X-ray Astronomy: towards the next 50 years!
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
Dear collegues,
on
the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the first
extrasolar X-ray source and of the X-ray background by Giacconi,
Gursky, Paolini, and Rossi, the Astronomical Observatory of
Brera (www.brera.inaf.it) and the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica (www.iasf-milano.inaf.it)
of INAF (www.inaf.it) are organizing the conference “X-ray
Astronomy: towards the next 50 years! “ in Milan, the town where
Riccardo Giacconi got his degree in Physics.
The
conference will be held at the Museum of Science and Technology
( www.museoscienza.org ) in Milano from Oct 1^st to Oct
5^th , 2012 . The meeting aims at providing an overall review of
X-ray astronomy today, focusing on the most challenging open problems
and stimulating future perspectives.
SOC: M. Arnaud, X.
Barcons, S. Bowyer, C. Canizares, R. Giacconi, F. Harrison, S.
Holt, T. Maccacaro, K. Makishima, L. Maraschi, K. Pounds, M.
Rees, G. Setti; R. Sunayev, Y. Tanaka, H. Tananbaum, J. Truemper,
C. M. Urry
LOC: G. Pareschi , P. Caraveo, V. Braito, R.
Della Ceca, A. De Luca, F. Gastaldello, R. Millul, A. Tiengo, F.
Tavecchio, G. Trinchieri
Foreword:
In its first
50 years, X-ray astronomy has provided a new vision of the universe,
with unsuspected high-energy activities at all scales. In our Galaxy, a
wide variety of systems, from rapidly rotating Neutron Stars
sometimes surrounded by the remnants of the original Supernova
explosions, to compact objects accreting matter in binary systems
to a Super Massive Black Hole lurking at the Galaxy’s centre emit X-ray
radiation carrying fundamental information on their nature and
origin. On cosmological scales the intergalactic gas in clusters of
galaxies shines at X-ray energies allowing to probe the gravitational
field binding these systems which are related to original seeds of
structure in the Universe. Moreover Supermassive Black Holes at the
centers of galaxies, fed by infall of gas, unleash extreme
luminosities, so that they can be traced to very large distances,
carrying information on the Universe evolution. To make a
step forward in our understanding of the physics of the X-ray
Universe we need to extend our observing capabilities to fainter fluxes
across large portions of sky but also, among others, to
spectroscopy on a spectral range as wide as attainable and, possibly,
time resolved. The challenge for going "towards the next 50 years"
should be at the heart of the meeting. The conference will allow a
discussion on the present knowledge of cosmic X-ray sources in order to
envisage the most promising directions for future advances.
Topics :
• Compact Objects
• Galactic sources
• Active Galactic Nuclei
• Diffuse Emission from Galaxies and Clusters
• Large Sky Surveys
• The High Energy X-Ray Background
• Future Missions.
The abstract submission deadline for consideration by the SOC: 15 May 2012.
Registration fee (including lunches) : 350 Euro until 30 June 2012; late registration 450 Euro.
The application of special reduced fees will be possible for PhD students on specific request.
More information about registration, abstract submission, program and logistic are available at the conference website:
For any request of information please contact the helpdesk e-mail: loc-xastro50@brera.inaf.it
Giovanni Pareschi & Patrizia Caraveo on behalf of the LOC