1) Announcement of Opportunity for Community Scientists in the Ariel Mission
The purpose of this Announcement of Opportunity (AO) is to solicit the participation of the scientific community in the role of Community Scientist (CS) in the Ariel mission. This AO is open to scientists affiliated with institutes located in ESA Member States. Scientists involved in the Ariel Mission Consortium (AMC) (programmatic, scientific, or technical) management or being responsible for hardware or software development and procurement activities are not eligible to apply.
Ariel is the medium mission "M4" in ESA's Science Programme. Ariel will perform a chemical survey of a diverse sample of at least 500 exoplanets orbiting host stars with a range of spectral types. Most Ariel observations will consist of transit and/or eclipse spectroscopy of the atmospheres of warm and hot exoplanets, to address the following fundamental questions:
What are exoplanets made of?
How do planets and planetary systems form?
How do planets and their atmospheres evolve over time?
Community Scientists
Through this AO, ESA aims to appoint up to five Community Scientists who will join the Ariel Science Team. Up to three Community Scientists are expected to cover science areas augmenting those of the Ariel Science Team (AST) members from the Ariel Mission Consortium and from international partners (e.g., they will have expertise in fields such as Solar System planetary science, data science, protoplanetary discs). A further two Community Scientists will be selected in scientific areas relevant for the Complementary Science programme. The main responsibility of the Community Scientists will be to advise ESA on the means to optimise the use of Ariel data by the general scientific community. This includes looking after the interests of the scientific community involved in the Ariel complementary science programmes. In addition, the Community Scientists will be expected to provide support to the communications activities of ESA.
The successful candidates will be appointed, ad personam, for an initial term of three years, which may be renewed.
Proposal Documentation
An invitation from the ESA Director of Science to respond to this Announcement of Opportunity can be found in the right-hand menu.
Full details of the appointment requirements and conditions, the contents and formats of the required Letter of Intent and the proposal, and the evaluation criteria are given in the AO document, available to download from the right-hand menu. Additional important information can be found in the Ariel Science Management Plan and the Definition Study Report, both of which are available to download from the right-hand menu.
Letter of Intent Submission
Letters of Intent, in PDF format, must be submitted using the Letter of Intent submission form linked below, before the deadline of 9 July 2021, 12:00 (noon) CEST.
Proposal Submission
Proposals, in PDF format, must be submitted using the proposal submission form linked below, before the deadline of 31 August 2021, 12:00 (noon) CEST.
Contact
Further queries should be addressed to:
Paul McNamara
Astronomy and Astrophysics Mission Coordinator
Directorate of Science
European Space Agency
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2) Thematic School LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS: tracking the evolution of cosmic matter towards molecular complexity | Les Houches | 13-18 March 2022
We are pleased to announce the organization of a thematic school on «
Laboratory Astrophysics : tracking the evolution of cosmic matter
towards molecular complexity » that will take place at “Les Houches
School of Physics”, located in the Chamonix valley of the French Alps in
March 13-18 2022. This winter school is a PCMI-supported initiative and
is addressed to a very broad audience, extending well beyond its own
frontiers. It includes the fields of astrochemistry and planetary
sciences (observational, experimental, modelling).
This school focuses on advanced experimental and theoretical approaches
used to produce, analyze and investigate the properties and the
evolution of extraterrestrial analogs in the laboratory, dedicated to
improve our understanding of the origin and evolution of complex
molecular matter observed in space, from dense molecular clouds up to
the formation of new stars, planetary bodies and comets. The program
will present a wide range of complementary and advanced methods allowing
the production, analysis and investigation of properties and evolution
of extraterrestrial analogs, that were developed in recent years in
close connection to the most relevant astronomical observations.
Emphasis will be put on the degree of chemical and/or structural
complexity which can be achieved in the gas and solid phases and at
their interface under space conditions. The methods used to characterize
the physics of silicates and carbonaceous dust, and to investigate the
formation/destruction processes of ices will be detailed. Techniques
used to analyze matter from cometary and asteroid origins will also be
presented. During the school, interactive sessions with invited teachers
will be organized and all participants are encouraged to present their
own work during poster sessions.
More information is available at https://lab-astrophysic.sciencesconf.org
The organizing committee : Jean-Hugues Fillion, Ludovic Biennier,
Grégoire Danger and Aude Simon
3) 1.5-year Postdoctoral Position in exo-planet atmosphere modelisation at CEA and IPGP
Contract:
1.5-year based at CEA/DRF in the Astrophysics Division (AIM) and in Maison de la Simulation, at CEA Paris-Saclay, in collaboration with the Institut de physique du globe de Paris (IPGP). The position is funded by the Labex UnivEarthS at Université de Paris.
Context & Role:
The successful candidate will coordinate and contribute to the modeling of exoplanet atmospheres in the context of the Labex project EXOATMOS. The goal is to produce 1D/2D atmospheric models of lava worlds: hot rocky exoplanets that will be observed with the next generation of space and ground-based telescopes (JWST, E-ELT). He/She will contribute to the development of the 1D/2D atmospheric modeling tool ATMO in order to account for gas/liquid thermodynamic equilibrium between the lava ocean and the atmosphere. He/She will also implement the physics needed to account for a surface in the model.
The final aim is to produce synthetic spectra to analyse JWST/MIRI data. The candidate, will have, access to MIRI data, in which the CEA team is involved also.
He/she will be also part of a team of experts from the Astrophysics Division of CEA (AIM), from Maison de la Simulation and from Institut de Physique du Globe (IPGP) and will work in collaboration with an international scientific community. He/she will have the opportunity to work on state-of-the-art tools for the modeling of exoplanet atmospheres in conjunction with laboratory experiments conducted at IPGP.
The EXOATMOS Project:
Numerical and experimental study of hot and warm rocky exoplanet atmospheres’ in preparation of JWST observations
Exoplanets studies enter a new era where atmosphere of exoplanets can be characterized through spectroscopic observations during transits. Whereas atmosphere of giant exoplanets is already studied, hot, warm rocky exoplanets constitute a new class of planets in the reach of modern instruments. Our project aims to model (experimentally -using ovens- and numerically) atmosphere of hot and warm rocky exoplanets in contact with magma ocean to understand the physics of lava planets. We will also study moderate temperature exoplanets to establish potential biosignatures, in order to prepare to JWST observations. We will beneficiate from a cross-disciplinary culture coming from Earth and planetary science (IPGP team) in addition to a strong involvement in the forthcoming JWST/ MIRI instrument (AIM team)
Required skills :
PhD in astrophysics or planetology
Operational knowledge of techniques and programming language (Fortran90, python) for application development
Skills to work in a team
Salary
Gross salary between 2700 € and 3000 € per month (based on the experience of the candidate).
Application:
To apply, please send a CV, a publication list to Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser. and Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser. and arrange to have 2 letters of reference forwarded to the same email address.
The expected start date is October 2021 or earlier.
