JUNE 2016 - TOPICS

Short News Upcoming elections of Hel.A.S. Travel Grants for Junior Members (June 2016) YERAC 2016 PASIPHAE: a new polarization experiment at Skinakas Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. Short News

We would like to congratulate Dr. Petros Syntelis, a member of Hel.A.S, who recently defended his doctoral thesis and will soon move to a post-doctoral position at the University of St. Andrews, in the group of Solar and Heliospheric Physics. The subject of his thesis was on the emergence of solar magnetic flux, solar jets and CMEs, and was supervised by Prof. K. Tsinganos at the University of Athens. The GC wishes to Dr. Syntelis a successful future career. We would like to congratulate Dr. Odysseas Dionatos (Univ. of Vienna), a member of Hel.A.S., who has recently received the Austrian Space Applications Program grant of the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG).

2. Upcoming elections of Hel.A.S.

We remind our members that the next elections for the GC and Auditors of Hel.A.S. will take place on June the 17th, 2016. The 34th General Assembly (GA) of the Society will also take place at the University of Athens, on the same day. If you wish to cast your vote by post but you have not yet sent us the ballots, please do so promptly! The letter must reach the Secretary (Dr. K. Tsiganis) by June 15th at the latest, i.e. one day prior to his departure to Athens.

3. Travel Grants for Junior Members (June 2016)

Please be reminded that the deadline for submitting applications for the Junior Members Travel Grants (round of June 2016) is June 20th. For more information on eligibility and conditions please visit the appropriate link on our web-site.

4. YERAC 2016

This year's Young European Radioastronomers' Conference, YERAC, will be organized in Bonn between Sept. 5-9. YERAC will be sponsored by the MPI for Radioastronomy in collaboration with its IMPRS for Astronomy and Astrophysics. As in most years since 1968, early-stage radioastronomers (i.e. PhD candidates and postdocs) will meet, discuss and network in a relaxed atmosphere. Each participant is given the opportunity to present an oral talk. Participation requires the nomination by a professor or director. The MPIfR will pay for the board and lodging and for an excursion to the Effelsberg 100m telescope, while the participants or their host institutes will pay for the travel expenses. Further details can be found at: https://events.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de/indico/event/13/

5. PASIPHAE: a new polarization experiment at Skinakas The Astrophysics group at the University of Crete is exited to announce the commencement of the construction phase of a new international experiment, led by Prof. Kostas Tassis, which is set to take place at  Skinakas Observatory and at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) . The project was made possible thanks to a generous donation by  the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, as well as additional funding from international sources. It is a collaborative effort of the University of Crete with Caltech (USA), the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (India), and the South African Astronomical Observatory.  PASIPHAE (the Polar Area Stellar Imaging in Polarization High Accuracy Experiment) will use two innovative polarimeters, designed specifically for this purpose, which will be installed at the 1.3m telescope at Skinakas Observatory and the 1.0m telescope of the  SAAO in Sutherland, South Africa. They will measure the polarization of millions of stars in our Galaxy. Using additional data from the GAIA mission of ESA, will allow scientists to perform tomography of the Galactic interstellar magnetic field. This information can be used to remove the "veil" (foreground radiation) of polarized Galactic dust emission, allowing the accurate estimation of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background, in order to probe the first instants of the Universe (the era of Inflation), and thus the, yet-unknown, physics of Gravity at unprecedentedly high densities and temperatures.  It is expected that the polarimeters will be ready by the end of 2017 and that science operations will commence at both facilities in spring of 2018. More information on the project is available at: http://pasiphae.science

6. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece

The following meetings are scheduled to take place in Greece during 2016: Supernova Remnants: An Odyssey in Space after Stellar Death Chania, Crete, 6-11 June, 2016 Hot spots in the XMM sky: Cosmology from X-ray to Radio Mykonos, 15-18 June, 2016 The 2016 NEON Observing School  Heraklion, Skinakas Observatory, June 19- July 2, 2016 European Week of Astronomy and Space Science Athens, 4-8 July, 2016 2nd Hel.A.S. Summer School Athens, 11-15 July, 2016 17th NEB conference on “Recent Developments in Gravity” Mykonos, September 19-22, 2016 The ISM-SPP Olympian School of Astrophysics  Paralia Katerinis, October 3-7, 2016

7. About this Newsletter

This Newsletter was sent to all members of Hel.A.S. who have e-mail access. The next edition of the Newsletter will be mailed around July 1st, 2016. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before June 26, 2016. If you do not wish to receive future issues of this Newsletter or the e-mail address to which it was sent is not your preferred one, please inform the Secretary of Hel.A.S.