Please accept my apologies if you receive this email more than once.

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FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

A meeting organised by the UK Astrophysical Chemistry Group

a special interest group of

the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Astronomical Society


POLYATOMICS AND DIBs IN DIFFUSE INTERSTELLAR CLOUDS


will be held in the Department of Physics, UMIST, Manchester M60 1QD
on Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th January 2003


AIM OF THE MEETING
During the last decade, the chemical complexity of interstellar
diffuse clouds has been demonstrated to be much greater than previous
recognised. A variety of polyatomic molecules is now known to exist in
regions previously believed to contain only atomic and diatomic
species. Over the same period, the unidentified diffuse interstellar
bands (DIBs) have been intensively studied, and there is now a general
consensus that many of these features are carried by molecules rather
than dust. The aim of the meeting is to bring together these two
topics that are often discussed separately, to address the questions
such as:

What are the polyatomics that have been discovered in diffuse
interstellar clouds? Do we understand how they are formed? Do these
formation mechanisms also imply the existence of large polyatomics?
What is the evidence for large molecules being the DIB carriers? What
is the origin of such large molecules in the diffuse clouds?


PROGRAMME
There will be four invited reviews, each one hour long including
discussion, and about 15 - 20 contributed talks, each of 20 minutes.
There may also be poster presentations.

The invited reviews are (provisional titles)

Observations of diffuse interstellar bands
Peter Sarre (University of Nottingham, UK)

Carriers of DIBs: laboratory studies
John Maier (University of Basel, Switzerland)

Observations of polyatomics in diffuse clouds
Harvey Liszt (NRAO, USA)

Formation mechanisms of interstellar polyatomic molecules
David Williams (University College London)


REGISTRATION, ACCOMMODATION, AND CALL FOR CONTRIBUTED TALKS
A registration fee of 10 pounds, payable at the meeting to the
Astrophysical Chemistry Group, will be charged to cover local costs.
This fee will be waived for students and the unwaged.

A block of accommodation has been reserved in the Weston Conference
Centre, UMIST, at a cost of 55 pounds per night for B&B, and in the
nearby Hotel Ibis at a cost of 49.25 pounds per night for B&B.

Please use the form at the end of this message to register your
interest in attending, whether you would like accommodation reserved
for you, and whether you wish to give a contributed talk or poster.

PLEASE SEND YOUR RESPONSE BY EMAIL TO DR GARY FULLER
mailto:[log in to unmask]

A second announcement giving fuller details about the programme will
be sent out at the end of November 2002.

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RESPONSE FORM

Name:

Address:

Email:


I would like to attend the meeting on 8/9 Jan 2003            YES/NO

I would like to have accommodation in the Weston Centre       YES/NO

I would like to have accommodation in the Hotel Ibis          YES/NO

I shall make my own accommodation arrangements                YES/NO

I would like to give a contributed talk                       YES/NO

I would like to present a poster                              YES/NO

(If offering a talk or poster, please give its provisional title here)

Email address used in First Announcement:
[log in to unmask]

PLEASE SEND YOUR RESPONSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BY EMAIL TO DR GARY
FULLER, UMIST, mailto:[log in to unmask]
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