Issue 21-03, February 7, 2021
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- ARECIBO OBSERVATORY REQUESTS FOR ENDORSEMENTS
- 15TH HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL CONFERENCE
- NASA PI LAUNCHPAD
- BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESOURCES FROM AIP
- 2021 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL
- BU SHIELD WEBINAR: NANCY CROOKER AND FRAN BAGENAL
- JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
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ARECIBO OBSERVATORY REQUESTS FOR ENDORSEMENTS
Requests for Endorsements by Wednesday February 10 for “The Future of the Arecibo Observatory: The Next Generation Arecibo Telescope White Paper 2021”
The Arecibo Observatory (AO) staff, together with members of the scientific community, prepared the white paper “The Future of the Arecibo Observatory: The Next Generation Arecibo Telescope,” which presents a proposal to replace the legacy 305-m Arecibo telescope with a new, unparalleled instrument that will push forward the boundaries of Planetary Science, Space and Atmospheric Sciences, and Astronomy for decades to come. The science requirements presented in the white paper were established from discussions with the community that is in overwhelming agreement on the need to build an enhanced, next-generation radar-radio telescope at the AO site.
This white paper will be presented to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and will be shared with representatives from the U.S. Congress in February to request support for the construction of the Next Generation Arecibo Telescope (NGAT). The NGAT concept presented here is not intended to be final, but it lays the groundwork for engineering and optical studies to begin.
The community support of this white paper is a crucial factor in the future of AO. Thus, we kindly ask you to sign this form of endorsement for the white paper and to share it with your colleagues (and students) in the science community and out of it. Our goal is to collect the majority of endorsements by February 10th.
To access this White Paper and more related information, click here: http://www.naic.edu/ao/ngat
To endorse this white paper, click here:
https://forms.gle/uKPF36H3mBwiizrY9
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15TH HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL CONFERENCE
We would like to invite you to participate in the 15th Hellenic Astronomical Conference, which will take place in Patras, Greece, on July 5-8, 2021.
https://helas.gr/conf/2021/index.php
The Hellenic Astronomical Conference, organized by the Hellenic Astronomical Society (Hel.A.S. - https://helas.gr), is the major scientific event of the greek astronomical community. The conference occurs every two years in a different part of Greece, and brings together scientists with research interests in Astrophysics, Planetary Science, and Space Physics.
Conference sessions
Session 1: "Heliophysics and the Solar System"
Session 2: "Extragalactic Astronomy and Astrophysics"
Session 3: "Cosmology and Relativistic Astrophysics"
Session 4: "Stars, Planets and the Interstellar Medium"
Important dates
Registration & Abstract Submission opens: February 1st, 2021
Abstract Submission closes: April 30th, 2021
Notification of Abstract Acceptance: May 17th, 2021
Registration Deadline: May 31st, 2021
Conference Program: June 18th, 2021
On behalf of the Scientific & Local Organizing committee,
Prof. Vassilis Charmandaris, President of Hel.A.S.
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NASA PI LAUNCHPAD: DEVELOPING YOUR FIRST FLIGHT MISSION PROPOSAL
Important Dates:
Applications due via NSPIRES: March 22, 2021
Workshop Dates: June 14-June 25
Workshop Location: Virtual via WebEx
Are you thinking about developing your first flight mission proposal in the next few years but have no idea where to start? If you are a researcher or engineer who would like to submit a NASA space mission proposal in the next few years but don't know where to start, this June virtual workshop is for you! We are interested in broadening the pool of potential NASA space mission PIs. People with marginalized identities are strongly encouraged to apply. There is no cost to attend the workshop.
PI Launchpad applications and instructions on how to apply are available on the NSPIRES page for this opportunity. All applications must be submitted as a "Notice of Intent" via NSPIRES as a self-contained PDF file that includes your name, organization, and contact information. To create a new account, please see the NSPIRES User Registration Page.
Additional details:
https://science.nasa.gov/researchers/pi-launchpad
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BLACK HISTORY MONTH RESOURCES FROM AIP
In honor of Black History Month, the American Institute of Physics has gathered some resources featuring African American scientists at all levels, from undergraduate students to working professionals to historical figures whose contributions to science and humanity are worthy of celebration.
https://www.aip.org/diversity-initiatives/black-history-month
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BU SHIELD WEBINAR: NANCY CROOKER AND FRAN BAGENAL
Fri Feb. 12th, 2021 2:00 PM EST
“How discoveries are made: Finding the needle in a haystack”
Speaker: Nancy Crooker
Nancy U. Crooker is an American physicist and professor emerita of space physics at Boston University, Massachusetts. She has made major contributions to the understanding of geomagnetism in the Earth’s magnetosphere and the heliosphere, particularly through the study of interplanetary electrons and magnetic reconnection … Crooker was president of the AGU Space Physics & Aeronomy Section from 2004 to 2006 and served on the AGU Board of Directors from 2010 to 2012.
Speaker: Dr. Fran Bagenal
Dr. Fran Bagenal was born and grew up in England. She studied Physics and Geophysics at the University of Lancaster. In 1976, inspired by NASA’s missions to Mars and the prospect of the Voyager mission, she moved to the US for graduate study at MIT. Her 1981 Ph.D. thesis involved analysis of data from the Voyager Plasma Science experiment in Jupiter’s giant magnetosphere and is a research Scientist at the Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics. In addition to the Voyager mission, Dr. Bagenal has been on the science teams of the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Deep Space 1 mission to Comet Borrelly.
Registration link:
https://bostonu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYsd-GvqT8jH9fr9zfyVTHZKBM86xnHuv2i
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2021 NASA PLANETARY SCIENCE SUMMER SCHOOL
Applications Due April 1st
Offered by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, PSSS is a 3-month long career development experience to learn the development of a hypothesis-driven robotic space mission in a concurrent engineering environment while getting an in-depth, first-hand look at mission design, life cycle, costs, schedule and the trade-offs inherent in each.
Science and engineering doctoral candidates, recent PhDs, postdocs, and junior faculty who are U.S. Citizens or legal permanent residents (and a very limited number of Foreign Nationals from non-designated countries) are eligible. Applicants from diverse backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.
Session 1: May 24-Aug 6
Session 2: May 24-Aug 20
With workload of a rigorous 3-hour graduate-level course, participants spend the first 10 weeks in preparatory webinars acting as a science mission team, and spend the final culminating week mentored by JPL’s Advance Project Design Team to refine their planetary science mission concept design and present it to a mock expert review board. The culminating week is typically at JPL, however in 2021 it is likely to be virtual due to Covid-19 pandemic conditions.
http://go.nasa.gov/missiondesignschools
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JOBS, POSITIONS, OPPORTUNITIES
A) Research Associate
Planetary Atmospheres, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester
https://jobs.le.ac.uk/vacancies/2535/research-associate-in-planetary-atmospheric-science.html
Salary: Grade 7 £34,804 to £40,322 per annum
Funding is available until 31 March 2022 with a possibility of extension.
Closing date: 28 February 2021
The School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester invites applications for one or more Research Associates in Planetary Atmospheric Science.
The Research Associates will join the atmospheres team led by Dr. Leigh Fletcher, tasked with addressing the scientific aims of a European Research Council (ERC) grant to explore time-variable processes shaping the atmospheres of the giant planets. Successful candidates would have existing skills in planetary spectral data analysis and/or numerical modelling expertise of relevance to giant planet atmospheres.
The “GIANTCLIMES” programme investigates natural cycles of meteorology, circulation, and chemical processes shaping the environments of the four giant planets over long spans of time. Inversions of planetary spectra, from ground- and space-based facilities, will be used to reconstruct these atmospheres in three dimensions to explore their temporal variability and the processes coupling different atmospheric regimes. The successful applicant will be expected to develop and expand on our pipeline for interpreting giant planet observations from the James Webb Space Telescope. In addition, the applicant will conduct joint analyses of thermal-infrared, near-infrared, and microwave observations of giant planet tropospheres. We are therefore particularly interested in candidates with existing expertise in planetary data analysis, planetary atmospheres, and spectroscopic modelling techniques, but all applicants with a strong background in planetary science are encouraged to apply.
Applications must be made via the link above. Informal queries are welcome and can be made to leigh.fletcher@le.ac.uk.
B) Postdoctoral Researcher
The Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in Houston, TX, run by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA), invites applications for a Postdoctoral Fellow in Radiative Transfer Modeling in Planetary Atmospheres.
https://dps.aas.org/content/postdoctoral-researcher-0
C) Science Lead
European Space Agency as Science Lead of the Planetary Science Archive and Archive Scientist of a Planetary mission, based at ESAC, near Madrid, in Spain. You can find all the details at
The deadline for applications is 16th of March of 2021.
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