List of International Astronomy meetings maintained by the Canadian Astronomy Data Center

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Space Calendar

High Energy Astrophysics meetings

Other Selected Astronomy, Physics and Space Science meetings

Selected Astronomy-related Physics, Computational, Data Analysis, Software or Statistics meetings

High Energy Astrophysics meetings

7th International Workshop on Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics (IWARA 2016): Quarks and Cosmos

Meeting Dates: 2016 October 9 - 13

Online Registration: Now Open

Meeting Location: Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Our understanding of the origin of the Universe, of its evolution and the physical laws that govern its behavior, as well as on the different states of matter that make up its evolutionary stage, reached in recent years levels never before imagined. This is due mainly to the new and recent discoveries in astronomy and relativistic astrophysics as well as to experiments on particle and nuclear physics that made the traditional boundaries of knowledge on physics to be overcome. As a result we have presently a new understanding about the Universe in its two extreme domains, the very large and the very small: the recognition of the deep connections that exist between quarks and the cosmos.

Based on the understanding of the intimate relationship between quarks and cosmos, the IWARA meetings is focused on the following related topics:

Topics:

• New phenomena and new states of matter in the Universe
• General relativity, gravitation and cosmology
• White dwarfs, neutron stars, pulsars and black holes
• Gamma-ray emission in the Universe, high energy cosmic rays and gravitational waves
• Strong magnetic fields in compact stars and in galaxies
• Ultra-strong magnetic fields in neutron star mergers
• Strange matter, strange stars, quark stars and magnetars
• Strong magnetic fields and the cosmic microwave background
• Dark matter and dark energy
• Antimatter in the Universe, strong magnetic fields in the Universe
• Heavy ion collisions and the formation of the quark-gluon plasma

11th INTEGRAL Conference: Gamma-Ray Astrophysics in Multi-Wavelength Perspective

Meeting Dates: 2016 October 10 - 14

Contact e-mail: integral2016 'at' sron.nl

Meeting Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

The workshop will focus on the astrophysics of highly energetic objects that are studied with INTEGRAL, taking into account advanced modelling efforts and observational constraints from all wavelengths (and other cosmic messengers). Its goal is to provide a broad perspective on the astrophysics of compact objects and extreme astrophysical plasmas, as studied primarily by INTEGRAL but also, for example, in radio waves and TeV gamma rays, as relevant for various source types. The workshop will focus on key open questions in the field and critically examine their status and novel ideas to resolve them, including a forward look to future facilities.

Examples of topics:

• X-ray binaries (involving black holes, neutron stars, and white dwarfs)
• Isolated neutron stars (rotation-powered pulsars, magnetars)
• Nucleosynthesis (SNe, Novae, SNRs, ISM) and gamma-ray lines, including 511 keV
• Galactic diffuse continuum emission (including Galactic Ridge)
• Super-massive black holes in AGNs (blazars, and the nucleus of the Milky Way)
• Sky surveys, source populations and unidentified gamma-ray sources
• Cosmic background radiation
• Gamma-ray bursts

8th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium

Meeting Dates: 2016 October 24 - 28

Deadline for Abstract Submission: Extended to 2016 August 16, 5:00pm CDT

Deadline for Submitting Indication of Interest: 2016 September 8 (If you are not on the indication of interest list you will NOT receive important meeting updates).

Final announcement with program and abstracts posted on this website: 2016 September 9

Meeting Location: Huntsville, Alabama, USA

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe. The study of GRBs has expanded enormously since the publication of their discovery in 1973. With X-ray and gamma-ray observations from active space missions such as Fermi, Swift, MAXI, INTEGRAL, Konus, AGILE, NuSTAR, CALET, and AstroSAT this is an exciting time for GRB physics. Observations of the prompt spectra from X-rays to GeV gamma-rays are revealing additional components to the emission. Afterglow observations at radio, optical X-ray, and up to GeV energies continue to provide clues as to the nature of GRB hosts and jets. Recent and developing capabilities such as ZTF, XSHOOTER, MASTER, LOFAR, RATIR, ALMA, and CARMA will expand this area of GRB studies.

With the discovery by IceCube of a background of astrophysical neutrinos and by LIGO of gravitational wave signals, the era of multi-messenger astronomy has arrived.

It is likely that GRBs will play a key role in this field, particularly with next-generation instrumentation such as HAWC, CTA, upgrades to IceCube, ANTARES, and the continued development of Advanced LIGO/Virgo and other gravitational wave detectors. The wealth of data contributes to improving the theoretical understanding of the GRB phenomenon.

The Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium will cover all areas of GRB science with a particular emphasis on multi-messenger observations and theory. Topics will include prompt emission (observations and theory), afterglows (observations and theory), high redshift observations and early universe implications, central engine and jet physics, supernovae and progenitors, host galaxies, short and sub-energetic GRBs (observations and theory), multi-messenger observations, and future instruments. While the focus of the meeting is GRBs, we will discuss related topics, such as core-collapse supernovae, fast radio bursts, and tidal disruption events.

Astrophysics in the Era of Gravitational Wave and Multimessenger Observations

Meeting Dates: 2016 November 9 - 11 **New Dates**

Meeting Location, Annapolis, Maryland, USA

The first gravitational wave observations are now beginning to reveal information directly from the extreme final moments of compact object binaries including black holes and, soon perhaps, also neutron stars. Astronomers now have a new probe into these objects and the physical processes which drive their creation and dynamics. This meeting will explore the consequences of these new observations:

How does this new information supplement what we have already learned from electromagnetic observations and from theoretical modeling?

What new questions will be addressed by combined multimessenger observations?

For more details, contact the lead organizer John Baker (john.g.baker "at" nasa.gov).

NuSTAR Science Meeting 2016

Meeting Dates: 2016 November 15 - 17

Deadline for Abstracts and Early Registration: 2016 September 1 (rolling afterwards)

Deadline for Regular Registration: 2016 October 15

Meeting Location: Pasadena, California, USA

The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Small Explorer, launched in June 2012, provides a 100-fold improvement in sensitivity, more than a 10-fold improvement in angular resolution and source positioning capability, and significantly improved spectral resolution in the hard X-ray band (3-79 keV) compared to collimated and coded-aperture telescopes. This provides exciting, unique capabilities for studying a range of high-energy phenomena and sources, ranging from the Sun, to supernovae, to neutron stars and black holes.

After its initial baseline mission during which most observations were planned and executed by the NuSTAR science team, NuSTAR transitioned to primarily being a guest observatory in 2015. In addition to NuSTAR time made available through several cycles of Chandra and XMM-Newton AO's, NuSTAR commenced the NuSTAR Cycle 2 observations in May 2016.

The astrophysics community are invited to discuss some of the compelling science that NuSTAR is achieving or plans to undertake.

Exploring the X-ray Transient and Variable Sky

Meeting Dates: 2016 November 21 - 23

Registration: Now Open (and Free!)

Deadline for Abstract Submission: Has Been Extended to 2016 September 25

Deadline for Registration: 2016 October 23 (Note: The number of participants is restricted to 80).

Meeting Location: Pavia, Italy

The workshop is aimed at reviewing, discussing and exchanging ideas and methods to exploit the rich astrophysical information carried by time variability in X-rays, for all kind of X-ray emitters - from nearby stars to extreme events at cosmological distances. The synergy of X-ray, multiwavelength and multi-messenger observations, as well as the use of current and future serendipitous X-ray data, will also be discussed.

The workshop will run in 2 and a half days: November 21 and 22, 2016 are devoted to the main sessions, with invited talks, contributed talks, and contributed posters. Such sessions will be dedicated to different classes of astrophysical sources, as well as to methods/experiments for X-ray time-domain astronomy. The morning of November 23 is dedicated to hands-on sessions, where you can learn how to use the software tools and products developed and released by the EXTraS FP7 project.

7 years of MAXI: Monitoring X-ray Transients

Meeting Dates: 2016 December 5 - 7

Deadline for Registration and Abstract Submission: 2016 September 30

Meeting Location: Wako, Saitama, Japan

This workshop will be held to celebrate the successful 7 years of observation with the Monitor of All-Sky X-ray Image (MAXI), a Japanese astrophysics payload on the International Space Station. Since the launch in 2009, MAXI has been monitoring the variable X-ray sky, and has discovered 17 new X-ray sources. Often with the help of multi-wavelength follow-up observations, one of them has been identified with the nuclear ignition of a massive nova, 6 with black-hole binaries, and 5 with those involving neutron stars. Nevertheless, 5 of them remain unidentified, and are considered to form a potentially new class of short soft transients.

MAXI is also leading the time-domain astronomy, with its capability to issue alerts which triggers prompt follow-up observations in the optical and other wavelengths. So far, MAXI has detected about a hundred gamma-ray bursts, and has performed an unbiased watch for stellar flares. In addition, long-term X-ray variations of about a hundred of sources are continuously tracked with MAXI. This has enabled a variety of new astrophysics that cannot be achieved by snapshot observations. The recent detections of the gravitation wave events have significantly increased the importance of MAXI as a currently operating all-sky monitor, and as a member of multi-messenger astronomy which covers electromagnetic waves, neutrinos, and gravitational waves.

In this symposium, the MAXI results obtained during the 7 years are reviewed, with a session assigned to those from Hitomi. The symposium also covers new prospects in the time-domain astronomy, to be developed with future X-ray missions/instruments.

Topics

- MAXI transients 
- Stellar Mass BH 
- AGN 
- Low Mass X-ray Binaries 
- Superbursts 
- Binary X-ray Pulsars 
- Stellar Flares 
- Hitomi Results 
- GRBs
- Gravitational Wave Sources 

IAU Symposium 331: SN 1987A, 30 years Later - Cosmic Rays and Nuclei from Supernovae and Their Aftermaths

Meeting Dates: 2017 February 20 - 24

Meeting Location: Saint-Gilles, La Réunion Island (France)

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of SN 1987A, this Symposium will explore the link between the stellar progenitors and the multi-wavelength/multi-messenger manifestation of core-collapse Supernovae (cc-SNe) and their remnants (SNRs) in terms of extreme sources of high-energy particles and nuclei. By bringing together theorists, observers and instrumentalists from diverse geographical regions and fields of expertise, focussing on the best studied case, the Symposium, through an interdisciplinary approach, will span a broad spectrum of important, interconnected topics within this rapidly evolving research field of cc-SNe and SNRs.

The organizers invite contributions on the following topics:

Latest evolutionary stages of massive stars as cc-SN progenitors;
cc-SNe as stellar explosive outcomes;
cc-SN explosion mechanisms;
cc-SN remnants and impacts;
Particle acceleration & origin of cosmic rays;
SN 1987A, 30 years later;
Non-thermal multi-wavelength/multi-messenger data on SNe and SNRs.

Quasars at All Cosmic Epochs

Meeting Dates; 2017 April 2 - 7

Registration Opens: 2016 early November

Deadline for Registration and Payment: 2017 January 31

Meeting Location: Padova, Italy

Quasars were discovered slightly more than 50 years ago. All the improvement in telescope light gathering and in computing power notwithstanding, we are still missing a clear connection between observational properties and theory for quasars, as provided, for example, by the H-R diagram for stars. We do not yet have a complete self-consistent view of nuclear activity with predictive power, as we do for main-sequence stellar sources. At the same time quasars offer many "windows open onto the unknown". On small scales, quasar properties depend on phenomena very close to the black hole event horizon. On large scales, quasars may effect evolution of host galaxies and their circum-galactic environments. The potential of quasars to map the matter density of the Universe and help reconstruct the Universe's spacetime geometry is still largely unexploited.

The time is ripe for a critical assessment of our present knowledge of quasars as accreting black holes and of their evolution across the cosmic time. The aim of this meeting is to review and contextualize the main observational scenarios following an empirical approach, to present and discuss the accretion scenario, and then to analyze how a closer connection between theory and observation can be achieved, identifying those aspects of our understanding that are still on a shaky terrain and are therefore uncertain knowledge.

The meeting will cover topics ranging from the nearest environment of the black hole, to the environment of the host galaxies of active nuclei, and to the quasars as markers of the large scale structure and of the geometry of spacetime of the Universe. Systematic attention will be devoted to some key problems that remain outstanding and are clearly not yet solved: the existence of two quasar classes, radio quiet and radio loud, and in general, the systematic contextualization of quasar properties, the properties of the central black hole, the dynamics of the accretion flow in the inner parsecs and the origin of the accretion matter, the quasars' small and large scale environment, feedback processes produced by the black hole into the host galaxy, quasar evolutionary patterns from seed black holes to the present-day Universe, and the use of quasars as cosmological standard candles.

Key Topics

1. Observational properties of quasars as luminous active galactic nuclei 
2. Accretion processes on supermassive black holes
3. Contextualization and connection between theory and observation for the emitting region of quasars
4. Quasar evolution over cosmic time and quasars as cosmological tools
5. Feedback and environment of active galaxies and quasars

High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the AAS Meeting

Meeting Dates: 2017 August 20 - 24 New Dates

Meeting Location: Sun Valley, Idaho, USA. New Location

29th Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics

Meeting Dates: 2017 December 3 - 8

Registration and Abstract Submission Open: 2017 April 14

Abstract Submission Deadline: 2017 August 25

Regular Registration and Hotel Deadline: 2017 October 20

Late Registration Deadline: 2017 November 24

Meeting Location: Cape Town, South Africa

The series of Texas Symposia on Relativistic Astrophysics began in 1963 and they are normally held every two years. Major astrophysical discoveries have been announced and discussed in the field related to relativistic theory of gravitation and cosmology, such as black-holes, quasars, neutron stars, X-ray binaries, gamma-ray bursts, particle acceleration, the cosmic background, dark matter and dark energy. The 29th Symposium will be the first ever to be held on the African continent, emphasizing Southern Africa's role as the host of world-leading astrophysical facilities, such as the Southern African Large Telescope, the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS), and the future Square Kilometre Array.

The organizers are excited to welcome hundreds of international astrophysicists and physicists to Cape Town, to review remarkable discoveries and prospects, such as the breakthrough detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO/VIRGO collaboration. The symposium also marks the 100th anniversary of the postulation of the cosmological constant ("Einstein's Biggest Blunder"). The Symposium will include morning plenary sessions and afternoon parallel sessions which will function as mini-symposia in each sub-field. The plenary sessions will consist of 30-45 min review talks. The afternoon sessions will feature oral (about 20 min) and poster contributions.

Other Selected Astronomy, Physics and Space Science meetings

Exploring the Universe with JWST - II

Meeting Dates: 2016 October 24 - 28

Deadline for Registration and Abstract Submission: 2016 July 15

Meeting Location: Montreal, Canada

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled for launch in October 2018, will be one of the great observatories of the next decade. Its suite of four instruments will provide imaging, spectroscopic and coronagraphic capabilities over the 0.6 to 28.5 micron wavelength range and will offer an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and spatial resolution to study targets ranging from our Solar System to the most distant galaxies. With JWST's launch date approaching rapidly and a first call for proposals scheduled for the end of 2017, it is important to give the astronomical community opportunities to present, highlight and discuss scientific programs that will be made possible by JWST. The conference will cover a broad range of scientific topics organized around the main JWST science themes:

• The end of the "dark ages": first light and reionisation.
• The assembly of galaxies.
• The formation and evolution of stars and planets
• Planetary systems and the origins of life (exoplanets)
• Our Solar System.

American Astronomical Society Meeting 229

Meeting Dates: 2017 January 3 - 7

Meeting Location: Grapevine, Texas, USA

On the Origin (and Evolution) Of Baryonic Galaxy Halos

Meeting Dates: 2017 March 13 - 17

Abstract Deadline for Talks and Posters: 2016 August 27

Registration Fee Deadline: 2016 December 1

Meeting Location: Galapagos Island, Ecuador

This meeting will focus on the baryonic content of galaxy halos -- their properties, origin and evolution with cosmic time.

The halos of our own Milky Way galaxy and our close neighbour M31 have been studied in some detail. Deep, wide and detailed observations of galaxy halos beyond the Local Group are becoming more ubiquitous. Simulations, that incorporate realistic baryonic physics in a cosmological context have also made significant progress in recent years in modelling galaxy halos. These simulations predict outer halo regions that differ strongly in their formation processes and properties from the well-studied inner regions of galaxies. Halos have long dynamical times and as such preserve the unique signatures of galaxy assembly. This meeting will bring together observers and simulators of the baryonic halos of galaxies, focusing on extragalactic halos.

Topics of focus include:

* the origin and evolution of baryonic halos

* how to define the stellar halo of an elliptical galaxy

* the stellar components of galaxy halos: metallicity, age, kinematics, density

* substructures in galaxy halos

* in-situ vs ex-situ formed stars

* halo tracers, such as resolved stars, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, satellite galaxies and diffuse gas

American Astronomical Society Meeting 230

Meeting Dates: 2017 June 4 - 8

Meeting Location: Austin, Texas, USA

None

None

IAU Symposium 325: Astroinformatics

Meeting Dates: 2016 October 20 - 24

Deadline for Early Registration: 2016 July 1

Deadline for Abstract Submission and for Late Registration: 2016 August 1

Meeting Location: Sorrento, Italy

IAU symposium 325 on Astroinformatics (AstroInfo16) brings together world-class experts to address the methodological and technological challenges posed by the scientific exploitation of massive data sets produced by the new generation of telescopes and observatories. Astronomy, which already was at the forefront of Big Data science with exponentially growing data volumes and data rates, is now entering the petascale regime at optical, infrared and radio wavelengths.

Astronomy is truly becoming data-driven in the ways that are both quantitatively and qualitatively different from the past. The data structures are not simple, and the procedures to gain astrophysical insights are not obvious, but the informational content of the modern data sets is so high that archival research and data mining are not merely profitable, but practically obligatory, since researchers who obtain the data can only extract a small fraction of the science that is enabled by it.

The symposium takes place at a crucial stage in the development of this new and exciting field of research, when many efforts have made significant achievements, but the widespread groups have not yet effectively communicated across specialties, gathered to assimilate their achievements, and consulted with cross-disciplinary experts. By bringing together astronomers involved in survey and large simulation projects, computer scientists, data scientists and companies, the symposium will provide an unique environment for the exchange of ideas, methods, software, and technical capabilities, seeking to establish enduring associations between the diverse researchers.

The Symposium will cover a broad range of topics in astroinformatics: Database Management Systems, Data Mining, multiprocessor computing for astronomy, machine learning methods for classification and knowledge extraction, algorithms for N-point computations, time series analysis and image processing, advanced visualization for astronomical Big Data, cross-disciplinary perspectives and advanced training.

Detecting the Unexpected: Discovery in the Era of Astronomically Big Data

Meeting dates: 2017 February 27 - March 02

Pre-Registration: Now available

Pre-Registration Closes: 2016 November 01

Deadline for Registration: 2017 January 06

Meeting Location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

What tools do astronomers need to discover new classes of objects and complex trends in data sets too large to inspect by eye? This STScI workshop will explore this question in specific astronomical contexts and a with a range of tools. How can we find new events in the time domain, and make smart choices about follow-up in real time with limited resources? How can we find new features of our Galaxy in rich databases with more than spatial and kinematic information? What are the prospects for tools to explore the spectroscopic data sets of the present and future? We will focus on three kinds of discovery tools during the workshop: citizen science, machine learning, and data-integrated visualization.

This will be a unorthodox, hands-on workshop. Attendees are invited to provide exploration tools and data sets in advance of the workshop, which will be integrated into a computing environment provided to all participants. We will have hands-on sessions where discovery tools are taught by experts. There will be "unconference" sessions during which attendees can propose their own discussion topics in break-out rooms. There will also be a full day "hack", for attendees to experiment with the presented tools on STScI and contributed data sets and build their own tools.