European Astronomical Society
e-Newsletter  10
March 2020

Preparations for EAS Annual Meeting 2020 in Leiden, the Netherlands, are ongoing. As the coronavirus impacts around Europe, the health and safety of participants at the meeting is our main priority and we are closely monitoring the situation especially for Leiden and the Netherlands in general. At this stage, we aim to hold the EAS 2020 as planned. We will provide further information on the EAS website and the EAS 2020 website should the situation evolve. The organisers have set up an exciting programme with no less than 16 Symposia, 35 Special Sessions, 14 Lunch Sessions, and 8 Plenary Talks. The scientific programme, as well as all the details concerning travel information, social events, etc., can be checked online at the EAS 2020 website. We look forward to seeing you all in Leiden in June.

The 2021 EAS Annual Meeting, formerly known as EWASS, will be held in Valencia, Spain, from 28 June to 2 July 2021. Valencia is the third-largest city in Spain, and well connected to all major European cities. The venue is the Valencia Conference Centre, chosen in 2018 as the World's Best Convention Centre by the International Association of Conference Centres. About 1200 participants are expected to attend the Annual Meeting of the European Astronomical Society. The call for proposals to organise a Symposium or a Special Session is expected in summer.

The EAS Annual Meeting is organised annually by the European Astronomical Society in collaboration with a local Hosting Committee and with the support of a professional conference organiser. The bidding procedure for hosting the EAS Annual Meetings for 2022 and 2023 meeting will be started later this year. Interested parties are invited to contact the EAS Office for further information.

The European Astronomical Society (EAS) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE) have renewed their partnership to host the EAS Office. A new agreement was reached last year for the period 2020-2024. The University of Geneva is recognized as Organisational Member, Patron level for this financial and logistic support. The EAS provides a yearly contribution to the University of Geneva to cover the effective costs of an Executive Secretary, an Office secretary, and a Financial Officer. ▸ Read more

Each year the European Astronomical Society awards a number of prizes to astronomers who have made a remarkable contribution. The six awardees of the 2020 EAS Prizes have been announced in March 2020 via an EAS press release. They will all receive their prize and give a plenary lecture at the EAS 2020 meeting in Leiden. ▸ Read more

It is already time to think ahead about the 2021 EAS Prizes. The formal call for nominations for the 2021 Tycho Brahe Medal and MERAC Prizes will be announced later this year, with a deadline on 31 October 2020. In order to maximise both the number and excellence of the candidates, we ask the EAS membership to start considering suitable nominations. Nominations of candidates from groups that were underrepresented in the recent past, in particular female astronomers and astronomers from Eastern European institutes, are particularly encouraged. ▸ Read more

Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In accordance with its commitment to a sustainable development of European astronomy, the EAS is establishing a new Working Group on Sustainability. The WG's charge is to investigate and communicate on sustainability issues related to astronomy and astrophysics. Relevant issues include, among others, the organisation of international meetings and the energy consumption of observatories and supercomputer facilities. ▸ Read more

The EAS Working Group on Inclusion was formed in mid 2019 with the charge of monitoring inclusion and diversity activities in astronomy in Europe (including those undertaken by affiliated societies), recommending to the Council new policies or practices with regard to increasing inclusiveness, and assisting in the implementation of these new activities where necessary. The co-chairs of this WG are Helen Jermak (LJMU, UK) and Jake Noel-Storr (RUG, NL), and the other members are Marco Gullieuszik (INAF, IT), Sheila Kanani (RAS, UK), Johan Knapen (IAC, ES), Gina Maffey (JIVE, NL), Coralie Neider (Meudon, FR), and Amelia Ortiz-Gil (U Valencia, ES). Sara Lucatello is the EAS Council liaison. ▸ Read more

On 25 August 2019, the European astronomical community lost one of his most influential figures: Lodewijk Woltjer passed away in Geneva, after a few years of declining health, tragically aggravated by the sudden loss, on 1 March 2019, of his dear wife Ulla Demierre-Woltjer. On 5 October 2019, some of his friends organised a memorial ceremony in the beautiful city of Nice that was attended by family members, friends, and colleagues. The ashes of both Lo and Ulla were dispersed afterwards in the Mediterranean Sea. ▸ Read more

Lo Woltjer, 1930-2019

Lo was always an exceptional gentleman, extraordinarily clever, elegant, and highly cultured. Lo's full life was characterised with outstanding professional accomplishments which were remembered in the addresses by friends and colleagues.

Xavier Barcons, the ESO Director General, described the essential role played by Lo, when he was ESO DG from 1975 until 1987, in the creation of the Very Large Telescope project. Both Giancarlo Setti, former Head of Science at ESO, and Daniel Hofstadt, who was for decades the soul of ESO in Chile, described the many facets of Lo's enlighted leadership. Pierre Léna, from the French Academy of Sciences, recalled Lo's visionary approach to astronomical instrumentation.

Roger Bonnet, ESA Director of Science at the time when Lo was ESO DG, recollected their close collaboration in establishing strong links between ESO and ESA science policies. Tim de Zeeuw, former ESO DG and now at Leiden University, Lo's alma mater, recalled Lo's early years, when he was identified as an outstandingly bright student.

Two astronomical societies were dear to the heart of Lo: he was president of the IAU (1994-1997) and founding father of the EAS and its first president (1990-1993). Both Ewine van Dishoeck, President of the IAU and Roger Davies, President of the EAS, described Lo's many essential contributions to advance these two societies.

European astronomers owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lo for leading the development of European astronomy to the current unprecedented level of innovation and scientific accomplishment. We shall remember Lo for his faith in the beauty of life, nature, music, and above all, science.

Lo Woltjer obituary by Thierry Courvoisier (EAS President 2010-2017)

The ongoing exponential growth of networks of low Earth orbiting satellites, known as satellite constellations, is raising concerns across the astronomical community. As a society that promotes and advances astronomy in Europe, EAS is aware and concerned about the possible negative impact that they could have on astronomy. We are holding a dedicated session (LS14 on 1 July 2020) to discuss the satellite constellations issue at the EAS 2020 Annual Meeting in Leiden. EAS is also putting together a Working Group to coordinate efforts at the European level and liaise with the IAU, AAS and UNOOSA on this issue.

The Institute of Astrophysics of the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (IA-FORTH) was founded on 2 March 2018 and it commenced its operations in 2019. IA-FORTH is located at the island of Crete, Greece, and it was the natural evolution of the very active Astrophysics Group that had already been operating for nearly 30 years within the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser at FORTH and the Department of Physics of the University of Crete. IA-FORTH became a new Organisational Member, Affiliate level, of the EAS in 2020. ▸ Read more

The main goals of IA-FORTH, the only institute in Greece dedicated exclusively in astrophysics, are to:

• perform cutting-edge research in select areas of theoretical and observational astrophysics;
• train students and early-stage researchers in acquiring technical and analytical skills so as to address outstanding open questions in astrophysics and beyond;
• engage the local community in public outreach activities.

The 1.3-m telescope at the Skinakas Observatory.

A major research facility of IA-FORTH is the Skinakas Observatory, which was founded in 1984 by FORTH, the University of Crete, and the Max-Planck Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik (MPE), in Germany. The Observatory is located 50 km from the city of Heraklion, on summit of Mount Psiloritis, at an altitude of 1750 meters and it is currently jointly operated by the IA-FORTH and the Dept. of Physics of the University of Crete. It is worth mentioning that, despite its proximity to Heraklion, the quality of the atmosphere at Skinakas is superb, making it an ideal location for high-quality astronomical observations. Its 1.3-m telescope has been traditionally equipped with the latest astronomical instruments, including optical, near-IR cameras and a long slit spectrograph, as well as guest instruments such as OPTIMA, an extremely fast microsec-cadence photometer. Over the past few years, it hosts RoboPol, a specialized, very accurate photopolarimeter, designed specifically for this telescope. The telescope is also one of the two observing nodes of PASIPHAE, a major international project led by scientists of IA-FORTH, which is expected to commence science operations in 2020. PASIPHAE aims to produce the first 3D tomographic map of the magnetic field of our Galaxy, as well as to place extremely stringent limits to the contribution of the interstellar medium to the polarization signal from the CMB.

Members of IA-FORTH have established long-term collaborations with research groups in leading institutes across the globe, including Europe, the USA, and India, which facilitates future employment prospects for our graduate students and postdocs. Currently (Spring of 2020) the research core of the Institute consists of seven researchers and affiliated University professors, as well as five postdoctoral researchers and a dozen PhD and MSc students.

Vassilis Charmandaris
Director of IA-FORTH, Greece
Professor of Observational Astrophysics, Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Crete, Greece