RAS E-CIRCULAR, 2005 January
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www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_jisc.html
==>Happy New Year!<==
* Upcoming Meetings
January 14 RAS meetings:
Wide-Field Spectroscopy, With & Beyond 2dF (2-day meeting)
Seismology of the Sun: from the Inner Core to the Corona
A&G Meeting - including
*Some science aspects of the Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami
*Huygens 'news bulletin'
RAS-NAM + UKSP (2005 Apr 4-8)
IAU GA-2006
* Community input
Nominations for RAS Council (Feb 4 deadline)
Nominations for Thesis Prizes (Jan 31 deadline)
Proposals for RAS Specialist Discussion Meetings, 2005/6 session
Hosts for Schools conferences
Contributions to a McCrea fund
* Information
International Review of UK Physics and Astronomy, 2005
Free subscriptions to 'The Observatory' magazine
Forthcoming Cambridge/SCI events - NEO talk (Feb 10), MRAO visit (July 21)
* RAS Reminders
RAS Astronomy & Space Digest, Jan 2005
RAS Library Catalogue on-line
Chartered Scientist validation available through the RAS
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MEETINGS:
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JANUARY RAS MEETINGS, 2005 JANUARY 13/14
[http://www.ras.org.uk/html/meetings/RASSDAG.html#jan for details]
- including earthquake/tsunami and Huygens 'news bulletins'
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The Specialist Discussion Meetings are on
*Wide-Field Spectroscopy: Science With, and Beyond, 2dF
*Seismology of the Sun: From the Inner Core to Corona
These meetings are open to all, with modest admission fees for
non-Fellows. If you'd like to give a talk, please contact the
organizers (details on the web site).
N.B. (1): The 'Wide-Field Spectroscopy' meeting runs for two days, Jan13/14
N.B. (2): The Helioseismology meeting will be held at the English
Heritage Lecture Theatre, Savile Row (and not at Burlington House)
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The programme of talks at the subsequent "Ordinary Meeting"
(Geological Society Lecture Theatre, 2005 Jan 14, 16:00-18:00) is:
*Dr Paul Williams (Oxford; the 2004 RAS-Blackwell prizewinner) -
Modelling planetary atmospheres: problems and solutions
*Prof. Janet Drew (IC) -
IPHAS: the INT/WFC Photometric H-alpha Survey
*Dr Matthew Colless (Director, AAO) -
The Future of the Anglo-Australian Observatory
*Prof. Arthur Miller (UCL) -
Chandrasekhar vs. Eddington - The RAS's Biggest Fracas
(on the 70th anniversary of the celebrated public confrontation)
There will be two short extra contributions:
*Some scientific aspects of the Boxing Day Earthquake/Tsunami
disaster (Bruce Malamud)
*Huygens News Bulletin (first telemetry is expected at 15:20, and
any provisional results will be announced at the end of the
meeting; Ingo Mueller-Wodarg will report news from John Zarnecki)
The meeting is free and open to all - do encourage your students (both
undergraduate and postgraduate) to attend if they're interested.
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RAS NATIONAL ASTRONOMY MEETING 2005 (April 4-8)
http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/nam2005/index.html
Trevor Ponman and the organizing committees are pleased to announce
that registration is now open for the 2005 RAS National Astronomy
Meeting at Birmingham, along with the parallel UK Solar Physics meeting.
Note that registration by mid-February is required for guaranteed
consideration of proposals for oral presentations
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IAU GENERAL ASSEMBLY 2006
The latest issue of the IAU Information Bulletin,
http://www.iau.org/Activities/publications/bulletin/
contains information on deadlines associated with the 2006 (Prague) GA
- see also http://www.iau.org/IAU/News/deadlines.html
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COMMUNITY INPUT:
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NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR RAS COUNCIL
http://www.ras.org.uk/pdfs/nomlet&form.pdf
Nominations for four Council vacancies are sought. This is an
opportunity for everyone to play an important role in steering the
RAS' policies and activities.
Deadline for receipt of (signed) nominations at Burlington House is
the first Friday in February - i.e., Feb 4.
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NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR RAS THESIS PRIZES
http://www.ras.org.uk/html/education/edcomm2.html
The RAS Michael Penston Astronomy Prize, sponsored by PPARC and Wiley,
and the RAS Blackwell Prize, sponsored by Blackwell Publishing, are
awarded annually for the best theses nominated in Astronomy and in
Geophysics, respectively.
The deadline for nominations is 2005 January 31. Every major
department should be promoting at least one of their newly
postdoctoral colleagues (and giving them the chance to win 1000
pounds!).
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SPECIALIST DISCUSSION PROGRAMME 2005/6
http://www.ras.org.uk/html/meetings/sd_propose.html
Thought has already to be given to the next season of Specialist
Discussion meetings. The RAS provides all necessary 'LOC'
functions,leaving meeting organizers only with the task of recruiting
good speakers. If you have ideas for possible meeting topics,
please review the Specialist Discussion web page.
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SCHOOLS EVENTS
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/meetings/School_Conf/
The RAS welcomes proposals for sponsorship for schools events in
university departments (whether in astronomy or geophysics); the
series of events at IoA organized by Lisa Jardine-Wright has become
something of a model for such events. Expressions of interest may
be emailed to the Executive Secretary, David Elliott ([log in to unmask])
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McCREA CENTENARY FUND
The University of Sussex held a McCrea Centenary Lecture on 13
December 2004, the exact 100th anniversary of Bill McCrea's birth.
Associated with this celebration, the University has set up a McCrea
Centenary Fund in Bill's memory, with the intention of providing an
annual prize for the best MSc student in Astronomy or Cosmology at the
University of Sussex. This note appeals to you to contribute to the
Fund; if you knew Bill, and haven't already made a contribution,
please contact Dr Robert Smith ([log in to unmask]), or complete
the form at http://www.ras.org.uk/pdfs/McCreaFundForm.doc
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INFORMATION:
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INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF UK PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY, 2005
The Society is working with the Institute of Physics, PPARC and EPSRC
to organize a second 'International Review of UK research in Physics
and Astronomy' in 2005. This will report on the state of UK physics
and astronomy and provide a comparison with the previous review
(2000). The aim is to establish the international status of UK physics
and astronomy in a way that can positively influence research-council
and government policy with respect to future UK work in physics and
astronomy.
The review will be carried out by an international panel of 12 members with
main aim of having expertise across the wide range of topics covered by UK
physics and astronomy. The panel will be chaired by Professor Jurgen Mlynek
(President of Humboldt University in Berlin), who was a member of the 2000
review panel and thus familiar with the process. Candidates for the other
panel members have been identified and are now being approached to seek
their agreement. The formal review will take place in the week of 31 October
- 4 November 2005 and will involve panel or sub-panel visits to a number of
sites across the UK. It will be followed by a town meeting to announce the
results of the review.
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FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO 'THE OBSERVATORY'
http://www.ulo.ucl.ac.uk/obsmag/subscriptions/student.html
The Editors of "The Observatory" magazine have been debating amongst
themselves whether astronomy students today ever read anything not
seen on the screen of their computer terminal or PC. To get a feel for
the scale of the problem, they have decided to offer a completely
free subscription to all postgraduate students in astronomy or closely
related subjects in UK universities. All you have to do is email the
magazine at [log in to unmask] giving:
* your name
* departmental address
* supervisor's name
* your year of postgraduate study (1, 2, or 3 only!)
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CAMBRIDGE/SCI EVENTS
The Society of Chemical Industry is hosting two Cambridge events in
the near future that may be of interest:
(i) A lecture on "Secrets of the Space Invaders - What You Should Know
about Near-Earth Objects", to be given by Dr Jacqueline Mitton (Feb
10, 19:00, in the Unilever Lecture Theatre, Dept of Chemistry,
Cambridge, UK) -
http://www.soci.org/SCI/events/details.jsp?eventID=EV597
http://www.ras.org.uk/pdfs/SCI_Feb05.pdf
(ii) A visit to the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory on July 21, at
18:00 - contact John Wilkins ([log in to unmask])
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REMINDERS:
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RAS ASTRONOMY AND SPACE DIGEST, JANUARY
http://www.ras.org.uk/html/press/pn0440ras.html
The 2005 January Astronomy & Space digest includes notes on Einstein
Year, Comet Machholz, the launch of Deep Impact, and Huygens' descent to
Titan's surface.
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RAS LIBRARY CATALOGUE
http://www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_library.html
The computerization of the RAS Library catalogue is well advanced; to
date, all journals and the majority of the 'modern' (approx. post
1980) books have been entered. Although the project is still a work in
progress, Fellows are invited to try out, and comment on, the
on-line catalogue.
The Library will also have extended opening hours (including some
Saturdays) in 2005; see http://www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_new.html
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CHARTERED SCIENTIST VALIDATION
http://www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_csci.html
The importance of developing the skills of scientists and of ensuring
that they remain up-to-date is paramount in both the academic and
industrial sectors. The designation Chartered Scientist (CSci),
awarded by the Science Council, ensures high and improving standards
across all scientific disciplines. The Chartered Scientist designation
reflects 'best practice' in science, and is set at a benchmark level
throughout the professions.
Application for validation of CSci status can be made through the RAS
- see the web site for full details.
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