January 3, 2010 [ updated Jan. 6 ] Contact: The American Astronomical Society (AAS) will convene 11 press conferences on a wide variety of topics during its 215th national meeting, January 3-7, 2010, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20008. With some 3,500 attendees expected and more than 2,200 scientific presentations on the program, this will likely be the largest astronomy meeting in history. The AAS offers complimentary press registration to bona fide working journalists. To request press registration, please contact AAS Press Officer Dr. Rick Fienberg at rick.fienberg@aas.org. Meeting links:
Contact & Remote-Access InfoAAS Press Officer Dr. Rick Fienberg: AAS Press Room at Marriott Wardman Park (from Jan. 3, late p.m.): AAS Briefing Room (Ballroom Balcony B, Marriott Wardman Park): Remote access to press conferences (accredited journalists only): Audio by telephone
Slides by Internet You must have QuickTime installed on your computer to view the slidecast. You can download a free copy of QuickTime from Apple’s website. Remote access via Second Life (accredited journalists only): At this meeting we’re trying something new with select press briefings and invited talks: we’ll stream them live into the online virtual world at Second Life (SL), where they’ll appear on the Astronomy 2009 Island, which was created for the International Year of Astronomy. This will offer another venue for press professionals to participate in the 215th AAS meeting online and live. Questions from SL attendees will be moderated and queued along with those from call-in attendees. The AAS Press Office thanks Adrienne Gauthier and Pamela Gay of Astrosphere New Media for working with us on this. To participate in the AAS meeting via SL, you need to have a Second Life account and avatar and arrange to be invited to the Astronomy 2009 Island. More information and instructions are available here:
The events that will be streamed into Second Life are identified below with the notation [SL]. Remote access via USTREAM: Thanks to our colleagues at Astrosphere New Media and Astronomy Cast, most press conferences, as well as the same invited talks that will be streamed into Second Life, will be webcast live with both audio and video via USTREAM.
To ask questions during a briefing, send an e-mail to press_questions@aas.org. Be sure to include your name and media affiliation in your message. We can’t guarantee that all questions received by e-mail will be asked aloud — it depends on how much time we have and how many questions we’re getting from on-site reporters. Press ConferencesBriefings are scheduled for these dates and times:
All times are Eastern Standard Time (EST); 12 p.m. EST = 9 a.m. PST, 17:00 GMT. Press conferences are in Ballroom Balcony B on the mezzanine level of the Marriott Wardman Park. Following are the press-conference topics and confirmed speakers. Additional topics and speakers may be added to some briefings.
Press ReceptionsMonday, January 4, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Harding Room: Wednesday, January 6, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Harding Room: All press registrants are cordially invited! Invited TalksHere we call your attention to invited plenary presentations that may be of particular interest; all are in the Marriott Ballroom: Monday, Jan. 4, 8:30-9:20 a.m. Monday, Jan. 4, 4:30-5:20 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, 12:30-1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 8:30-9:20 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 3:40-4:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, 3:40-4:30 p.m. Other HighlightsOPENING RECEPTION Open to all attendees, the Opening Reception with hors d' oeuvres and cash bar kicks off the 215th AAS meeting. HUBBLE'S DIVERSE UNIVERSE The U.S. International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cultural Astronomy Working Group and the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy are co-sponsoring an evening session to present the IYA 2009 documentary Hubble's Diverse Universe. This 45-minute film features nine African American and Hispanic American astrophysicists, focusing on their research, the role of NASA and the Hubble Space Telescope in their careers, and discussion of diversity issues in astronomy. Jarita Holbrook, Dara Norman, and Marcel Agueros will lead a discussion after the screening. The AAS banquet will be held at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall on Wednesday, January 6, at 7:00 p.m. Complimentary bus transportation between the Marriott Wardman Park and the museum will be provided. The political satire group the Capitol Steps will perform their hit show after dinner. The Capitol Steps poke fun at everyone in Washington, from the president on down, and don't discriminate on the basis of political party. You can listen to some of their clips at http://www.capsteps.com. Join us to wander the museum's halls after hours, inspect the new public observatory on the Mall, enjoy a sumptuous dinner, and laugh at the antics of Washington's best parody troupe on this extra-special evening. Banquet tickets are $65, or you may skip the dinner and just see the Capitol Steps at 8:30 p.m. for $25. A limited number of tickets remain; please inquire at the registration desk when you pick up your badge. BLAST! THE MOVIE In BLAST!, filmmaker Paul Devlin follows the story of his brother, Dr. Mark Devlin, as he leads a tenacious team of scientists hoping to figure out how galaxies formed by launching a revolutionary new telescope under a NASA high-altitude balloon. Their adventure takes them from arctic Sweden to Inuit polar-bear country in Canada, where catastrophic failure forces the team to try all over again on the desolate ice in Antarctica. This exciting escapade seeks to answer humankind's most basic question: How did we get here? BLAST! is about the crazy life of scientists. Their professional obsessions, personal and family sacrifices, and philosophical and religious questioning all give emotional resonance to a spectacular and suspenseful story of space exploration. Paul Devlin (director) and Matthew Truck (BLAST! team member and Antarctic unit co-director) will be available for Q&A after the screening. Through a special arrangement with the film's education and outreach coordinator, press registrants will be admitted to the movie for free -- as long as you're wearing your press badge. SPIN MEETING The Science Public Information Network (SPIN) will hold its annual meeting in the Coolidge room or Ballroom Balcony B. All attending PIOs are invited to discuss activities, issues, and collaborations in their news and outreach plans for 2010. Also, there will be an opportunity to talk with the AAS press officers about how the Society might better assist PIOs in their efforts to promote coverage of astronomy in the media and elsewhere. Other Potentially Newsworthy PresentationsMon., Jan. 4 | Oral Presentations 301.01: The Ultraviolet Circumstellar Envelope of IRC+10216: A Complete Astrosphere 303.06: The Environment of Short Hard Bursts 304.01: Searching for John Goodricke 316.01: Who Is Chester Cook? The Story Behind the Plaques on the 16-inch f/18 Cassegrain Cook Memorial Telescope 322.03: Eclipse Observations of the Fe XI 789.2 nm Line Mon., Jan. 4 | Poster Presentations 400.02: Did the Cross-spiked Star Appear in Art Due to Telescope Optics? 409.06: Large-Scale Intrinsic Alignments of Galaxies 416.25: The Prototype Dwarf Nova SS Cygni: The White Dwarf Exposed 419.10: RXTE/ASM Observations Of SS 433 And Cygnus X-2 Tue., Jan. 5 | Oral Presentations 334.07: Hubble Imaging of Jupiter after the 2009 Impact 336.04: Fermi LAT Discovery of Gamma-rays from the Giant Radio Lobes of Centaurus A Tue., Jan. 5 | Poster Presentations 333.12: Detection of HI Absorption in the Host Galaxy of Quasar CTA 21 423.10: Are Main-Sequence K-type Stars the “Goldilocks” Stars for Hosting Long-term Habitable Planets 424.11: A White Light Megaflare on the dM4.5e Star YZ CMi 426.01: The X-ray Variability Of Eta Car, 1996-2010 426.04: The Spatially-resolved Interacting Winds of Eta Carinae: Implications on the Orbit Orientation 430.16: Discovery of Precursor LBV Outbursts in Two Recent Optical Transients: The Fitfully Variable Missing Links UGC 2773-OT AND SN 2009ip 432.13: Sharp Jet in Arp 192 Identified as Main-Belt Asteroid 447.07: Measuring Science Literacy in College Undergraduates Wed., Jan. 6 | Oral Presentations 351.01: Focusing Cosmic Telescopes: Observing z~7 Universe Behind the “Bullet Cluster” 366.01: A National Study Assessing the Teaching and Learning of Introductory Astronomy Part II: Analysis of Student Demographics 358.01: The First Detection of Gas-Phase Lithium Beyond the Milky Way Wed., Jan. 6 | Poster Presentations 455.18: The ACS Survey of Galactic Globular Clusters: Absolute Ages 456.11: Extremely metal-Poor Stars in Extremely Low Luminosity Galaxies 464.21: Hubble/COS Observations of Intergalactic Gas Toward PKS 0405-123 Thu., Jan. 7 | Oral Presentation 379.04: Is the Moon Illusion a Celestial Ames Demonstration? Thu., Jan. 7 | Poster Presentation 477.05: Immersive Virtual Reality Technologies as a New Platform for Science, Scholarship, and Education Travel & LodgingGeneral information about travel and accommodations, including airline and rental-car discount codes, is online here: To reserve a room at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, click on the Reservations link or go directly here: Complimentary Press RegistrationThe AAS offers complimentary press registration to bona fide working journalists, but pre-registration is now closed. To request complimentary press registration, go to the AAS meeting registration desk and identify yourself as a journalist or public-information officer. The registration staff will contact AAS Press Officer Dr. Rick Fienberg to confirm your eligibility. If you expect to register on site, please send an e-mail message with your name and affiliation to rick.fienberg@aas.org so he can leave advance word at the registration desk. Press ArrangementsPRESS ROOM The AAS will operate a press office in the Coolidge room at the Marriott Wardman Park, mezzanine level, with working space, telephones, fax, photocopier, printer, power strips, and Internet connectivity for reporters. Each registered journalist will have a mailbox there to receive all press releases distributed as hard copies at the meeting (some releases may be distributed only electronically). Phone numbers for the AAS press room, effective Sunday afternoon, January 3, 2010: +1 202-745-2196/-2198. Fax number: +1 202-745-2194. Press conferences will be held on the same floor of the hotel in Ballroom Balcony B, which will be equipped with a sound system, mult-box, and TV lights as well as Internet connectivity. QUIET/INTERVIEW ROOM The Cleveland 2 room, also on the Marriott's mezzanine level, will provide quiet space for one-on-one interviews. Preference will be given to broadcast media and to journalists recording/editing podcasts. Reporters please note: We are not advertising our once-popular Federal Express collect "care package" of press releases from the conference, because we now send almost all press releases by e-mail while the meeting is ongoing. If you would nevertheless like to receive a set of hard-copy press releases by collect Federal Express delivery -- the only shipping method we use -- please send an e-mail to that effect to rick.fienberg@aas.org with your name, affiliation, shipping address, telephone number, and FedEx account number. Please indicate whether this is your own account number, your employer's account number, or the account number of a third party who has authorized you to charge to it. If you don't already receive astronomy-related press releases forwarded by e-mail from the AAS Press Office, you should sign up now to guarantee that you receive future meeting advisories as well as electronic copies of all press releases issued during the meeting. To sign up for the AAS press-release-distribution service, for which there is no charge, please send an e-mail to press-list@aas.org with your name, media affiliation, mailing address, and phone, fax, and mobile numbers. Only accredited journalists and public information officers are eligible to receive press releases forwarded by the AAS. |
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