Special Sessions 1 - 7
SPS1 - SPS2 - SPS3 - SPS4 - SPS5 - SPS6 - SPS7
SPS1 - ASTRONOMICAL FACILITIES OF THE NEXT DECADE
Wednesday 16 (full day) & Thursday 17 (a.m.) August 2006
Coordinating WG: Future Large Scale Facilities
Participating Division: IX
Scientific Organizing Committee
Xiangqun Cui (China Nanjing), Raymond G. Carlberg (Canada), Michel Dennefeld (France), Ewine F. van Dishoeck (The Netherlands), Gerard F. Gilmore (UK, co-Chair), Günther Hasinger (Germany), Masanori Iye (Japan), Peter Quinn (Germany), Richard T. Schilizzi (The Netherlands, co-Chair), Peter Stockman (USA), Nicholas A. Walton (UK), Patricia A. Whitelock (South Africa), and TBC
Proceedings' Editors
Gerard F. Gilmore (Chief Editor) and Richard T. Schilizzi
Contact person
Gerard F. Gilmore,
Institue of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road
GB-Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
Phone: +44 122 333 7548, Fax: +44 122 333 7523, E-mail:
Preliminary Scientific Program Summary
Astronomy will soon have available an exciting and powerful range of new facilities. This Discussion will present the status and scientific program of those facilities which are under development and/or definition, and so (probably) will become real in the near future to the medium term. The program will provide an overview of those projects which will become naturally complementary facilites in both implementation date and wavelength (or non-electromagnetic) coverage, and in which there is currently significant effort and new developments. Space missions of direct relevance include JWST, Herschel, Planck, Gaia and LISA, and planned far-IR and high-energy missions; Ground-based facilties include the newest 8-10m telescopes (SALT, GTC, LAMOST); ALMA; large survey facilities (VST, VISTA, PANSTARRS, LSST); Radio facilites, especially SKA; Extremely Large optical/infrared telescopes; Cosmic Ray facilities (HESS, PierreAuger); neutrino astronomy (IceCube, km3net); and the International Virtual Observatory.
Date: Wednesday, August 16 - Thursday, August 17
Location: Small Theater
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS2 - INNOVATION IN TEACHING / LEARNING ASTRONOMY METHODS
Thursday 17 & Friday 18 August 2006
Coordinating Division:
XII
Participating Commissions:
41 & 46
Scientific Organizing Committee
Michael A. Bennett (USA), Julieta Fierro (Mexico), Michele Gerbaldi (France), Petr Heinzel (Czech Republic), Bambang Hidayat (Indonesia), Syuzo Isobe (Japan), Edvard V. Kononovich (Russian Federation), Margarita Metaxa (Greece), Jay M. Pasachoff (USA, co-Chair), John R. Percy (Canada), Rosa M. Ros (Spain, co-Chair), Magdalena Stavinschi (Romania), and Richard M. West (Germany)
Proceedings' Editors
Jay M. Pasachoff (Chief Editor) & Rosa M. Ros
Contact person
Rosa M. Ros,
Department of Applied Mathematics 4, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
Jordi Girona 1-3, modul 3,
ES-08034 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 93 413 7073, Fax: +34 93 413 7007, E-mail:
Preliminary Scientific Program Summary
Astronomy educates people, and gives very important opportunities to young people: In astronomy, we find a special relationship between science and technology, both the technology used in obtaining observations and the technology used in teaching. Astronomy also leads to an understanding of the history and the nature of science, distinguishing science from pseudo sciences. Since astronomy attracts young people to education in science and technology, we should struggle to make maximum advantage of the situation. But in many countries, astronomy is not in the standard curricula and teachers do not receive adequate education and support. Still, many scientific and educational societies and government agencies have produced materials and educational resources in astronomy for all educational levels. The aims of the proposed Special Session will be to contribute to the implementation of these recommendations, introducing some innovative points of view in teaching/learning methods. Astronomers from all countries - developed or developing - will be equally interested.
Preliminary List of Topics
- General strategies for effective teaching
- Effective Use of Instruction and Information Technology
- Learning Science by Doing Science
- Astronomy Worldwide Education
- Practical issues connected with the implementation of the 2003 IAU Resolution
Date: Thursday, August 17 - Friday, August 18
Location: Meeting Hall V
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS3 - THE VIRTUAL OBSERVATORY IN ACTION: NEW SCIENCE, NEW TECHNOLOGY, AND NEXT GENERATION FACILITIES
SPS 3a: Thurday 17 (p.m.) & Friday 18 (full day) August 2006
SPS 3b: Monday 21 (full day) & Tuesday 22 (a.m.) August 2006
Coordinating Division:
XII
Participating Division/Commissions:
XI/40 & 44
Participating WG: Future Large Scale Facilities
Scientific Organizing Committee
Giuseppina Fabbiano (USA), Françoise Genova (France), Robert J. Hanisch (USA), Ajit K. Kembhavi (India), Andrew Lawrence (UK, Chair), Oleg Yu. Malkov (Russian Federation), Atilla Meszaros (Czech Republic), Raymond P. Norris (Australia), Masatoshi Ohishi (Japan), Peter Quinn (Germany), Isabelle F. Scholl (France), Enrique Solano (Spain), Alexander Szalay (USA), Nicholas A. Walton (UK), Roy Williams (USA), and Yongheng Zhao (China, Nanjing)
Proceedings' Editors
Nicholas A. Walton (Chief Editor), Andrew Lawrence & Roy Williams
Contact person
Andrew Lawrence,
Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh,
Royal Observatory
Blackford Hill,
GB-Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, UK
Phone: +44 131 6688 346, Fax: +44 131 6688 416, E-mail:
Preliminary List of Topics
- Cosmology and galactic structure with very large databases
- Rare object multi-wavelength searches: the universe at 10 pc and z = 10
- Serendipitous discoveries with the VO - the Sun-Earth connection
- Population analysis: stars, galaxies, quasars, solar system bodies
- Data mining with SDSS, WFCAM, VISTA and the LSST
- Data management for ALMA, ELT, GAIA, and SKA
- Technical progress on the VO infrastructure
- New data mining algorithms
- The semantic web and the future VO
SPS 3a
Date: Thursday, August 17 - Friday, August 18
Location: Small Theater
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS 3b
Date: Monday, August 21 - Tuesday, August 22
Location: Small Theater
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS4 - OPEN FOR "HOT TOPICS"
SPS 4a: Friday 18 (p.m.) August 2006
SPS 4b: Tuesday 22 (a.m.) August 2006
Participating Divisions: all
Contact people: Division Presidents
http://www.iau.org/DIVISIONS.31.0.html
Summary: Presentations of new results will be possible in these "hot topics" sessions. Selection of contributions will continue up to the beginning of the meeting in Prague based on recommendations to the IAU by the relevant Division Presidents.
SPS 4a
Date: Friday, August 18
Location: Panorama Hall
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS 4b
Date: Tuesday, August 22
Location: Club E
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS5 - ASTRONOMY FOR THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 August 2006
Coordinating Division: XII
Participating Division/Commission: II/46
Participating WG: Future Large Scale Facilities
Scientific Organizing Committee
Abdul A. Alsabti (UK/Iraq), Julieta Fierro (Mexico), Michele Gerbaldi (France), Hans J. Haubold (Germany), John B. Hearnshaw (New Zealand, Chair), Barrie W. Jones (UK), Ajit K. Kembhavi (India), Hugo Levato (Argentina), Peter Martinez (South Africa), Jayant V. Narlikar (India), Jay M. Pasachoff (USA), John R. Percy (Canada), Boonrucksar Soonthornthum (Thailand), A. Peter Willmore (UK), and James C. White (USA)
Proceedings' Editors
John B. Hearnshaw (Chief Editor) and Peter Martinez
Contact person
John B. Hearnshaw,
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800,
NZ-Christchurch 8020 New Zealand
Phone: +64 3 364 2533, Fax: +64 3 364 2469, E-mail:
Preliminary List of Topics
- Coordination of the work of IAU Commission 46 with that of other organizations, such as UNOOSA, COSPAR and IHY2007
- Exploring the feasibility of a Third World Astronomy Institute (or Network) and encourage the participation of young astronomers from developing countries
- Training of astronomers
- Public outreach programs in developing countries
- The virtual observatory in developing countries
- Progress of astronomy in various regions of the world
- The work of IAU Commission 46 through its various program groups
Date: Monday, August 21 - Tuesday, August 22
Location: Meeting Hall V
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS6 - ASTRONOMICAL DATA MANAGEMENT
Tuesday 22 (p.m.) August 2006
Coordinating Division: XII
Participating Commission: 5
Scientific Organizing Committee
Giuseppina Fabbiano (USA), Françoise Genova (France), Robert J. Hanisch (USA), Ajit K. Kembhavi (India), Andrew Lawrence (UK), Oleg Yu. Malkov (Russian Federation), Atilla Meszaros (Czech Republic), Raymond P. Norris (Australia, Chair), Masatoshi Ohishi (Japan), Peter Quinn (Germany), Isabelle F. Scholl (France), Enrique Solano (Spain), Alexander Szalay (USA), Nicholas A. Walton (UK), Roy Williams (USA), and Yongheng Zhao (China, Nanjing)
Proceedings' Editors
Raymond P. Norris
Contact person
Raymond P. Norris,
CSIRO / ATNF, PO Box 76,
AU-Epping, NSW 1710, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9372 4416, Fax: +61 2 9372 4310, E-mail:
Preliminary List of Topics
- Alignment with OECD, ICSU, and IAU recommendations regarding open access to astronomical data
- Recognition of the importance of considering data processing, storage, and management needs from the conception stage of a new project
- Provisions to ensure equitable access to data and information by scientists in developing countries
- Development of better processes to enable data in journals to be integrated in to data centres and the VO
- Development of protocols for the long-term curation, preservation, and migration (between formats or media) of data, including validation and quality flagging
- Recognition of the special role of the data centres, which are currently in the vanguard of data management activities, and of the VO, which will be the key access mechanism to astronomical data in the future, and which will be able to provide the tools and infrastructure for facilitating the framework
- Close collaboration with colleagues in ICSU, CODATA, and other branches of science, especially when developing strategies to prevent excessive legal or IP ownership constraints being imposed on astronomical data
Date: Tuesday, August 22
Location: Small Theater
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
SPS7 - ASTRONOMY IN ANTARCTICA
Tuesday 22 (p.m.) & Wednesday 23 (full day) August 2006
Coordinating Division: IX
Participating Division/Commission: X/40
Scientific Organizing Committee
Michael G. Burton (Australia, Chair), Maurizio Busso (Italy), Eric Fossat (France), James P. Lloyd (USA), Mark J. McCaughrean (UK), Christian Spiering (Germany), and Shoji Tori (Japan)
Proceedings' Editors
Michael G. Burton
Contact person
Michael G. Burton,
School of Physics, University of New South Wales
AU-Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9385 5618, Fax: +61 2 9385 6060, E-mail:
Preliminary Scientific Program Summary
Antarctica offers a range of remarkable conditions that provide a superlative environment for the conduct of astronomy from the visible to the millimetre wavebands, as well as for high energy astrophysics experiments. This meeting will discuss the current state of Antarctic astronomy, especially following the winter-time opening of a new high plateau facility, Concordia Station at Dome C. The status of facilities at the South Pole and Concordia will be reviewed, and new science results presented. This will be followed by a discussion on future plans for facilities. Finally, the meeting will provide an opportunity for discussing plans for the International Polar Year in 2007, including a possible site testing expedition to Dome A, the summit of the Antarctic plateau.
Date: Tuesday, August 22 - Wednesday, August 23
Location: Club E
Detailed information | List of registered participants | List of registered abstracts
