------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Second Announcement - April 2007* IAU Symposium No. 250 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MASSIVE STARS AS COSMIC ENGINES Grand Hyatt, Kauai, Hawaii, USA 10-14 December 2007 http:///www.ifa.hawaii.edu/iau250 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 products 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. If you would like to propose a contributed talk, you must submit an abstract via the pre-registration page on the meeting website before 31 May 2007. Proposed contributed talks will be reviewed by the SOC with a final oral programme selected by 30 June 2007, and speakers notified. The conference venue offers ample space for poster presentations, which also need to be entered via the pre-registration form, and will also be reviewed by the SOC. The complete oral and poster programme will be distributed in the Final Announcement. Ample time will be available for general discussion, both formally at the end of each scientific session, and informally over the extended lunch break or in the evening. In addition to the symposium, two specialist Discussion Sessions will be held on Sunday 9 Dec 2007, entitled "Magnetic massive stars" (morning, convenor: Richard Townsend, rhdt@bartol.udel.edu), and "Massive stellar evolution at low metallicity" (afternoon, convenor: Georges Meynet, georges.meynet@obs.unige.ch). If you are interested in presenting a contribution within one, or both, of these Discussion Sessions please contact the relevant session convenor. Venue: ----- The symposium will be held in the Grand Hyatt Hotel http://kauai.hyatt.com/groupbooking/kauai2007astr 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 - a roommate finder will be made available on the meeting website - room rates of US$165+tax (currently 11.42% plus a daily $15 resort fee) have been negotiated which may be extended up to three days either side of the symposium. For the special room rates you *must* make your hotel reservation using the link provided above. Please note that a 2 night deposit is charged immediately upon booking. 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, since there are no other nearby hotels. Travel advice: ------------- The hotel is served by Lihue Airport (code LIH), located about 15 miles to the north. There are direct flights between Lihue airport and the US west coast (SFO, LAX), plus regular services to Honolulu (code HNL) on the island of Oahu, about 30 minutes flying time away. A taxi from the Lihue Airport to the hotel will cost about $50. Rental cars are also available at the airport. All participants, particularly those from outside of the US are advised to make travel arrangements as soon as is practical, to ensure the most economical airfares to/from Kauai. Convenient, representative one-stop options for outbound travel on Sat 8 Dec, returning on Sat 15 Dec include: Frankfurt -> San Francisco -> Lihue; Lihue -> San Francisco -> Frankfurt (Lufthansa) London -> San Francisco -> Lihue; Lihue -> San Francisco -> London (United) Montreal -> Los Angeles -> Lihue; Lihue -> Los Angeles -> Montreal (United) Sydney -> Los Angeles -> Lihue; Lihue -> Los Angeles -> Sydney (Qantas/United) Tokyo -> Honolulu -> Lihue; Lihue -> Honolulu --> Tokyo (United) Because of security procedures, applications for visas to visit the US may take longer to process than in the past. We strongly 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 with your local US consulate or embassy to make sure that you apply early enough to avoid any problems. Registration: ------------ Online registration by all participants, including invited speakers, SOC and LOC members is mandatory. Participants need to complete (or update if already registerered) the pre-registration form in order to submit poster or contributed talk abstracts. 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. Beyond this date a late registration fee of US$350 will be charged. Only SOC/LOC members are exempt from payment of the registration fee. There will be a welcome reception on Sunday December 9 in the hotel, free for participants. Details of other activities, including the symposium dinner on Friday December 14 will be made in the final announcment. Please note that the cost of the symposium dinner is not covered in the registration fee. Kauai offers typical beach activities (snorkelling and diving) plus opportunities to visit the rich landscape (Jurassic Park was filmed there). 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 co-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: --------- 31 May 2007 Deadline for submission of contributed talk abstracts (via pre-registration form) 31 May 2007 Deadline for IAU support (via FAX to SOC co-chair) 30 Sep 2007 Registration fee/hotel reservation deadline (via web) 15 Nov 2007 Deadline for final abstracts (via registration form) 15 Nov 2007 Distribution of Final Announcement 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 Draft Programme: --------------- Symposium invited review titles and speakers are listed below: Session I (Atmospheres of massive stars) [Monday 10 Dec] 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) [Tuesday 11 Dec] 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) [Wednesday 12/Thursday 13 Dec] 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) [Thursday 13 Dec] 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) [Friday 14 Dec] 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 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, L. Good, K. Teramura, M. Urbaneja, K. Uyehara, C.G. Wynn-Williams 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: Prof Paul Crowther Dept of Physics & Astronomy University of Sheffield Hicks Building, Hounsfield Rd, Sheffield, S3 7RH, UK e-mail: paul.crowther@sheffield.ac.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------