------------------------------------------------------------------------ *First Announcement - December 2006* IAU Symposium No. 250 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MASSIVE STARS AS COSMIC ENGINES Grant Hyatt, Kauai, Hawaii, USA 10-15 December 2007 http:///www.ifa.hawaii.edu/iau250 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Executive Committee of the IAU approved our proposal for the above mentioned IAU symposium on 24 April 2006, which will be hosted by the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. Scope of the Symposium ---------------------- The symposium will focus on how massive stars shape the Universe from the nearby Universe to high-redshift galaxies and the first generations of stars. Massive stars form in starbursts, pollute the interstellar medium (ISM), inject energy and momentum via their stellar winds and core-collapse supernovae (SNe), drive the ISM out of galaxies, polluting the intergalactic medium. Direct detection of massive stars (via the UV continua and spectral wind lines) and of the produces of their nucleosynthesis provides some of the most stringent constraints on the physical properties of galaxies at high redshifts, whether identified via their emission at a variety of wavelengths or by the absorption they produce in quasar spectra. Within the past few years, a direct connection has been established between certain core-collapse SNe and Gammay Ray Bursts (GRBs), supporting the collapsar model in which the GRB results from the death throes of a rapidly rotating Wolf-Rayet star. Scientific Programme: -------------------- Oral contributions will be divided between 25 invited review talks and about 25 contributed talks. Proposals for contributed talks may be submitted until 31 May 2007 via the registration form, for review by the SOC. The final programme will be selected by 30 June 2007, for distribution in the Second Announcement. The conference venue offers ample space for poster presentations, which will be reviewed by the SOC. Ample time will be available for discussion. In addition to the symposium, two specialist Discussion Sessions will be held on Sunday 9 Dec 2007, with provisional titles of "Massive stellar evolution at low metallicity" and "Magnetic massive stars". Symposium invited review titles and speakers are listed below: Session I (Atmospheres of massive stars) Massive Stars as cosmic engines through the ages - Andre MAEDER Physical and wind properties of OB stars - Joachim PULS Properties of Wolf-Rayet stars - Paul CROWTHER LBVs: Mass loss close to the Eddington limit - Stan OWOCKI Cool Supergiants - Phil MASSEY Massive binaries - Tony MOFFAT Session II (Physics and evolution of massive stars) Recent developments in physics of massive stars - Georges MEYNET Close binary evolution - Norbert LANGER Core-collapse supernovae: Physics and Observation - Adam BURROWS Long GRBs-Supernovae connection - Andrew MACFADYEN Magnetars: Massive star progenitors, SGRs and AXPs - Bryan GAENSLER Stellar evolution at low metallicity - Raphael HIRSCHI Session III (Massive stellar populations in the nearby Universe) Young massive clusters - Don FIGER Massive stars in nuclei and arms of spiral galaxies - Fabio BRESOLIN Massive stars in dwarf and irregular galaxies - Eva GREBEL Individual massive stars in external galaxies - Rolf KUDRITZKI Session IV (Hydrodynamics and feedback from massive stars in galaxy evolution) Massive stars and their ionizing radiation - Rosa GONZALEZ-DELGADO Bubbles and super-bubbles: Theory and observation - You-Hua CHU Massive star feedback: Starbursts and superwinds - Mike DOPITA Nucleosynthesis: Role of massive stars in chemical evolution - Francesca MATTEUCCI Session V (Massive stars as probes of the early Universe) Massive stars as tracers of z=1-5 star forming galaxies - Max PETTINI Star forming galaxies at z>5 - Yoshi TANIGUCHI Gamma Ray Bursts as probes of high-z galaxies - Johan FYNBO The first stars - Volker BROMM Future instrumentation: ELTs - Sandro D'ODORICO Venue: ----- The symposium will be held in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, located in the southern part of the island of Kauai, Hawaii, USA with easy access from the airport. Based on either single or twin accomodation, room rates of US$165+tax have been negotiated for the duration of the Symposium. The hotel will offer ample space for poster papers and email connections. Kauai offers many options for a special programme, from typical beach activities, snorkelling and diving, to visiting the rich landscape (Jurassic Park was filmed in Kauai). Symposium participants are expected to arrive on Kauai not later than Sunday 9 December, and to depart from Kauai not earlier than Saturday 15 December 2007. Participants wishing to take part in the specialist Discussion Sessions on Sunday 9 December will need to arrive on Saturday 8 December. All symposium participants will be lodged at the Grand Hyatt, for which hotel bookings will be made through the website. Visa requirements: ----------------- Because of security procedures, applications for visas to visit the US may take longer to process than in the past. We recommend applying for a visa as early as possible (at least 3 months before the visa is needed). It may take even longer for citizens of a few countries. Please check swith your local US consulate or embassy to make sure that you apply early enough to avoid any problems. Participation and registration: ------------------------------ If you are interested in participating in the Symposium, please fill out the electronic pre-registration form. Registration by all participants, including invited speakers and SOC, LOC members, is mandatory. The meeting registration fee will be US$250 and include the welcome reception, food and beverages during the breaks and a copy of the symposium proceedings, providing the payment is received before 30 Sep 2007. A late registration fee of US$350 will be charged. IAU Support: ----------- Limited funds are made available by the IAU to support expenses (board and lodging, registration fee) of individual participants. The IAU grant application form is available on the meeting website. If you wish to be considered for financial support, please mail the completed IAU grant application form to the chair of the SOC at the below address, to arrive no later than 31 May 2007. IAU grant guidelines can be found on the meeting website. Notification of awards will be sent by email from the IAU Assistant General Secretary, and distributed by the LOC chair upon arrival in Kauai. Deadlines: --------- Now... Complete the electronic pre-registration form 15 Apr 2007 Distribution of Second Announcement 31 May 2007 Deadline for IAU support 31 May 2007 Deadline for submission of contributed talk abstracts 30 Sep 2007 Registration fee and hotel reservation deadline 15 Nov 2007 Deadline for final abstracts 09 Dec 2007 Specialist discussion sessions and welcome reception 10 Dec 2007 Start of symposium 14 Dec 2007 End of symposium 15 Jan 2008 Delivery of final manuscripts to the Editors Organization: ------------ The symposium is sponsored and supported by the IAU Divisions IV (Stars), VI (Interstellar Matter), VII (Galactic System), VIII (Galaxies and the Universe), and XI (Space and High Energy Astrophysics); and by the IAU Commissions No. 28 (Galaxies), No. 29 (Stellar Spectra), No. 34 (Interstellar Matter), No. 35 (Stellar Constitution), No. 36 (Theory of Stellar Atmospheres), No. 37 (Star Clusters and Associations), and No. 44 (Space and High Energy Astrophysics). Scientific Organizing Committee: ------------------------------- P.A. Crowther (UK, co-chair), M.A. Dopita (Australia), J.P.U. Fynbo (Denmark), E.K. Grebel (Switzerland), T.M. Heckman (USA), D.A. Hunter (USA), G. Koenigsberger (Mexico), R.P. Kudritzki (USA), N. Langer (Netherlands), A.I. MacFadyen (USA), F. Matteucci (Italy), G. Meynet (Switzerland), A.F.J. Moffat (Canada), K. Nomoto (Japan), M. Pettini (UK), J. Puls (Germany, co-chair). Local Organizing Committee: -------------------------- F. Bresolin (chair), L. Clark, M. Urbaneja, K.Uyehara, K. Teramura. Editors of the Proceedings: -------------------------- F. Bresolin, P. Crowther, J. Puls Contact information: ------------------- LOC Contact: Dr Fabio Bresolin Institute for Astronomy 2680 Woodlawn Drive Honolulu HI 96822 USA e-mail: iaus250@ifa.hawaii.edu SOC Contact: Dr Paul Crowther Dept of Physics & Astronomy University of Sheffield Hicks Building, Hounsfield Rd, Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK e-mail: paul.crowther@sheffield.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------