Newsletter 19-09

Issue 19-09, March 9, 2019

 

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  1. IN MEMORIAM: JAY T. BERGSTRALH (1943-2019)
  2. CALL FOR DPS 2019 PRIZE NOMINATIONS
  3. 2019B NASA IRTF CALL FOR PROPOSALS
  4. NOAO 2019B OBSERVING PROPOSALS
  5. BUILDING THE NASA CITIZEN SCIENCE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP
  6. TITAN AFTER CASSINI-HUYGENS WORKSHOP
  7. 2019 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SEMINAR APPLICATIONS OPEN
  8. ASTEROID SCIENCE IN THE AGE OF HAYABUSA 2 AND OSIRIS-REX
  9. JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES

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IN MEMORAIM: JAY T. BERGSTRALH (1943-2019)

 

It is with great sadness that we report the death of our colleague, Dr. Jay T.

Bergstralh on February 16, 2019, at age 75 after a long battle with progressive

aphasia and dementia.  Jay graduated from Carleton College in 1965 with a

degree in Astronomy and the University of Texas in 1972 with Masters and

Doctoral degrees in Astronomy.  He also gained experience at the US Naval

Observatory and Aeronutronic Systems, Inc. during this period.   Jay subsequently

accepted a National Research Council postdoctoral position at the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory, where he remained as an employee until 1988, when he was detailed

to NASA Headquarters.  He became a career Civil Servant in 1992, working

at NASA Headquarters until 2004 when he moved to NASA’s Langley Research

Center, where he served as Chief Scientist until his retirement in 2012. At the

University of Texas, he was the first graduate of the Astronomy Department

to do thesis work in the field of planetary sciences.  At JPL he conducted

original research on the atmospheres of Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus

and on Jupiter’s satellite, Io, primarily from ground-based astronomy; he also

worked on the Voyager mission Photopolarimeter System team. He took on

the role of Science Organizing Chair for the first American Astronomical

Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences meeting in Pasadena, California, in

1978.   While at JPL he also became the first Chair of the DPS from a NASA

field center in 1986-1987.  Following the Voyager flyby, he organized a

conference on the Uranus system and was the lead editor of the comprehensive

book Uranus, published in 1991 by the University of Arizona Press.  During 

his tenure at NASA Headquarters, Jay managed the Planetary Atmospheres

research grants program, became the Associate Director for Solar System 

Exploration and Program Scientist for the Galileo, Cassini, Europa Orbiter

and Messenger missions, and for the Discovery Program.  At Langley, his

work included the development of spacecraft instrumentation concepts. 

Besides his scientific curiosity and public service at NASA, he was a

quintessential gentleman and a man of diverse interests, including history

and traditional woodworking. We will miss his quiet sense of humor, including

memorable renditions of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Modern Major General”. 

He is survived by Jane, his wife of 52 years, their three children Carol, 

Daniel, and David, and by five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

 

Further insight into Jay’s life is accessible from an AIP oral history he provided

in 1983, available at: 

https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/2819

He also provided some public insight into the Voyager mission in a PBS interview

with Gwen Ifil on the 20th anniversary of Voyager’s launch:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/fantastic-voyage.

 

Glenn Orton and Kevin Baines

 

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CALL FOR DPS 2019 PRIZE NOMINATIONS

 

Deadline: April 1, 2019

 

Every year the DPS recognizes exceptional achievement in our field.

Please consider nominating a respected colleague for one of the annual

DPS prizes. The DPS sponsors five prizes:

 

The Gerard P. Kuiper Prize honors outstanding contributions to the field

 of planetary science.

 

The Harold C. Urey Prize recognizes outstanding achievement in planetary

research by a young scientist.

 

The Harold Masursky Award acknowledges outstanding service to planetary

science and exploration.

 

The Carl Sagan Medal recognizes and honors outstanding communication

by an active planetary scientist to the general public.

 

The Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award recognizes and

stimulates distinguished popular writing on planetary sciences.

 

DPS members and the planetary science community-at-large are encouraged to

submit nominations for DPS prizes.

 

A complete nomination submitted by the deadline will be considered by the

DPS Prize subcommittee for 3 years (i.e. for this year’s award, next year’s award,

and the year after that), or for the duration of a candidate’s eligibility, whichever

is less. Please fill out the nomination form, and it will be submitted to the prize

subcommittee. The Eberhart Award has different rules and procedures than the

other DPS Prizes, please see its page for more information.

 

Scroll to the bottom of prizes for rules and procedures.

Questions: [email protected]

 

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2019B NASA IRTF Call for Proposals

 

The due date for the 2019B semester (August 1, 2019 to January 31, 2020)

is Monday, April 1, 2019. See our online submission form 

http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/observing/applicationForms.php, which is 

available for proposal submission from 12:00AM on March 01, 2019

until 5:00PM on April 01, 2019 HST. Available instruments include:

(1) SpeX, a 0.7 – 5.3 micron cross-dispersed medium-resolution spectrograph

(up to R=2,500) and imager;

(2) MORIS, a 512×512 pixel Andor CCD camera (60″x60″ field-of-view)

mounted at the side-facing window of the SpeX cryostat that can be used

simultaneously with SpeX;

(3) iSHELL, a 1.06 – 5.3 micron cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph

(up to R=80,000) and imager;

(4) MIRSI/MOC, a 5 – 20 micron camera and grism spectrograph (available

as shared risk).

Information on available facility and visitor instruments and performance can

be found at: http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/instruments. Exposure time calculators 

for SpeX and iSHELL are available on the respective instrument webpages.

Please see http://irtfweb.ifa.hawaii.edu/observing/callForProposals.php for the full text.

 

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NOAO 2019B OBSERVING PROPOSALS DUE 1 APRIL 2019  

 

Dear Colleague: 

 

This is a reminder that NOAO has issued a Call for Proposals (CfP) for

Semester 2019B, with proposals due by 1 April 2019 at 11:59pm

Mountain Standard Time (MST).  The 2019B CfP can be found at 
http://ast.noao.edu/observing/call-for-proposals-2019b 

 

Proposal forms and information for observing time requests for the

2019B semester (1 August 2019 – 31 January 2020) are available on the

NOAO web page:

http://ast.noao.edu/observing/proposal-info 

 

Time requests for 2019B may be made for Gemini North and South, Cerro

Tololo Inter-American Observatory (including SOAR and SMARTS), and

Kitt Peak National Observatory (including WIYN).  This semester will see

the last semester of public access to the Large Binocular  Telescope (LBT)

under the current TSIP agreement.  Time continues to be available on the

automated global telescope network of Las  Cumbres Observatory (LCO),

as well as the CHARA interferometer.  Nights  are also available on the

Subaru and AAT telescopes through time-exchange agreements.   

 

Of particular note is the NN-EXPLORE program, which continues on both the

WIYN 3.5m and the CTIO/SMARTS 1.5m telescope with the CHIRON precision

radial-velocity spectrometer, but is now expanding to include time  (5 nights) on

the AAT 3.9m with the Veloce precision radial-velocity  spectrometer.  The new

precision radial-velocity spectrograph, NEID, is expected to be available on the

WIYN 3.5m towards the end of semester 2019B (no earlier than November) and

shared risk proposals can be submitted for NEID.  For more details see the Call

for Proposals as well as http://ast.noao.edu/observing/wiyn-exoplanets-2019b  

 

Questions about the proposal form or the proposal process may be directed to

[email protected]. Questions specific to an observing run may be sent

to the site, either [email protected] or [email protected].  Gemini related questions

may be sent to  [email protected] or through the Gemini Helpdesk at:
http://www.gemini.edu/sciops/helpdesk/submit-general-helpdesk-request 

 

Thank you and best wishes,  

Verne Smith, NOAO TAC Program Head

 

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BUILDING THE NASA CITIZEN SCIENCE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

 

Building the NASA Citizen Science Community, June 20-22, 2019,

Hacienda del Sol, Tucson, AZ.

 

Scientists, educators, students, and people interested in learning about, and

joining, citizen science projects are invited attend this 3-day workshop. The

focus has two primary areas of focus: 1) to bring together citizen science

practitioners from NASA and the broader global citizen science community

to discuss best practices from successful citizen science projects, to brainstorm

ideas for new citizen science projects, and to devise ways to grow NASA’s

citizen science community, and 2) to gather students, educators, and citizen

scientists to explore current citizen science projects, learn about the type of

work occurring in different projects, and explore ways to get involved.

Representatives from NASA, iNaturalist, GLOBE, Zooniverse, CosmoQuest,

and other citizen science programs will be present. Registration is free but

limited; registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Breakfast and lunch

are provided all three days.

 

Contact Paul Hardersen at [email protected] or at 520-820-8662 with questions.

Register for the workshop at: https://meeting.psi.edu.

 

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TITAN AFTER CASSINI-HUYGENS WORKSHOP

 

This is a reminder of the ‘Titan after Cassini-Huygens’ 3-day workshop to be

held at the European Space Agency (ESA –European Space Astronomy Centre)

in Madrid on 23-25 September 2019.

The registration (free) and the abstract submission are now open. The registration 

tool and abstract submission page in addition to further information regarding t

he workshop can be found here: 

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/titan-after-cassini-huygens/home 

 

The workshop will include past and new science focusing on the fields and

studies of magnetospheric & atmospheric science, geology, geophysics,

 

astrobiology, Earth-based observations, future missions and more. 

*IMPORTANT*

We are now aware that the APL Cassini meeting has been canceled due to the

Cassini funds being cut. For that reason the organizing committee has decided

to welcome papers that were intended to be presented at the APL meeting for

which (pending participation) we will dedicate an afternoon session focused

on other aspects of the Saturnian system.

 

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2019 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SEMINAR APPLICATIONS OPEN

NASA is accepting applications – from science and engineering post-docs, 

recent PhDs, doctoral students, junior faculty, and engineering students within

6-9 months of completion of their master’s degree but not planning to pursue a

PhD degree, and junior faculty – for its 31st Annual Planetary Science Summer

Seminar. PSSS is a 12-week long career development experience from

May 20 – August 9, 2019, with an onsite culminating week August 5-9, 2019

at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

During the 11 weeks of virtual webinar sessions and the onsite culminating 

week at JPL, student teams will carry out the equivalent of an early mission

concept study, prepare a proposal authorization presentation, present it to a

review board, and receive feedback. By the end of the experience, students

will have a clearer understanding of the life cycle of a space mission;

relationships between mission design, cost, and schedule; and the tradeoffs

necessary to stay within cost and schedule while preserving the quality of science.

Applications are due April 1, 2019. Partial financial support is available 

for a limited number of individuals. Further information is available at

http://psss.jpl.nasa.gov

 

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ASTEROID SCIENCE IN THE AGE OF HAYABUSA 2 AND OSIRIS-REX

 

We are happy to announce the Asteroid Science in the Age of Hayabusa2 and 

OSIRIS-REx workshop scheduled for November 5-7, 2019 at the University 

of Arizona in Tucson, AZ.

 

Purpose and Scope

The workshop provides an opportunity to summarize our understanding of

near-Earth asteroids, following the Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx encounters

with Ryugu and Bennu. The organizers invite contributions spanning all

relevant research on small bodies in the solar system, including comets,

asteroids, meteors, meteorites, and returned samples. Presentations discussing

observations, laboratory work, theoretical investigations, and future mission

concepts are welcome. We plan special sessions on International Collaboration

in Solar System Exploration and Sample Analysis Techniques. Participants are 

invited to suggest additional special topics.

 

Organizers

Dante S. Lauretta

University of Arizona

 

Seiji Sugita

University of Tokyo

 

Patrick Michel

Observatoire de Cote d’Azur

 

https://corex.lpl.arizona.edu/international-workshop

 

Important Dates

  • Indication of Interest deadline: July 5, 2019
  • Abstract deadline: September 6, 2019
  • Program and abstracts available on this website: October 4, 2019
  • Early registration deadline: October 11, 2019
  • Standard registration deadline: October 30, 2019
  • Asteroid Science in the Age of Hayabusa2 and OSIRIS-REx: November 5-7, 2019

 

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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES

 

A) FOUR VACANCIES FOR SOLAR SYSTEM AND EXTRASOLAR PLANETARY

     RESEARCH AT NASA AMES IN MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA.

 

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/526082700

Summary

This position is responsible for conducting scientific research on Solar System

planets and their satellites, origin and evolution of Solar System objects,

structure and dynamics of planetary atmospheres, potentials for habitability,

including extrasolar planets, and on theoretical modeling of such bodies.

Responsibilities

  • This research position is engaged in professional planetary scientific

research which is directed toward discovering, disseminating, and

applying new or expanded knowledge in this discipline.

  • Research includes, but is not limited to, modeling and theoretical

investigations. Knowledge of global, regional atmospheric processes,

such as dynamics, chemistry, radiative transfer and atmospheric/surface

interactions.

  • Conducts Space Science studies relating to theoretical understanding

of planet formation, planetary dynamics and evolution relevant to the

myriad Solar System objects.

  • Conducts science investigations related to planetary geological/

geomorphological processes.

  • Supports Solar System planetary and extrasolar planet exploration

goals of highest priority. Supports the understanding of planetary

habitability and strategic planning for the search for life upon Solar

System objects and/or exoplanetary worlds.

 

B) POSTDOC POSITION

     SPACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE 

     AUSTRIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

 

The Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences

(OeAW) is offering a postdoc position in planetary science (full-time/40h

per week) in the area of planetary science and space plasma physics focusing

on the BepiColombo mission for Mercury.

For further details see:
https://www.oeaw.ac.at/de/die-oeaw/karriere-jobs/offene-stellen/

 

The application deadline is March 31, 2019.

 

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Send submissions to: 

Anne Verbiscer, DPS Secretary ([email protected]

 

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