www.aas.org/publications/elaarchive/Exploder_187_2008_08_August.html
Subject: AAS Electronic Announcement #187 Body: AAS Electronic Announcement #187 -- August 2008 [Mailed from aas.org 08 August 2008] View Online: http://www.aas.org/publications/elaarchive/Exploder_187_2008_08_August.html CONTENTS: 1. 2009 ONLINE RENEWALS BEGIN 2 SEPTEMBER 2008 2. REMINDER FOR AAS PRIZE NOMINATIONS 3. NEW MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS FOR APJ AND APJS 4. MEMBER JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2009 5. LONG BEACH PRELIMINARY MEETING INFORMATION ONLINE 6. LONG BEACH MEETING REGISTRATION ANNOUNCEMENT 7. LONG BEACH PRESENTERS SHOULD VERIFY MEMBER STATUS NOW 8. AAS ONLINE CALENDAR AND ST. LOUIS MEETING SESSION VIDEOS 9. WIYN 0.9-METER TELESCOPE CONSORTIUM SEEKS NEW PARTNERS 10. SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CYCLE-6 CALL FOR PROPOSALS 11. SPITZER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AND THE WARM MISSION 12. NASA KECK TELESCOPE PROPOSALS 13. SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY CALL FOR PROPOSALS 14. CARMA CALL FOR PROPOSALS, SEMESTER 2009A 15. INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR US GRADUATE STUDENTS 16. NASA ASTROPHYSICS NAMED FELLOWSHIPS ------------------------------------------------ 1. 2009 ONLINE RENEWALS BEGIN 2 SEPTEMBER 2008 IMPORTANT!! As the renewal period approaches, please take a moment and log into the Member Only website (members.aas.org) to ensure your contact information is correct. Any changes can be made directly on that page. If you need assistance, please email membership@aas.org, or call 202-328-2010 x 101. Please make all corrections by Friday, 22 August 2008. ------------------------------------------------ 2. REMINDER FOR AAS PRIZE NOMINATIONS Deadline: 1 October 2008 The AAS needs your help in getting due recognition for our most outstanding colleagues. Nominations for the AAS Prizes for 2008 must arrive in the Secretary's Office by 1 October 2008. Members may obtain the the Prize nomination form online at aas.org/grants/awards.php. To obtain a hard copy, please email aassec@aas.org. This year, nominations are being received for the Annie Jump Cannon Award, the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, the Helen B. Warner Prize, the Dannie Heineman Prize, the George Van Biesbroek Prize, the Education Prize, the Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation, and the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship. ------------------------------------------------ 3. NEW MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS FOR APJ AND APJS On 1 September, new submissions to The Astrophysical Journal and the ApJ Supplement will be handled by IOP Publishing. Revisions for papers already in peer review will be handled at the University of Chicago Press until the beginning of December. More details, including reminders of the appropriate URLs, will appear in the September edition of these AAS announcements. ------------------------------------------------ 4. MEMBER JOURNAL SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2009 The AAS is offering less journal subscription products for members in 2009. The objectives are to reinforce the importance of the online edition as well as to simplify the product line. There will be four member products. 1. AJ/ApJ/ApJL/ApJS electronic bundle - $50 2. AJ print+electronic - $145 3. ApJ/ApJL print+electronic - $325 4. ApJ/ApJL/ApJS print+electronic - $365 The pricing of the first three remains the same as it was in 2008; the fourth package is a new designation. These bundles simplify the product offerings by eliminating the print-only options and ensuring that the ApJ Supplement is always acquired with the ApJ. BAAS member subscriptions will remain unchanged at $30 for 2009. ------------------------------------------------ 5. LONG BEACH PRELIMINARY MEETING INFORMATION ONLINE 213th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society 4-8 January 2008, Long Beach, CA The Long Beach Meeting Announcement including registration, housing and abstract submission instructions are available online: aas.org/meetings/aas213/ Important Deadlines Hotel Reservations Open: 1 September 2008 Early Registration: 1 September - 30 September 2008 Abstract Submission: 1 October 2008, 9:00pm EDT Childcare Grants: 15 November 2008 Late Abstract Submission: 1 December 2008, 9:00pm EST Regular Registration: 1 October - 30 November 2008 Splinter Meeting Requests: 1 December 2008 Hotel Reservations: 7 December 2008 Late Registration: 1 December - 21 December 2008 Onsite Registration: 4 January 2009 - 8 January 2009 ------------------------------------------------ 6. LONG BEACH MEETING REGISTRATION ANNOUNCEMENT Registration for the AAS 213th Meeting in Long Beach will open 1 September 2008. Register online at aas.org/meetings/aas213/registration.php. ------------------------------------------------ 7. LONG BEACH PRESENTERS SHOULD VERIFY MEMBER STATUS NOW If you received this message directly from the AAS then you are a current AAS Member or a current Society of Physics Students Affiliate Member. We ask AAS Members to assist us in communicating the abstract/membership rules to their nonmember students and colleagues. It is much easier to join now then on the abstract deadline. The Long Beach abstract deadline is 11:59pm, Wednesday, 1 October 2008. The Meeting will be held 4-8 January 2009. The AAS Council specifies the following regulations for submission and presentation of papers at an AAS meeting: Current Members Only *Any member of the AAS may submit an abstract. You can verify member status in the Public Directory (members.aas.org/directory/public_directory.cfm) or Members-Only Directory, (members.aas.org). *Former members must reinstate their membership (aas.org/membership/membership.php#reinstate). *The presenter must be listed as the first author on the abstract. *The presenting/first author must register for the meeting. Dissertations for Members Only *Students or graduates wishing to submit Dissertation Abstracts must be accepted for membership in the AAS by the abstract deadline (aas.org/membership/membership.php#join). One Time as Nonmember *Nonmembers may present one abstract at one AAS meeting if the abstract is countersigned by a Full Member; and they register for the meeting at the nonmember rate. Registration and abstract submission are separate processes. Registration does not have to be submitted by the abstract deadline but must be completed 30 days prior to the meeting. *If an Undergraduate Guest gives a paper, he/she does so as a nonmember and is subject to the usual rules governing presentation of papers by nonmembers. *Society of Physics Student Affiliates are considered nonmembers for abstract submission but may register at the Junior rate. *Subsequent abstracts will be accepted only if the nonmember successfully applies for membership in the Society (aas.org/membership/membership.php#join). One abstract Per Meeting *You may only present one abstract (whether oral or poster) at a meeting, with the exceptions listed below. You may co-author several abstracts but may be the first author and presenter for only one abstract. * The following exceptions do not count as your "one" abstract. You may still be the first author and presenter for an additional contributed scientific research abstract. Exceptions: Prize Lectures, Plenary and Parallel Invited Talks, Contributed education papers, Contributed historical abstracts, and abstracts for working group meetings. ------------------------------------------------ 8. AAS ONLINE CALENDAR AND ST. LOUIS MEETING SESSION VIDEOS The AAS publishes dates of meetings held in North, South and Central America as well as deadlines of interest to astronomers worldwide (e.g. grant and observing proposal deadlines) based on input from our members, meeting organizers and facility or agency administrators. The calendar is available online at the AAS web page: www.aas.org/calendar/. Instructions on submitting additional meeting information is available on the page as well. Videos of the General Sessions from AAS in St. Louis are now online. To view them go to the web page below. Flash Player is all that is needed to view the videos. www.aas.org/meetings/aas212/aas_212th_meeting_videos.php ------------------------------------------------ 9. WIYN 0.9-METER TELESCOPE CONSORTIUM SEEKS NEW PARTNERS The WIYN 0.9-meter Consortium, with a telescope housed on Kitt Peak, is seeking new partners for their next contract period. The contract term will run from 1 July 2009 through 30 June 2015. The WIYN 0.9m currently uses NOAO's S2KB and MOSAIC imagers, and is building its own new "HDI" (Half Degree Imager) with monolithic 4Kx4K, high and flat U-response CCD, with 30'x30' field. Besides classical observing, partners have access to the Observatory's special observing modes (the synoptic, photometric, and opportunity queues). Please visit http://www.noao.edu/0.9m/ to learn more about the WIYN 0.9-m telescope and consortium. Anyone interested in further information should contact Andy Layden (layden@baade.bgsu.edu) and Con Deliyannis (con@astro.indiana.edu). ------------------------------------------------ 10. SPITZER SPACE TELESCOPE CYCLE-6 CALL FOR PROPOSALS Cycle-6 Proposal Deadlines: Exploration Science proposals: Letters of Intent due 2 September 2008 Proposals Due 10 October 2008, 5:00pm PDT Regular General Observer proposals: Proposals Due 6 February 2009, 5:00pm PST On behalf of NASA and the Spitzer Space Telescope Project, the Spitzer Science Center (SSC) at Caltech is pleased to announce the release of the Cycle-6 Call for Proposals (CP). NASA has authorized the Spitzer Space Telescope Project to plan for approximately two years of "warm" Spitzer observations after the cryogenic mission ends (approximately 13,000 hours of science). The Cycle-6 CP solicits 10,000 hours of Exploration Science General Observer (GO) programs (with a minimum size of 500 hours) and 1,500 hours of regular GO programs (with a maximum size of 500 hours). The Exploration Science GO programs will be executed over two years. We anticipate a Cycle-7 CP to solicit an additional ~1,500 hours of regular GO programs for the second year of the warm mission. Investigators worldwide from all types of institutions are eligible to submit proposals in response to this CP. During the warm mission the two shortest wavelength channels of IRAC, at 3.6 and 4.5 microns, will be available for use. The cryogen is expected to be fully depleted in ~April 2009. Observations for Cycle-6 will commence in approximately June 2009. All programmatic and technical information for Cycle-6 is available electronically from the Proposal Kit section of the Spitzer Science Center website. The URL is http://ssc.spitzer.caltech.edu/propkit/. Any questions should be addressed to the Spitzer Helpdesk at help@spitzer.caltech.edu. ------------------------------------------------ 11. SPITZER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM AND THE WARM MISSION During the cryogenic mission the Spitzer Fellowship program has been one of the crown jewels of the User Community funding program. Seven classes of Spitzer Fellows have been selected and continue to do exciting, cutting-edge science with Spitzer. We are delighted that NASA has authorized a Call for Proposals for two more years of warm Spitzer observations but the available funding profile does not provide support to add new Fellows to the program. Therefore Spitzer Fellowship applications will not be solicited this year. Any questions should be addressed to the Spitzer Helpdesk at help@spitzer.caltech.edu. ------------------------------------------------ 12. NASA KECK TELESCOPE PROPOSALS Deadline: 8 September 2008 NASA is soliciting proposals using the Keck Telescopes for the 2009A observing semester (Feb 2009 - Jul 2009). NASA intends the use of the Keck telescopes to be highly strategic in support of on-going missions and/or high priority, long term science goals. Thus NASA Headquarters has opened up the NASA Keck call to a wider range of disciplines beginning with the 2009A semester. A portion of the NASA Keck Time will be dedicated to CoRoT Key Science proposals. This call includes proposals for the Key Science as well as proposals in the following discipline areas: 1) Investigations in support of Exoplanet Exploration science goals and missions; 2) Investigations in support of Cosmic Origins science goals and missions; 3) Investigations of our own solar system; and 4) Direct mission support. The proposal process is being handled by the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI, formerly the Michelson Science Center) at Caltech and all proposals are due on 8 September 2008 at 4pm PDT. In order to determine a rough volume of and topic range of proposals, we ask that you send a notice of intent to KeckCFP@ipac.caltech.edu by 15 August. The notices are not binding and not required in order to propose for 2009A time. Feel free to copy and use the template below: ************** I plan to apply for 2009A NASA Keck Telescope time. I understand that this notice of intent is non-binding and in no way obligates me to submit a proposal. PI Name: PI Institution: Intended Topic: (Choose 1: Exoplanet, Solar System, Stellar/Galactic, Extra-Galactic, CoRoT Key Science) Approximate Number of Desired Nights: Desired Instrument: Multi-semester status: Y/N ******************* Please see the website at http://msc.caltech.edu for further information on both the Key Science and general science telescope proposals. ------------------------------------------------ 13. SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY CALL FOR PROPOSALS Deadline: 11 September 2008 The Submillimeter Array (SMA), the radio interferometer on Mauna Kea built by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, makes available a fraction of the observing time to principal investigators from the astronomical community (worldwide). The next proposal deadline is 11 September 2008 for the observing semester 16 November 2008 through 15 May 2009. SMA comprises of eight 6-m antennas operating at 230 GHz, 345 GHz, 420 GHz and 690 GHz bands. More information, technical details, and instructions and tools for proposal preparation and submission can be found at http://sma1.sma.hawaii.edu/, the SMA Observer Center web site. Questions or comments regarding the Call for Proposals can also be addressed to ropose@sma.hawaii.edu ------------------------------------------------ 14. CARMA CALL FOR PROPOSALS, SEMESTER 2009A Deadline: 17 September 2008 Proposals for observations using CARMA during the period 1 January to 30 June 2009 are due on 17 September 2008. CARMA comprises 15 antennas operating at 1 mm and 3 mm on a 2200-m elevation site, Cedar Flat, in the Inyo Mountains of California. This semester, proposals will be accepted for the C, D, and E antenna configurations. These configurations have resolution 0.8", 2", 5" at 230 GHz. CARMA is operated by the Universities of California (Berkeley), Illinois, and Maryland, and the California Institute of Technology, under a cooperative agreement with the University Radio Observatory program of the National Science Foundation. Approximately 30% of the observing time will be awarded to PIs outside the partner universities. Proposals should be submitted using the electronic form at http://carma.astro.uiuc.edu/proposals/ before 17:00 CDT (22:00 UT) 17 September, 2008. Detailed information, including sensitivities and proposal submission instructions, are available at http://www.mmarray.org . Questions may also be addressed to Dr. Nikolaus Volgenau (volgenau@mmarray.org). ------------------------------------------------ 15. INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR US GRADUATE STUDENTS Study Astronomy/Astrophysics in India - Summer 2009 The program is administered by the National Solar Observatory (NSO), sponsored by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE), and is open to US graduate students in any discipline of astronomy or astrophysics who are US citizens or permanent residents, age 21 years or older, and have a passport. Now in its second year, the main goal of the program is to expose potential researchers to an international setting at an early stage in their careers. The program will take place in Bangalore, India, under the auspices of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), a premier national center devoted to research in astronomy, astrophysics and related physics. The program will support four full-time summer research positions for eight weeks starting 10 June 2009. For each participant, the program will provide round-trip air-coach travel to and from Bangalore, India, a stipend of $500 US per week, accommodation, miscellaneous travel (field) and incidental expenses, and medical expenses and insurance. Additional information and application materials are available on the web at http://eo.nso.edu/ires/. All application materials must be received by 16 January 2008. ------------------------------------------------ 16. NASA ASTROPHYSICS NAMED FELLOWSHIPS The named postdoctoral fellowships supported by NASA's Astrophysics Division – Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra Fellowships, to name a few – have a long and distinguished history of providing bright, young researchers the opportunity to pursue frontier scientific research. The previous decadal survey in astronomy and astrophysics praised these programs for enhancing the career opportunities of junior scientists. NASA's Astrophysics fellowship programs have traditionally been associated with large strategic missions, such as the Great Observatories. However, as we look downstream at the future Astrophysics portfolio, we will be entering a period of transition as new missions are launched – most recently GLAST, to be followed by HST Servicing Mission 4, Kepler, SOFIA, WISE, NuSTAR, JWST – and other missions end – such as Spitzer, which will eventually be beyond communications range in its drift-away orbit. As a result, it has become apparent that the long-term stability of our support for the named postdoctoral fellowships may fluctuate as missions come and go, and that the criteria for establishing and funding new named fellowship programs is not rigorously defined. Moreover, our conversations with the community have revealed concern that there are scientific gaps in our support for postdoctoral positions in our current named fellowship scheme. For example, talented theorists who may be working in areas relevant to future missions in emerging scientific fields are not necessarily served by the current selection process. To address these issues, the Astrophysics Division has decided to reorganize its named fellowship programs, and will fund them at the program level in each of its three science themes: Cosmic Origins, Physics of the Cosmos, and Exoplanet Exploration. Our goal is to enhance the stability, breadth, prestige and impact of these fellowships in their support of NASA's evolving goals and missions. Beginning with the solicitations this autumn, with subsequent funding to begin late-summer 2009, NASA's named postdoctoral fellowships in Astrophysics will be the Hubble Fellowship in the Cosmic Origins Program, the Einstein Fellowship in the Physics of the Cosmos Program, and the Sagan Fellowship in the Exoplanet Exploration Program. The new fellowships will be administered by the institutions that currently administer the Hubble, Chandra, and Michelson fellowships, respectively. By using their extensive programmatic experience and scientific expertise in administering the previous named fellowships, we will retain the highest standards in the selection process that will support the most outstanding postdoctoral researchers. The mechanics of the fellowships (identifying a mentor at a sponsoring institution, logistics and budget preparation, etc.) will remain the same as currently practiced. Additional details will be available in the forthcoming solicitations. Researchers currently supported under previous named fellowship solicitations will have continued support at their institutions for the duration of their fellowships. NASA's Astrophysics Division strongly supports the named fellowships and intends to provide adequate funding to retain or even increase the yearly total number of named fellowships compared to the aggregate of the previous programs. We will continue to work towards finding other ways of improving our support of young talent in astronomy and astrophysics. I look forward to working with the community in the future on this and other enhancements to our space astronomy research and missions! Jon A. Morse, Director Astrophysics Division Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters ------------------------------------------------ An American Astronomical Society (AAS) Electronic Announcement is mailed to all members around the 10th of each month. Included are important items that do not fit into the schedule of the AAS Newsletter. Because of volume, Meeting Announcements are generally not included. Items for possible inclusion in this Announcement series should be sent to crystal@aas.org. Keep announcements short and refer readers to sources of additional information. To unsubscribe or change address contact mailto:address@aas.org