APT News no. 5
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by thread ] [ by subject ] [ by author ] [ by messages with attachments ]
From: <pge_at_email.protected>
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:32:56 +0900 (JST)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA PACIFIC TELESCOPE Newsletter no. 5 2006-feb-14
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE VSOP-2 MISSION
VSOP-2 is the space VLBI mission proposed to Japan's Institute of Space
and Astronautical Science (ISAS) to follow on from the successful VLBI
Space Observatory Programme. Three missions were proposed to ISAS in
the current round, and the evaluation process resulted in the VSOP-2
mission being selected. This recommendation will be presented to the
ISAS Steering Committee for formal approval on March 3rd. Funding for
the successful mission could start as early as April 2007, with a
launch in January/February 2012.
A series of international VSOP-2 planning meetings are in the process
of being arranged, and are likely to include a short meeting during
the COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Beijing in July (see below). This is
expected to be a good opportunity for communications with the APT
community. A VSOP-2 meeting is being planned for Europe in August to
coincide with the IAU General Assembly or SKA meeting, and a
dedicated VSOP-2 meeting will be held in Japan in 2007. More details
will be announced in future issues of the APT News.
GROTE REBER MEMORIAL CONFERENCE
The Grote Reber Memorial Conference, "New Techniques and Results in
Low Frequency Radio Astronomy", was held at the University of Tasmania,
Hobart, from 6--10 December. The meeting attracted 89 participants,
almost half from overseas. As the meeting dealt with the legacy of
low-frequency pioneer Grote Reber, it was appropriate that it was also
the occasion of the presentation of the inaugural Reber medal to Prof.
Bill Erickson for "lifetime innovative contributions to radio
astronomy". In his acceptance speech, Bill spoke eloquently about
Grote's many contributions to early radio astronomy. Bill's own career
is highlighted by similar innovations and breakthroughs, and from the
early 1960s through the late 1980s, Bill's Ph.D. students populated
the field of radio astronomy. Several of Bill"s former students were
present at the meeting to share the occasion with him.
Low-frequency radio astronomy is at a turning point with several new
instruments coming on line around the world in the next few years.
This renewed interest may be partly due to the success of the VLA's
low-frequency system, which has shown that ionospheric variability --
traditionally a problem for low-frequency observations -- can be dealt
with successfully. The conference gave the opportunity to both look
back on, and look forward at, this challenging, exciting field.
INTERNATIONAL VLBI SERVICE MEETING
The fourth IVS general meeting and related IVS meetings (Analysis
Workshop, Directing Board Meeting, VLBI2010 Committee Meeting) were
held at the University of Concepcion, Chile, from 9--11 January.
General Meetings have been by the IVS (International VLBI Service
for Geodesy and Astrometry) every two years since 2000, and this was
the first time the meeting had been held in the southern hemisphere.
The meeting, which had the theme "Next Generation VLBI2010", was
attended by 77 participants from 17 countries. VLBI2010 is the concept
for the next generation VLBI observing systems and strategies to be
targeted by IVS (for details, see the report at
http://ivs.nict.go.jp/mirror/about/wg/wg3/IVS_WG3_report_050916.pdf)
and many ideas for improving the IVS products were discussed during
the meeting. The conference proceedings, containing paper versions of
both oral and poster presentations, will be published in the near
future. Oral presentations at the meeting are available at
http://ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov/meetings/gm2006/#Presentations
The fifth IVS general meeting will be held in 2008 at St. Petersberg,
Russia, hosted by the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy
of Science.
UPCOMING MEETING
The 36th COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Scientific Assembly will
be held in Beijing from 16-23 July, 2006. Details of the scientific
program are available from http://meetings.copernicus.org/cospar2006/.
The deadline for abstracts is February 24th.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
APT website : http://www.vsop.isas.jaxa.jp/apt/
Contributors : Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, John Dickey, Koyama Yasuhiro,
Hirax Hirabayashi
Editor : Phil Edwards (pge_at_vsop.<!--nospam-->isas.jaxa.jp)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on 2006-02-14 13:36:35
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 11:32:56 +0900 (JST)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ASIA PACIFIC TELESCOPE Newsletter no. 5 2006-feb-14
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
THE VSOP-2 MISSION
VSOP-2 is the space VLBI mission proposed to Japan's Institute of Space
and Astronautical Science (ISAS) to follow on from the successful VLBI
Space Observatory Programme. Three missions were proposed to ISAS in
the current round, and the evaluation process resulted in the VSOP-2
mission being selected. This recommendation will be presented to the
ISAS Steering Committee for formal approval on March 3rd. Funding for
the successful mission could start as early as April 2007, with a
launch in January/February 2012.
A series of international VSOP-2 planning meetings are in the process
of being arranged, and are likely to include a short meeting during
the COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Beijing in July (see below). This is
expected to be a good opportunity for communications with the APT
community. A VSOP-2 meeting is being planned for Europe in August to
coincide with the IAU General Assembly or SKA meeting, and a
dedicated VSOP-2 meeting will be held in Japan in 2007. More details
will be announced in future issues of the APT News.
GROTE REBER MEMORIAL CONFERENCE
The Grote Reber Memorial Conference, "New Techniques and Results in
Low Frequency Radio Astronomy", was held at the University of Tasmania,
Hobart, from 6--10 December. The meeting attracted 89 participants,
almost half from overseas. As the meeting dealt with the legacy of
low-frequency pioneer Grote Reber, it was appropriate that it was also
the occasion of the presentation of the inaugural Reber medal to Prof.
Bill Erickson for "lifetime innovative contributions to radio
astronomy". In his acceptance speech, Bill spoke eloquently about
Grote's many contributions to early radio astronomy. Bill's own career
is highlighted by similar innovations and breakthroughs, and from the
early 1960s through the late 1980s, Bill's Ph.D. students populated
the field of radio astronomy. Several of Bill"s former students were
present at the meeting to share the occasion with him.
Low-frequency radio astronomy is at a turning point with several new
instruments coming on line around the world in the next few years.
This renewed interest may be partly due to the success of the VLA's
low-frequency system, which has shown that ionospheric variability --
traditionally a problem for low-frequency observations -- can be dealt
with successfully. The conference gave the opportunity to both look
back on, and look forward at, this challenging, exciting field.
INTERNATIONAL VLBI SERVICE MEETING
The fourth IVS general meeting and related IVS meetings (Analysis
Workshop, Directing Board Meeting, VLBI2010 Committee Meeting) were
held at the University of Concepcion, Chile, from 9--11 January.
General Meetings have been by the IVS (International VLBI Service
for Geodesy and Astrometry) every two years since 2000, and this was
the first time the meeting had been held in the southern hemisphere.
The meeting, which had the theme "Next Generation VLBI2010", was
attended by 77 participants from 17 countries. VLBI2010 is the concept
for the next generation VLBI observing systems and strategies to be
targeted by IVS (for details, see the report at
http://ivs.nict.go.jp/mirror/about/wg/wg3/IVS_WG3_report_050916.pdf)
and many ideas for improving the IVS products were discussed during
the meeting. The conference proceedings, containing paper versions of
both oral and poster presentations, will be published in the near
future. Oral presentations at the meeting are available at
http://ivscc.gsfc.nasa.gov/meetings/gm2006/#Presentations
The fifth IVS general meeting will be held in 2008 at St. Petersberg,
Russia, hosted by the Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy
of Science.
UPCOMING MEETING
The 36th COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Scientific Assembly will
be held in Beijing from 16-23 July, 2006. Details of the scientific
program are available from http://meetings.copernicus.org/cospar2006/.
The deadline for abstracts is February 24th.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
APT website : http://www.vsop.isas.jaxa.jp/apt/
Contributors : Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, John Dickey, Koyama Yasuhiro,
Hirax Hirabayashi
Editor : Phil Edwards (pge_at_vsop.<!--nospam-->isas.jaxa.jp)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Received on 2006-02-14 13:36:35