Issue 19-02, January 17, 2019
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- MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR: HELP END THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: CONTACT YOUR SENATE AND HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES TODAY
- EPSC-DPS 2019 JOINT MEETING: FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR SESSIONS
- SBAG JANUARY 2019 MEETING AND REGISTRATION DEADLINE
- SIGN UP FOR AAS CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY 2019
- NEW HORIZONS IN PLANETARY SYSTEMS
- OPAG ANNOUNCEMENT: UPDATE ON OPAG MEETING PLANNING
- ABSCICON 2019: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS ON “OBSERVATIONS OF OCEAN WORLDS”
- BINARY ASTEROIDS 5
- THE DPS COMMITTEE REMINDS YOU TO VOTE IN THE AAS ELECTIONS
- JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
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MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR: HELP END THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN:
CONTACT YOUR SENATE AND HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES TODAY
The continuing government shutdown is beginning to have significant impacts
on governtment-funded missions, facilities, and research, including DPS
members and their families. So please contact your representatives in Congress
and encourage them to work with their colleagues to end this shutdown.
Tell your representatives in Congress how the shutdown is impacting you in
your professional and personal life, and ask them to pass legislation today that
ends the shutdown, provides full-year spending to these agencies, and gets
federal employees back to work.
Contact your Senate and House representatives. Specific contact information
can be found at https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.
Also, send a brief message to the White House at
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.
Linda Spilker
DPS Chair
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EPSC-DPS 2019 JOINT MEETING: FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR SESSIONS
The EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 will take place at the Centre
International de Conférences de Genève (CICG), Geneva, Switzerland,
from 15–20 September 2019.
The success of this joint meeting is founded on the excellence of its sessions
and conveners. So we encourage you to make session proposals on the conference
website by 5 February 2019:
The meeting will cover the whole scope of planetary science and you can propose
sessions for the following programme groups:
TP – Terrestrial Planets
OPS – Outer Planet Systems
MIT – Missions, Instrumentation, Techniques
SB – Small Bodies (comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust)
EXO – Exoplanets and Origins
ODA – Outreach, Diversity, Amateur Astronomy
We look forward to many good proposals for exciting sessions.
Please contact us at epsc-dps2019@copernicus.org in case of any questions.
Best regards,
Maria Cristina De Sanctis & Joe Spitale
Scientific organizing committee chairs
Jean-Pierre Lebreton
Executive EPSC committee chair
Linda Spilker
DPS Chair
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SBAG JANUARY 2019 MEETING AND REGISTRATION DEADLINE
To the Small Bodies community:
We have decided to proceed with SBAG 20, the meeting of the Small Bodies
Assessment Group, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, January 29-31.
While we were, like everyone else, hoping that the partial government shutdown
would be resolved long before this, the folks who will be running the meeting
for us work for organizations that have not run out of money yet, and there was
a feeling among the Steering Committee that it is important to have a meeting
of some sort, and that a physical meeting (with a virtual option) was preferable,
particularly if the shutdown resolves in the next week or two.
Please visit the meeting website for details about logistics, registration, and a
preliminary agenda :
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/sbag/meetings/
The registration deadline is Friday, January 18, 2019.
Thanks, and I hope to see many of you, or at least to be able to interact with
you via Adobe Connect.
Tim Swindle,
SBAG Chair
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SIGN UP FOR CONGRESSIONAL VISITS DAY 2019
Every year the AAS brings volunteers to Washington, DC, for Congressional
Visits Day (CVD) to advocate for federal support of their science with their
members of Congress. This year the AAS CVD will be held Monday-Wednesday,
11-13 March 2019. Would you like to advocate for the research efforts, education
programs, and facilities in the planetary sciences that enable STEM engagement
and innovation across disciplines and sectors? Then read on, and sign up today!
The AAS aims to select at least 15 volunteers who balance the program by
division membership, location, career stage, and experience. Find more details
and the CVD 2019 Sign-Up Form at:
https://aas.org/posts/blog/2019/01/call-volunteers-congressional-visits-day-2019
Sign-ups are open now through 26 January 2019. Selected volunteers will be
notified in mid-February 2019. Note that: You must be an AAS member; You
must be eligible to vote in the United States; Business attire is required; The
AAS will cover the majority of travel expenses for volunteers selected to
participate, as our budget allows; and Submitting the form does not guarantee
you a slot in this year's CVD. Also look ahead for AAS participation in the
Science-Engineering-Technology (SET) Working Group CVD sometime in
May-June 2019 (exact dates TBD).
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NEW HORIZONS IN PLANETARY SYSTEMS
NOTE: February 1st is the deadline for abstract submission and applications
for travel and childcare support
New Horizons in Planetary Systems
Understanding planetary systems from protoplanetary disks through to
the solar system, exoplanets and debris disks 13-17 May 2019 Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada
Financial Assistance
Travel support as well as childcare support will be available for those who
need financial assistance to attend.
For more information, see the meeting website:
http://go.nrao.edu/NewHorizons
Web: http://go.nrao.edu/NewHorizons
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vicplanetsys
Twitter: #VicPlanetSys
The meeting is jointly organized by NRC Herzberg and NRAO – as part of
their roles within the North American ALMA Science Center (NAASC) and
will have a broad scope, including planetary systems in formation within
protoplanetary disks, minor objects in the solar system, debris disks and
exoplanets. Experts will be asked to provide insights from all these fields to
enhance our understanding of how planets form and evolve.
Although it is organized by the NAASC, the meeting is not ALMA-centric,
with a strong focus on the impact of the New Horizons mission flyby of a
Kuiper Belt Object in January 2019, as well as experts from the Transiting
Exoplanet Survey Satellite and other facilities, who will be asked to provide
a multi-chromatic picture of the current understanding in their fields. Invited
speakers have been asked to provide broadly accessible talks.
The meeting will be held at the Victoria Conference Centre in the heart of
picturesque Victoria, British Columbia, on Canada's Pacific coast. Local
attractions include whale watching, wine tours, the world-famous Butchart
Gardens, and the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. Excellent beaches,
diving, camping and hiking are all within a day's drive from Victoria.
Invited speakers
• Diana Dragomir (MIT Kavli Institute): TESS early results
• Brett Gladman (UBC): theory of planet formation
• Grant Kennedy (Warwick): debris disk constraints on planet formation
• Heather Knutson (Caltech): exoplanet atmospheric composition
• Emmanuel Lellouch (Obs de Paris): solar system objects, constraints on formation
• Karin Öberg (Harvard): protoplanetary disk composition and chemistry
• John Spencer (SWRI): New Horizons KBO flyby: first results
• Geronimo Villaneuva (NASA Goddard): cometary chemistry and early planet formation
• Zhaohuan Zhu (UNLV): Protoplanetary disk composition/chemistry
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OPAG ANNOUNCEMENT: UPDATE ON OPAG MEETING PLANNING
Due to the ongoing US Government Shutdown, the OPAG Steering Committee
has decided to postpone the next OPAG meeting, which was originally
planned for February 5-6 at NASA Headquarters.
We are currently tentatively planning to have the meeting on April 23-24 in Washington
DC area.
Please stay tuned to various planetary science newsletters and the OPAG
website for future updates.
see: https://www.lpi.usra.edu/opag/
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ABSCICON 2019: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS ON "OBSERVATIONS OF OCEAN WORLDS"
Abstract submissions are welcomed for Session 66117:
"Observations of Ocean Worlds from Spacecraft, Ground and Space Observatories"
Session Description:
NASA’s space missions to the giant planets – the Pioneers, Voyagers,
Galileo and Cassini – have dramatically revised our understanding of the
outer solar system, especially with regard to the icy moons and Titan.
Multiple lines of evidence – gravitational, observational and direct sensing
of magnetic fields and particle environments – now point to previously
unanticipated interior oceans in multiple bodies including Enceladus, Titan
and the three outermost Galilean satellites of Jupiter. Moreover, the Dawn
mission at Ceres and New Horizons flyby of the Pluto-Charon system have
hinted at further liquid interiors in these dwarf planets. In addition, these
bodies have attracted significant attention from ground and space-based
observatories: including Hubble, Keck, ALMA and others; with the objective
of reinforcing mission measurements and making new findings. In the future,
the promise of new deep space facilities such as JWST and WFIRST, and
thirty-meter class ground-based telescopes for further discovery is enticing.
This session solicits research contributions focusing on observations of ocean
worlds from across the spectrum, from space missions and observatories to
terrestrial telescopes. In addition, we welcome experimental and theoretical
work of all types that aim to support, model or interpret observational data,
with the goal of promoting synergistic science and exchange of results.
AbSciCon 2019 will be held in Bellevue, Washington from June 24-28th.
The recently extended abstract deadline is Wednesday March 6th 11:59 PM ET at:
https://connect.agu.org/abscicon/program/abstract-submission-guidelines
Conveners: Conor Nixon, Stefanie Milam, Carly Howett,
Lucas Paganini, Anne Verbiscer.
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BINARY ASTEROIDS 5
The first Binary Asteroids in the Solar System Workshop was held in Steamboat
Springs, CO, in 2007. The workshop has been held every three years since in
Poland, Hawai'i, and the Czech Republic.
It is time for the 5th workshop, which will return to Colorado, this time in
Fort Collins, near the Colorado State University campus, on 2019 September 3-5.
Details are available at
The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 60. Registration and
abstract submission are now open.
The workshops are characterized by a relaxed atmosphere and free format, with
almost as much time for discussion as for the presentations themselves.
The goal of the workshop is to bring together various ideas on the detection,
characterization, formation, and implications of binary and multiple objects
among the NEO, main-belt, Trojan, Centaur, TNO populations. We hope to include
all of the many modes of observation, in all of the dynamical populations, as
well as theory and numerical modeling of formation and evolution of these
systems. We especially welcome the new topics of rings of small bodies, and
heliocentric orbital pairs of asteroids and their implications.
There should be some funds available for students to waive either the
registration fee or for travel support. Students hoping for a grant
should register soon. No payment will be required at the time. However,
registering will reserve a seat in the meeting room pending review of
the request. Proof of student status may be required.
We're looking for professionals to volunteer to serve on the SOC. If willing,
please send an email to Brian D. Warner <brian@MinorPlanetObserver.com>
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THE DPS COMMITTEE REMINDS YOU TO VOTE IN THE AAS ELECTIONS
Don't forget to vote in AAS elections. The DPS is the largest AAS division.
The following DPS members are candidates for AAS Officers and At-Large Trustees:
President - Chick Woodward
Vice President - Stephen Unwin
Secretary - Alice K.B. Monet
At-Large Trustee – Hannah Jang-Condell
Balloting closes at 11:59 pm EST on 31 January 2019
https://aas.org/posts/news/2018/12/vote-2019-aas-election
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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
A) POST-DOC POSITION ON EXOPLANETS AT MEUDON OBSERVATORY
The Laboratoire d’Etudes Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique
(LESIA, France) invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowship in
exoplanet atmospheric and spectroscopic studies. The candidates will join
the team funded by the ANR "e-PYTHEAS" (http://e-pytheas.cnrs.fr/) led
by Dr. Athena Coustenis at LESIA. The initial appointment will be for 18
months, with a possible 6-month extension.
The successful candidate will work closely with Dr. Benjamin Charnay and
Dr. Bruno Bézard and also interact with members of the e-PYTHEAS team,
including A. Coustenis, P. Drossart, T. Encrenaz (LESIA), P. Lavvas (GSMA,
France) and G. Tinetti (UCL, UK), as well as with spectroscopists in the
team providing important data for these studies. He/she will also be involved
in the preparation of the newly selected ESA ARIEL mission
(https://ariel-spacemission.eu).
The e-PYTHEAS team obtained new ab initio molecular line lists in the
1-17 μm wavelength region for hydrocarbons and their isotopologues such
as 12CH4, 13CH4, CH3D, C2H2, C2H4 and C2H6 up to 2500 K
(http://theorets.univ-reims.fr/molecules). The main goal of the postdoc
project is to analyze the effects of these new line lists on transit and
emission spectra of warm/hot exoplanets and to estimate the detectability
of these molecules by current (HST, VLT, …) and future telescopes
(JWST, ARIEL, ELT). Transit and emission spectra will be produced
at low and high spectral resolution using a 1-D radiative-convective
model developed at LESIA (Exo-REM). The candidate will incorporate
the new molecular opacities in the atmospheric model and adapt Exo-REM
to irradiated planets and transit spectroscopy. He/she will afterwards apply
it to brown dwarfs and young giant exoplanets observed by direct imaging
(e.g. VLT/SPHERE) and to warm/hot transiting exoplanets observed by
e.g. Spitzer or HST.
The successful candidate will be hosted by LESIA in Meudon, France.
The net salary will be around 2400€/month + reimbursement of transport
fees. Benefits include complete health insurance coverage and social security,
as required by French law. The position is for 18 months.
A PhD in physics, astronomy or a related discipline is required at the time
when the position starts. Expertise in radiative transfer and molecular
spectroscopy modelling is required.
Applications must be received electronically at:
https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/CDD/UMR8109-SYLDES-003/Default.aspx
by February 28th, 2019 for full consideration.
The successful applicant is expected to start between April and October 2019.
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Send submissions to:
Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary (dpssec@aas.org)
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