1) Décès de Toby Owen - un hommage
Tobias Owen – “Toby” pour ses collègues et amis – s’est éteint le 5 mars à Sacramento, à l’âge de 80 ans. Avec lui disparaît un scientifique exceptionnel, pionnier de l’exploration du système solaire, et un homme d’un charisme exemplaire.
Les relations de Toby avec l’Observatoire de Paris remontent au tout début des années 1970. Alors professeur à l’Université de Stony Brook (NY), il a participé activement au développement du jeune groupe de planétologie qui s’est créé à l’Observatoire. Avec Daniel Gautier, Catherine de Bergh, Michel Combes et Thérèse Encrenaz, il a initié de nombreux projets de recherche autour de la composition et la structure des atmosphères planétaires, tant dans le domaine de l’exploration spatiale que dans celui des observations depuis le sol. Il a joué un rôle déterminant dans l’analyse des missions Viking sur Mars et Voyager vers les quatre planètes géantes. Avec Jean-Pierre Maillard et les planétologues français, il s’est fortement investi dans l’exploitation des données du spectromètre à Transformée de Fourier du télescope Canada-France-Hawaii, et a ainsi fait une série de découvertes de premier plan, notamment sur l’abondance du deutérium dans le système solaire. Dans une approche visionnaire et multidisciplinaire de la planétologie, Toby a développé de multiples recherches sur toutes les familles d’objets du système solaire, planètes, satellites et comètes, en utilisant tous les domaines de longueur d’onde, depuis le sol et l’espace.
Au début des années 1980, Toby Owen, avec Daniel Gautier et Wing Ip, a travaillé au développement d’une mission internationale, portée à la fois par les Etats-Unis et l’Europe, dédiée à l’exploration de Saturne et Titan. Ce projet allait devenir la mission Cassini-Huygens, lancée en 1997 et toujours en opération autour de Saturne. Riche de découvertes multiples sur la planète Saturne, ses satellites et ses anneaux, cette mission constitue une réussite exceptionnelle en terme de coopération scientifique entre différentes agences spatiales.
Au-delà de l’exploration des objets du système solaire, Toby a aussi très tôt manifesté son intérêt pour les problèmes liés à l’origine de la vie et la recherche de la vie extraterrestre, des domaines de recherche qui allaient exploser dans les décennies suivantes. Avec Donald Goldsmith et David Morrison respectivement, il a notamment écrit deux ouvrages, réédités deux fois depuis leur première publication. Il a reçu de multiples distinctions et en particulier, en 2009, le prestigieux Prix Gerard P. Kuiper de la Division des Sciences Planétaires de l’American Astronomical Society.
Avec ses collègues et amis français, à l’Observatoire de Paris et au-delà, Toby a noué des liens très forts de coopération scientifique et aussi d’amitié. Au début des années 2000, Toby a été membre du Haut Comité Scientifique de l’Observatoire de Paris. En 2006, avec Daniel Gautier et Jean-Pierre Lebreton, il a reçu le Grand Prix Marcel Dassault de l’Académie des Sciences. En 2007, il a été nommé Docteur Honoris Causa de l’Observatoire de Paris. Fervent partisan du rapprochement des communautés scientifiques au-delà des frontières, il a fait de multiples séjours en France où il comptait des amis très proches, en particulier Antonella Barucci et Marcello Fulchignoni. Son départ laisse un énorme vide auprès de ses amis qui n’oublieront pas sa générosité, sa disponibilité et sa gentillesse, son sens de l’humour, sa simplicité et sa modestie. Tous les collègues et amis de Toby, au LESIA et à l’Observatoire de Paris, souhaitent exprimer leurs plus profondes condoléances à son épouse Natasha et sa famille.
Th. Encrenaz, C. de Bergh, A. Barucci, M. Fulchignoni, J.-P. Lebreton
2) International Meeting of Sedimentology 2017, session "Planetary sedimentology: Mars, Titan, and elsewhere", 10-12/10 2017 - Toulouse
Description. Knowledge of the sedimentary record on extraterrestrial bodies strongly evolved in the last decade. Data from numerous exploration missions, both early and recent, demonstrate that not only Mars and Titan but also Pluto, comets, and asteroids have complex sedimentary formations that provide evidence of sediment cycling.
This session invites contributions on extraterrestrial sedimentology based on orbital or in situ observations of Mars, Titan, or any other extraterrestrial body. We also solicit any work on laboratory data, modeling and terrestrial analogues that are keys for understanding sedimentary processes on planetary bodies.
web site : http://ims2017.sciencesconf.org
Deadline to submit an abstract: 15th june 2017.
3) atelier"Interaction etoile-planete(s) internes-disque d'accretion": Monpellier le 13 Juillet
tout est `a la page https://atelierspidi.wixsite.com/spidi
4) Gordon conference "Origins of Solar Systems", South Hadley, USA, June 18-23
voir http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?id=12346
5) Appel à propositions de recherche du CNES (APR 2018)
L'Appel annuel à Propositions de Recherche (APR) du CNES pour 2018 est en ligne : https://sciences-techniques.cnes.fr/fr/appel-propositions-de-recherche. Depuis l'an dernier, l'appel à propositions Ballons est inclus au sein de l'APR. Les propositions sont acceptées jusqu'au vendredi 21 avril au plus tard selon les modalités décrites dans la documentation accessible sur le site.
6) SELENE symposium on September 13 14, 2017, Tokyo
We are pleased to announce the SELENE Symposium 2017, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of its launch, held in Japan.
The symposium will take place at the University of Waseda (Nishi-Waseda Campus), Tokyo, Japan, on Wed. 13th September and Thu. 14th September, 2017. The Japanese lunar orbiter SELENE (Kaguya) was launched 10 years ago on the 14th of September, 2007.
Please save the dates of the 13th and 14th September this year to participate in the SELENE Symposium.
We will appreciate your presentation of recent scientific results and future exploration plans in this symposium.
Japan has confirmed the launches of two small lunar landers by 2020, the Tokyo Olympic year:
1) SLIM by Epsilon Launch Vehicle
2) Omotenashi by SLS
A detailed description of these small landers will be presented and discussed in the symposium, as well as a wide range of lunar science topics. The long-term vision of Japan’s larger-class lunar exploration projects will also be presented and discussed.
After the SELENE Symposium, the COSPAR annual meeting will be held on September 18-22, 2017, in Jeju Island, Korea, and the 3rd Beijing International Forum on Lunar and Deep Space Exploration (LDSE) will be held on Spetember 19-22, 2017, in Beijing, China. Both are Japan’s neighboring countries, so you could easily fly to attend these meetings after the SELENE Symposium.
We will announce more details (registration, abstract submission, etc.) in April or May.
We are looking forward to meeting with you in September in Japan!
LOC Chair : Takahiro IWATA
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS)
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
TEL +81-50-336-23618 FAX +81-42-759-8516
E-mail Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
7) Summer school “Impacts and their role in the evolution of Life” (Saaremaa, Estonia, 25 July – 3 August)
This school will give attendees a thorough introduction into impacts, impactors, and the role of impacts in the evolution of life.
Apart from lectures, poster presentations, student-led discussions and excursions to geologically interesting sites several practical exercises including
Search for meteorite fragments
Microscopy of pollen in order to assess the ecological consequences of impacts
Petrographic microscopy of impactites
Electrometric and georadar mapping of impact sites
Excavation into the boundary layer between the ejecta blanket and the glacial till
as well as excursions to other geologically interesting sites are planned.The website for the summer school can be found under:
http://www.nordicastrobiology.net/Impacts2017
Deadline for applications in the 30th April 2017. Please forward this announcement possibly interested students and early career scientists.
Bursaries are available for students and scientists from the Universities of Tartu, Turku, Tallinn, Vilnius, Porto, Utrecht, Bordeaux, Iceland, Stockholm and the Open University.
8) More Goldschmidt sessions:
Session 01b: Volatiles across the Inner Solar System
Keynote: Lydia Hallis (University of Glasgow)
Volatiles, at least on Earth, play important roles in the processes
controlling the thermal stabilities of minerals and melts, magmatic
eruptions, the transportation of economically important metals, and in the
case of water is important for life as we know it. The roles of volatiles
in and on other planetary bodies, including Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and
Mars, are less well known. Therefore, studies aimed at investigating the
abundances, distributions, roles, and isotopic characteristics of volatiles
in planetary materials and systems are of high importance. Such studies
will help us to understand the roles that volatiles have played in the
major processes that have shaped the geochemical makeup of the terrestrial
planets, processes such as planetary accretion and differentiation,
degassing, diffusion, and catastrophic impact events. The aim of this
session is to bring together expertise from the various avenues of
volatile-centric research within the overarching field of planetary
sciences in order to spark big picture inter-disciplinary discussions.
Therefore, we encourage submissions from all areas of planetary science,
including but not limited to experimental studies, meteorite and sample
studies, numerical modeling, analytical geochemistry, and satellite
observations of volatiles on the surfaces of planetary bodies. We
particularly welcome contributions which showcase new
results/hypotheses/models that help to address the (1) distribution of
volatile elements in and on the surface of rocky planetary bodies and (2)
roles and fates of volatiles during planetary accretion, differentiation,
and magmatism.
02c: Heterogeneous Moon - Endogenous and exogenous processes in Lunar evolution
Keynote: Matthieu Laneuville (ELSI, Tokyo Institute of Technology)
The aim of this session is to combine lunar geochemistry, geophysics, and impact cratering on the Moon. Linking chemical and physical models for the lunar evolution to temporal constraints allows defining times and rates for its evolution. The Moon probably formed due to a giant impact onto the proto-Earth. It is a differentiated body composed of geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and core. Mantle dynamic processes affected the global and regional chemical evolution of the crust and mantle structures mostly preserved to the present day. The Moon´s mineralogical and chemical surface maps are the proto-type records for global magma ocean concepts showing that it crystallized and differentiated probably over millions to hundreds of millions of years. The thermal evolution and cooling were modified/delayed due to the exposure to the early Solar System bombardment. We invite studies on the chemical and thermal evolution of the Moon from geochemical and geophysical models and sample analyses in an effort to converge efforts for an interdisciplinary approach to the research. Processes such as impact cratering not only caused chemical heterogeneities but also modified the surface morphology. The lunar cratering record is used as a scaled template for other planetary bodies in the Solar System, however there are several interpretations; hence contributions to challenge the current calibration of the lunar cratering rate are welcome.
9) 9th Workshop on Catastrophic Disruption in the Solar System - Kobe May 14-17, 2018
This is a preliminary announcement to inform the community about the organization of the 9th
topical workshop on the process of catastrophic disruption and to get an indication of interest.
The 8th CD workshop was held in Hawaii in 2013. The 9th edition will be organized in Kobe (Japan).
The tentative dates are May 14th (Mon) to May 17th (Thu), 2018. The date and exact venue in
Kobe will be officially fixed in the beginning of April of this year.
Please let us know your interest in participating in this workshop by returning the attached
questionnaire to the e-mail address: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
and feel free to forward this email to any colleagues who may be interested.
We are planning to send out the first circular as soon as ready, in May or June.
SOC：
Neyda Abreu (Pen State University, USA) and
Patrick Michel (Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur, Nice, France), co-Chairs
Erik Asphaug (Arizona State University, USA)
Bobby Bus (University of Hawaii, USA)
Adriano Campo Bagatin (Universidad de Alicante, Spain）
Dan Durda (Southwest Research Institute, Boulder CO, USA)
Kevin Housen (Univ of Washington, USA)
Akiko Nakamura (Kobe University, Japan)
LOC :
Akiko Nakamura (Kobe University), Chair
Masahiko Arakawa (Kobe University)
Keiji Ohtsuki (Kobe University)
Fumihiko Usui (Kobe University)
----- CUT HERE -----
1- Last Name:
2- First Name:
3- Address:
4- Email:
5- Do you plan to attend? (will attend, may attend, will not attend)
6- Are you interested in presenting a paper? (Yes/No)
7. If yes, what is the tentative title/topic of your presentation?
8. What topics might you like to see discussed during open discussion periods?
9. Are you interested in submitting a paper if we have Proceedings of this workshop published in one of Journals on Planetary Sciences.
10. Anything else?
10) Meeting: “Geoscience for understanding habitability in the solar system and beyond” : 25 t- 29 September 2017, Azores.
We are pleased to announce the opening of the website and registration site for our Azores meeting “Geoscience for understanding habitability in the solar system and beyond” from 25 to 29 September 2017: http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc2-habitability/home.html
The conference is limited to 120 attendees, so early registration is advisable: https://register-as.oma.be/GeoPlanet/. There is no registration fee charged for participation in the conference. However, participants that are neither invited speakers nor recipients of bursaries nor members of the Core Group of COST Action TD1308 have to find their own funding for their accommodation, travels, and meals.
Also, note that participants have to book the accommodation on their own. Please consult the “Where to stay?” webpage for further details: http://www.egu-galileo.eu/gc2-habitability/practical_information/where_to_stay.html.
Kind regards,
Veronique Dehant and Wolf Geppert
11) International Symposium on Education in Astronomy and Astrobiology , July 3-7, 2017, Utrecht
The International Symposium on Education in Astronomy and Astrobiology (http://ise2a.uu.nl) will be held on July 3-7, 2017 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
This international symposium, co-sponsored by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and the European Astrobiology Campus (EAC, http://astrobiology-campus.eu/), is designed to bring education research in astronomy in general, and in astrobiology in particular, to the professional scientific community.
The deadline for abstract submission is April 15.
Please forward this message to everyone in your organization.
Best regards,
Muriel Gargaud (Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.) on behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee
12) SUMMER CAMP: “Deep History of Universe, the Earth and the Biosphere” 20 - 26 August, 2017, Finland
We are pleased to announce the opening of the website and registration site for the “Deep History
of Universe, the Earth and the Biosphere” summer camp from 20 to 26 th August, 2017, a the Tuorla
observatory, Kaarina, Finland :
The summer camp is primarily aimed for students interested in astrobiology and deep history of the
world. The attendance is limited to 30 attendees, so early application/registration is advisable: There
is no registration fee charged for participation in the lectures, but a small fee is required to cover the
coffee breaks and the evening programmes. Fairly priced accommodation with full board is available
at the cozy and comfortable Tuorla hostel (http://www.tuorlanmajatalo.fi/en). For registration and
accommodation please see the registration page: http://timetrek2017.utu.fi/application.html.
The course is organized jointly by the Turku University (www.utu.fi), the TimeTrek association
(www.timetrek.fi), and the European Astrobiology Campus (http://astrobiology-campus.eu/).
Students coming from the European Astrobiology Campus institutions (Universities of Turku,
Stockholm, Tartu, Tallinn, Porto, Bordeaux, Vilnius, Utrecht, Iceland and the Open university, UK)
may be entitled to waiver of the participation fees. Eligible and selected participants from EAC
institutions may be entitled to a travel refund up to 360 €.
With best regards, in behalf of the organizers,
Kirsi Lehto
Anni Kauko
13) XXIX IUPAP Conference on Computational Physics 2017, Paris, July 9th-13th 2017.
Abstract submission is open at:
https://ccp2017.sciencesconf.org/
Deadline: March 31st, 2017
See you in Paris!
A. Marco Saitta, Riccardo Spezia, Rodolphe Vuilleumier
http://psi-k.net/events/iupap-xxix-conference-on-computational-physics-ju-3
14) Post Doc position at the Open University on the volatile inventory of the Moon
We are looking to recruit a postdoctoral research associate to work in our research team on a project investigating the history and evolution of volatiles in the Moon, funded by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. The research will involve carrying out a novel study that will explore the volatile inventory of the Moon through in situ measurements of the abundance and isotopic composition of volatiles (e.g., H, C, Cl) in a select set of lunar samples (primarily focusing on igneous melt inclusions (MIs)). To be effective in this role, you will have a demonstrable prior experience in lunar petrology/geochemistry using standard petrological tools (e.g., SEM, EPMA), good competence levels with SIMS/NanoSIMS, and a proven track-record of handling large and complex geochemical datasets for understanding geochemical processes as evidenced by relevant published work.
More details can be found at:
http://www.open.ac.uk/about/employment/vacancies/post-doctoral-research-associate-13392
If you are attending LPSC and would like to have an informal chat about this opportunity, please send me an e-mail to arrange a meeting at a mutually convenient time.
Best Wishes,
Mahesh Anand
Reader in Planetary Science and Exploration
School of Physical Sciences
The Open University
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA
UK
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15) Post-doctoral position on dust properties in protoplanetary disks at the CEA Saclay (SAp) and Paris-Sud University Orsay (IAS)
The Department of Astronomy at the CEA Saclay (SAp) and Paris-Sud University Orsay (IAS) are inviting applications for a 2 years postdoctoral position (sept. 2017- sept. 2019) in the protoplanetary (PP) disks area, supported by the LABEX P2IO. Applicants should have a PhD or equivalent in Astronomy, Astrophysics, or Physics. They should be familiar with one of the following area: PP disks, dust models, radiative transfer, observations, simulations, and have some knowledge in at least 3 of these area.
The successful candidate, supervised by E. Pantin (SAp) and E. Habart (IAS), will be based at the SAp. He will benefit from the local expertise on disk simulations, micro-physical dust modelling, observations with an access to a large database of mid-infrared imaging and angularly resolved spectra (VLT/VISIR) and on the mid-infrared JWST/MIRI instrument simulations. New instruments (VLT, ALMA) reveal a complex distribution of dust and gas in PP disks, as well as, drastic changes in their properties, that must be clearly understood in order to constrain the initial conditions of planet formation and the disk evolution. Also, current dust models without evolution have reached the limit of their applicability. The chosen candidate will work on the evolution of the dust properties, such as composition, size, structure and ionization state, in response to local conditions in disks. He will implement a dust modelling (including the multiple forms of carbonaceous dust and calculating realistic optical properties according to local physical conditions) into a radiative transfer code specific to the disks, to then use the outputs as inputs for the JWST data simulations. Modeling dust emission spectra and extinction will be also confronted with existing data of PP disks obtained with various instruments, including observations of the warm dust thermal emission, characteristic bands of nano-grains, as well as scattered light of dust, that will be widely observed with the JWST.
This framework will give the opportunity to the successful candidate to lead an international position for the scientific exploitation of the JWST and other modern facilities. The leverage will be very strong, since the 2nd year of the postdoc will coincide with the first year of operations of the JWST that will then continue at least until 2024 and probably beyond.
Applicants should submit by email a CV, a statement of the proposed research, list of publications, and the names and email addresses of three professional references, to: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser., Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
The deadline is currently fixed to April, 15, and shall be extended until a suitable candidate is found.
16) JWST Proposal Planning Workshop, May 15-18, 2017, Baltimore
In support of the first JWST call for proposals, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is pleased to announce a workshop to educate the general astronomical community about the JWST Proposal Planning process. This workshop will take place at STScI in Baltimore, MD on May 15-18, 2017. The main goal of this workshop is to provide hands-on teaching for the JWST Exposure Time Calculator (ETC), the JWST Target Visibility Tools, and the JWST Astronomer’s Proposal Tool (APT). Registration to the workshop is now open.
The Exposure Time Calculator (ETC) calculates the detailed performance of the observatory by modeling astronomical scenes consisting of single or multiple point and extended sources. It offers full support for all of the JWST observing modes. There are two Target Visibility Tools to help you assess target visibilities before you enter information in APT: the General Target Visibility Tool (GTVT) predicts visibility windows and position angles for all instruments, and the Coronagraphic Visibility Tool (CVT) provides target visibility information for the NIRCam and MIRI coronagraphic modes. The Astronomer's Proposal Tool (APT) is used to write, validate and submit proposals.
The JWST Guaranteed Time Observers (GTOs) will submit Cycle 1 observing descriptions on April 1, 2017. We plan to illustrate the proposal planning process and the tools mentioned above using a subset of the NIRCam, NIRSpec, NIRISS, MIRI and Telescope Scientist GTO programs. During the workshop, GTOs will describe the science and technical motivation for half a dozen programs. STScI staff will step participants through ETC calculations and Target Visibility and APT planning for each program. The science programs to be discussed illustrate planning for (1) Multi Object Spectroscopy of bright and faint sources, (2) NIRCam and MIRI Coordinated Parallel Imaging, (3) NIRISS Wide Field Slitless Spectroscopy, (4) NIRSpec and MIRI Integral Field Spectroscopy of compact, extended sources, and (5) NIRcam and MIRI Coronagraphy of bright targets. In addition, STScI staff will be available to provide help with ERS and GO cycle 1 proposal planning during unstructured open periods.
More information on JWST capabilities and observing opportunities can be found in the user documentation (JDox) pages. Registration to the workshop is now open.
For questions regarding the workshop you can contact us at: Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
