites, dwarf planets, main-belt comets), with the objective to better understand their interrelations in the context of planetary formation.
Sessions
Recent results and news will be presented by key speakers and additional contributions (oral and posters) distributed over the following sessions :
-highlights from space missions
-chemical and physical properties of small worlds
-hotspots of the triennium
-the asteroid-comet continuum
-the ISM/Solar System connection
-future missions will be covered by the poster session
Some confirmed invited speakers
Claudia Alexander (USA), C. Russel (USA), A. Mainzer (USA), T. Müller (DE), N. Peixinho (CI), N. Biver (FR), K. Stephan (DE), N. Pinilla-Alonso (USA), Z. Martins (UK), M. Cordiner (USA), K. Battams (USA), J. Borovič ka (CZ), A. Morbidelli (FR), H. Hsieh (TW), B. Carry (FR), C. Engrand (FR), K. Oberg (USA), K. Altwegg (CH), E. Wirstroem (SW), J. Castillo-Rogez (USA),
For more information: http://astronomy2015.org/focus_meeting_9
There is room for contributed talks as well as posters. Contributors are invited to submit abstractathttp://astronomy2015.org/abstracts (deadline March, 18)
Grant applications are encouraged, in particular for young participants (PhD. and post-docs), before April 1st, 2015
http://www.iau.org/science/grants_prizes/iau_grants/ga_events/ga_application_form/
The Organising Committee
D. Bockelé-Morvan, Paola Casetti, D. Hestroffer
3———3———3———3———3———3———3———3———3———3
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: 11th IAA LOW-COST PLANETARY MISSIONS CONFERENCE
LCPM-11, June 9-11, 2015, Berlin, Germany.
The organizers of LCPM-11 call your attention to a key date: Abstract submittal deadline is March 2, 2015. Please see the URL below for details.
http://www.dlr.de/pf/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-9912/
Also, please note that NASA employees and contractors must enter their forecast into the NASA Conference Tracking System as soon as possible.
4———4———4———4———4———4———4———4———4———4
NASA SEEKING VOLUNTEERS FOR REVIEW PANELS
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate is seeking subject matter experts to serve as mail-in and/or panel meeting reviewers of research proposals in Earth and Space science.
We have posted new volunteer reviewer forms for ROSES 2014 Habitable Worlds, and Astrophysics Research and Analysis calls and the Earth and Space Science graduate student fellowship programs.
To volunteer just fill out the forms at http://science.nasa.gov/researchers/volunteer-review-panels/
5———5———5———5———5———5———5———5———5———5
26TH IUGG GENERAL ASSEMBLY
http://www.iugg2015prague.com/
The 26th General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) will be held in Prague, Czech Republic, from the 22nd of June to the 2nd of July 2015, at the Prague Congress Center.
Online registration is now open and until June 15, 2015 (early deadline is April 10, 2015). Abstract submission deadline is February 8, 2015.
Please consider submitting an abstract to the IAMAS/ICPAE-related symposia, as follows:
– M08 Comparative Planetary Atmospheres within and beyond the Solar System
Convener: Feng Tian (Beijing, China)
Co-conveners: Sanjay Limaye (Madison, USA), Leigh Fletcher (Oxford, U.K.), Darrell Strobel (Baltimore, USA), Athena Coustenis (Paris, France)
Description
Topics include all aspects and characteristics of atmospheres from terrestrial worlds to giant planets; the evolutionary paths of various atmospheres, especially exoplanets thought to be habitable. Planetary origins both in our solar system and in exoplanetary systems will also be featured. Contributions should focus on the comparative aspect of these research topics, and broader relevance to atmospheric sciences.
– M09 Solar System Exploration of Atmospheres with Ground-Based and Space-Based Platforms
Convener: Sanjay Limaye (Madison, USA)
Co-conveners: Ralf Greve (Tokyo, Japan), Leigh Fletcher (Oxford, U.K.), Darrell Strobel (Baltimore, USA)
Description
Topics include recent contributions from missions and space-based observatories including, but not limited to, atmospheric composition and chemistry; density and thermal structure; dynamics and energetics; clouds, aerosols and haze. Themes include climate and seasonal variations, surface atmosphere interactions, “hydrological” cycles, atmospheric escape and evolution.
Warm Regards,
The ICPAE Bureau
6———6———6———6———6———6———6———6———6———6
NASA EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE FELLOWSHIP (NESSF) DEADLINE EXTENDED
Due to the severe winter weather conditions experienced in parts of the country and the resultant power outages and other hardship conditions, the proposal submission deadline for the subject program is being extended to 11:59 p.m. on February 6, 2015.
So that all proposers may prepare high-quality, responsive proposals, this change will allow additional proposal preparation time for proposers who may have been impacted by these conditions. Accordingly, the target date for announcing the selection results is amended to May 22, 2015.
For further information about the NESSF Program, please contact: Program Administrator for NESSF Earth Science Research – Claire Macaulay at (202) 358-0151 or by E-mail at [email protected].
Program Administrator for NESSF Heliophysics Research, Planetary Science Research, and Astrophysics Research – Dolores Holland at (2302) 358-0734 or by E-mail at [email protected]
—
Anne J. Verbiscer
Research Associate Professor
Department of Astronomy
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4325