The Europlanet Summer School 2023 is being hosted by Vilnius University’s Moletai Astronomical Observatory (MAO) in Lithuania from 8-18 August.
For the first time, the School is taking place in hybrid format, with 20 participants from 10 countries attending on site and up to 30 people following online. The participants include early careers (right the way from high-school to BSc, MSc, PhD and postdoc) and amateur astronomers.
During the School, participants will gain hands-on experience observing with MAO’s 1.65m and 35/51cm-telescopes (weather permitting!) and training in analysing exoplanet transits, stellar spectra, atmospheric parameters and variability data. The programme includes training modules in communication skills and engaging with schools, as well as lectures on space and ground-based observations and machine learning.
Deividas Dudulis (high-school student and astrophotographer), who is participating in the Summer School, will be posting photos here.
Tour of Molėtai Astronomical Observatory 1.65 m telescope. Credit: Deividas DudulisMolėtai Astronomical Observatory 1.65 m telescope. Credit: Deividas DudulisInside dome of Molėtai Astronomical Observatory 1.65 m telescope. Credit: Deividas Dudulis31/51 cm Maksutov-system Molėtai Astronomical Observatory telescope. Credit: Deividas Dudulis
Europlanet 2024-RI and the Molėtai Astronomical Observatory (ITPA VU) are pleased to announce the international research summer school “Space missions: ground-based observations and science communication“ (hybrid school, August 8 – 18, 2023). The aim of the course is to give participants a thorough, multidisciplinary introduction into space missions and the ground-based observations required by space missions before and after launch, as well as an introduction to science communication. More general subjects about specific space missions (TESS, JWST, PLATO…), planetary systems, habitability of planets, photometric and spectroscopic techniques will be presented. Participants will be given some hands-on experience with analysis of stellar chemical composition, detection of stellar variability and/or exoplanets using the Molėtai Astronomical Observatory telescopes (CCD photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy). In addition, the course will give participants the opportunity to develop comprehensive theoretical and practical skills in science communication and engaging with a range of lay audiences, including the public, media, policy makers, schools and educators. The course is open to PhD and master students, early career scientists, and amateur astronomers.
Activities of professional astronomers and amateur astronomers will be merged in order to achieve more understanding between groups. The level of the school is orientated to PhD students and early career scientists, however amateur astronomers will be provided with the additional scientific support during lectures and observations.
For selected* participants from the European Economic Area (EEA) and one or two participants from countries outside EEA the participation will be fully covered and up to €360,- for travel depending on the distance travelled will be reimbursed by Europlanet 2024-RI.
Other selected participants will have to pay a participation fee of 600 EUR that includes accomodation, meals, excursions and local transportation.
The school is organised by the European Commission HORIZON 2020 project EUROPLANET 2024 Research Infrastructure. Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 871149.
The deadline for application is 8 June 2023 23:59:00 UTC.
Notifications of acceptance by 1 July 2023 23:59:00 UTC.
* More information concerning the reimbursement will be provided for the selected participants personally.
ERIM is a new kind of meeting to support European planetary science and associated communities. The format of ERIM 2023 is a series of interactive workshops related to the activities of the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project, research infrastructures in general, and the Europlanet Society. The meeting will be co-hosted with EPEC Annual Week 2023, the training school for the Europlanet Early Career Network.
How will it Work?
Workshops will be organised under a series of programme tracks. You can dip in and out of programme tracks, workshops and even sessions during the week. The aim is to make new connections, brainstorm ideas, develop synergies, increase opportunities for collaboration and help us build a strong, thriving, sustainable community for planetary science in Europe.
You don’t have to be a member of the Europlanet Society or the Europlanet 2024 RI project to participate in ERIM. We are looking for new people to engage with Europlanet, so everyone is welcome. However, we will be offering free accommodation and travel grants to a limited number (~150) of participants. If we are over-subscribed in requests for support, priority will be given to Europlanet Society members. (Find out about other benefits of joining the Europlanet Society).
Programme
Many different topics will be covered within the ERIM programme tracks and workshops, including:
Europlanet VA Services (including the VESPA Virtual Observatory for planetary data, SPIDER Space Weather Services, GMAP Geological Mapping and Machine Learning)
Research Infrastructures (including Common Challenges and Sustainability for Small and Medium-sized Distributed RIs, and the Europlanet 2024 RI Council Meeting)
4th Europlanet Workshop on Fireballs/Lunar Impact Flashes
12-13 May 2023, online.
Convened by: Manuel Scherf (Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences), Günter Kargl (Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Detlef Koschny (Technical University of Munich, Germany).
In cooperation with the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI), a series of four workshops bringing together different networks of fireball observers and machine-learning experts were being arranged over the last two years. This series is aimed at: i) the development of a common data format and/or common entry point to the observational data of the different fireballs networks, ii) getting the community for observing lunar impact flashes together, and iii) machine-learning science cases for meteor observations.
Europlanet Workshop Series on Fireballs and their Detection
Convened by: Günter Kargl (Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences; ), Ute Amerstorfer (Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences) and Detlef Koschny (Technical University of Munich, Germany).
In cooperation with Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI), a series of four workshops bringing together different networks of fireball observers and machine-learning experts are being arranged over two years. This series is aimed at: i) the development of a common data format and/or common entry point to the observational data of the different fireballs networks, and ii) machine-learning science cases for meteor observations.
In cooperation with Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI), the British Astronomical Association, Planetum Prague, and the Czech cometary community SMPH, a Pro-Am Workshop is being organised to bring together professional and amateur members of the cometary science and observational community. The workshop will be held in hybrid format from 10-12 June 2022 at the Stefanik Observatory, Prague, and online. The workshop will last for two and a half days, starting Friday morning, and will be in English.
We are pleased to announce a draft Programme for the workshop, along with associated Abstract details.
The programme allows time for detailed discussions on areas important to the comet community, as well presentations. We will be using Zoom for presentations and real time comment/questions. We have also set up a Discord server which will host copies of the presentations, and allow discussions both during the workshop and later. We will (after editing) also upload recordings of the sessions to Youtube.
The workshop has attracted professional and amateur participants from across the world. A list of attendees is available here.
For those attending in person, our local colleagues have put together some very useful local information.
Our local colleagues are also working on some optional social activities.
For those who are being funded by Europlanet, you need to ensure you comply with these reimbursement requirements. (If accommodation costs more than the allowed maximum nightly rate your reimbursement will be capped at that maximum rate.)
We are looking forward to a fruitful and enjoyable time together during (and after) the workshop.
A happy memory of professional and amateur astronomers, including the much-missed Mike A’Hearn, talking all things comets at a previous Europlanet comet workshop. Credit: H Usher.Europlanet workshop for amateur and professional astronomers. Credit: H Usher.
First Announcement and Call for Applications and Abstracts
10 – 12 June 2022, Prague
In cooperation with Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI), the British Astronomical Association, Planetum Prague, and the Czech cometary community SMPH, we are pleased to announce that a Pro-Am Workshop, bringing together professional and amateur members of the Cometary Science and Observational Community, will be held in hybrid format from 10-12 June 2022 at the Stefanik Observatory in Prague (and online). The Workshop will last for two and a half days, starting Friday morning, and will be in English.
The main aims and objectives of the workshop are:
To foster stronger working relationships and cooperation within the professional and amateur comet community, based on a shared understanding of the challenges and opportunities.
To take stock of where cometary science stands post-Rosetta and how Pro-Am observations fit into potential future research.
To draw together the various strands of work currently going on within the community, particularly on coordination, techniques, standards and archiving and agree the way forward.
To consider how best to encourage, and equip, more people to become involved in the study of comets, whether directly through observation (including access to the Europlanet Telescope Network), or through analysis of online data sources.
To explore how cometary science can be used in outreach and education.
Workshop Details:
We are delighted that the face-to-face meeting will be hosted by colleagues from Czechia in the Stefanik Observatoryin Prague. Given some covid restrictions, the venue capacity will be around 40 people. We will also make all the sessions available online, and ensure that virtual attendees can also take a full part in formal and informal discussions. Sponsorship by Europlanet and BAA means that there will be no registration fee, and in person participants may apply for assistance with travel costs.
A happy memory of professional and amateur astronomers, including the much-missed Mike A’Hearn, talking all things comets at a previous Europlanet comet workshop. Credit: H Usher.
Europlanet workshop for amateur and professional astronomers. Credit: H Usher.
The workshop will be a mix of invited and contributed talks and round-table discussions, addressing the following broad topics:
Cometary Science Overview
Pro-Am campaigns
Imagining equipment, techniques and standards
Processing methodologies
Standardisation of methodologies and parameters
Archiving of data and simplifying access to datasets
Broadening participation/outreach/education
This list has been compiled based on the very helpful responses from the community to our questionnaire – thank you to everyone who took the time to submit their views.
Application Process:
We hope to be able to accommodate all those who wish to attend in person, but given the uncertainty about the number of people who may wish to do so and COVID constraints we have decided on an application process to allow us to effectively manage numbers.
If you would like to attend in person please can you complete the application form by 19 March 2022. We will notify you if your application has been successful by end March.
If you wish to attend online only, then the deadline is 13 May 2022.
The deadline for submission of an abstract for a talk is also 19 March 2022 – please complete the relevant section on the form .
The Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure (RI) project and the Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy of Vilnius University are pleased to announce the international conference: ‘Europlanet Telescope Network Science Workshop.
The Europlanet Telescope Network, launched in 2020, is a network of small telescope facilities to support planetary science observations by professional and amateur astronomers. The Europlanet Telescope Network currently comprises 16 observatories with 46 telescopes ranging from 40 cm to 2 m in size. The network can be accessed free of charge to carry out projects on a wide variety of scientific studies about the Solar System and exoplanets, as well as related astronomical investigations.
The goal of this workshop is to encourage community-led proposals and to highlight scientific results achieved with the Europlanet Telescope Network and other medium size and small telescopes. We invite interested astronomers and amateurs to participate, to learn more about the instruments offered, their capabilities, and scientific potential. The Europlanet Telescope Network is operated by the Europlanet 2024 RI project which is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Sessions will be distributed over three half days. They will be dedicated accordingly:
Day 1 – Solar System planets
Day 2 – Exoplanets
Day 3 – Minor Solar System Bodies
The sessions will be followed by brainstorming meetings on the Discort platform.
Registration is free of charge and with no deadline.
Participants are encouraged to submit a short abstract describing the science questions and topics they would like to address with the Europlanet Telescope Network. We anticipate a talk length of 12+3 min for contributed presentations and by 2-3 min for poster presentations.
The deadlines for abstract submissions:
Oral presentations – 7 January 2022 23:59:00 UTC (notification of acceptance by 14 January 2022)
Poster presentations – 21 January 2022 23:59:00 UTC
Virtual Fireballs Workshop #2 on Fireball Databases, Lunar Impact Flashes and Machine Learning
4 February @ 1:00 pm – 5. February @ 7:00 pm UTC+2
In cooperation with Europlanet, a series of four workshops bringing together different networks of fireballs observers as well as machine learning experts is taking place over two years. This series aims to culminate into i) the development of a common data format and/or common entry point to the observational data of the different fireballs networks, and ii) machine learning science cases for meteor observations.
The second of these workshops will take place virtually on 4-5 February 2022 and aims towards:
introduce and continue discussing the different fireballs networks, databases and data formats with a strong focus on its technical aspects;
continue discussing and exploring the possibilities of a common data format and/or a common entry point to all data, reports on recent activities;
introduce Lunar impact flashes, observation networks and software;
continue discussing and identifying machine learning science cases for fireball observations.
The workshop will also introduce and discuss Europlanet, its Virtual Observatory for planetary sciences (VESPA; vespa.obspm.fr) and the support it can offer to the fireballs community. Through EPN-TAP services, VESPA currently provides access to more than 50 decentralised databases worldwide, and it might be one option for a common entry point to the different fireballs networks that will be explored over the course of the workshop. In addition, Europlanet also provides support for the development of machine learning science cases, and the fireballs community is invited to discuss potential use cases during the second half of the first meeting. As an outcome, this workshop intends to provide an outline for the next months and to define first tasks towards the overarching meeting goals. The third workshop of the series is intended to be organized in autumn 2022.
The Europlanet 2024 RI project funds access to and use of a network of telescopes (the Europlanet Telescope Network) for the astronomical observation of Solar System objects and exoplanets. One of the objectives of this network is to train and support amateur astronomers in the observations of Solar System objects (planets, asteroids, comets…), encouraging their participation in pro-am collaborations within the scientific fields of Solar System and exoplanets research.
On May 15, 2021 (Saturday) we will organise a virtual workshop dedicated to the amateur community which aims to demonstrate the use of the telescopes within the Europlanet Telescope Network to amateur astronomers. The workshop will be held in Spanish and will use the Calar Alto 1.23m telescope for practical demonstrations showing its remote use.
Further information can be found on the dedicated workshop website.
Virtual Fireballs Workshop #1 on Fireball Databases and Machine Learning
11 June 2021 @ 1:00 pm – 12 June 2021 @ 7:00 pm UTC+2
In cooperation with Europlanet, a series of four workshops that will bring together different networks of fireballs observers as well as machine learning experts is planned over the next two years. This series aims to culminate into i) the development of a common data format and/or common entry point to the observational data of the different fireballs networks, and ii) machine learning science cases for meteor observations.
The first of these workshops will take place virtually on 11-12 June 2021 and aims towards
introducing and discussing the different fireballs networks, databases and data formats with a strong focus on its technical aspects;
discussing and exploring the possibilities of a common data format and/or a common entry point to all data;
discussing and identifying machine learning science cases for fireball observations.
The workshop will also introduce and discuss Europlanet, its Virtual Observatory for planetary sciences (VESPA; vespa.obspm.fr) and the support it can offer to the fireballs community. Through EPN-TAP services, VESPA currently provides access to more than 50 decentralised databases worldwide, and it might be one option for a common entry point to the different fireballs networks that will be explored over the course of the workshop. In addition, Europlanet also provides support for the development of machine learning science cases, and the fireballs community is invited to discuss potential use cases during the second half of the first meeting. As an outcome, this workshop intends to provide an outline for the next months and to define first tasks towards the overarching meeting goals. The second workshop of the series is intended to be organized in autumn 2021.
The workshop is funded by Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure. Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
An amateur workshop was initially planned for the Observatory Pic du Midi in summer 2020 under Europlanet 2024 RI’s NA2 activity but was postponed due to Covid-19. However, three virtual splinter meetings for amateurs were organised during EPSC2020 with a total number of about 160 live participants and over 375 video views:
Juno Ground-Based Support from Amateur Astronomers, 21 September 2020
The Juno mission orbits Jupiter since 2016. Its JunoCam instrument is providing the highest resolution images of the planet ever obtained. To understand the temporal and spatial context of these images and the details of Jovian meteorology Juno relies on a global ground-support from professional and amateur astronomers. This collaboration has proven essential to the interpretation of this outstanding data. Amateur astronomers provide images that are used to plan the high-resolution observations from JunoCam and citizen scientists process many of the astonishing high-resolution images obtained by JunoCam contributing to the success of the mission.
The splinter contains talks, questions and a short round-table at the end and is open to Juno scientists, amateur astronomers and citizen scientists collaborating with the Juno mission.
Speakers:
– Jupiter image processing. Christopher Go – Recent meteorological events on Jupiter. John H. Rogers (BAA) – The Juno mission. Glenn. S. Orton (JPL) – JunoCam on Juno. Candice. Hansen (PSI) – Junocam image processing. Kevin M. Gill – The value of long-term Jupiter data. Arrate Antunano (Leicester University)
The Ariel mission for exoplanets and support from amateurs, 28 September 2020
More than 4000 exoplanets have been discovered so far, and this number is still growing rapidly! However, we know very little about them: What are they made of? What are the conditions there? How did they form and how did they evolve? ESA’s M4 mission, Ariel, will observe spectroscopically around 1000 exoplanets to further characterise their atmospheres and try to answer these questions. Exoplanets is one of the few fields that amateur astronomers and the public can contribute significantly, with observations with small and medium scale telescopes. I the case of Ariel, small and medium size telescope are valuable, in order to plan the observations as efficiently as possible. To achieve this, a good knowledge of the planets’ ephemerides is needed before the launch of Ariel in 2028. While ephemerides for some planets are being refined on a per-case basis, an organised effort to collectively verify or update them when necessary does not exist.
In this session, we will present the Ariel mission and will introduce the ExoClock project, an open, integrated and interactive platform with the purpose of producing a confirmed list of ephemerides for the planets that will be observed by Ariel. The project has been developed in a manner to make the best use of all available resources: observations reported in the literature, observations from space instruments and, mainly, observations from ground-based telescopes, including both professional and amateur observatories. To facilitate inexperienced observers and at the same time achieve homogeneity in the results, we created data collection and validation protocols, educational material and easy to use interfaces, open to everyone. ExoClock was launched in September 2019 and now counts over 160 participants, mostly amateur astronomers, who’ve already observed 1200 transits for 170 exoplanets.
The session will start with Giovanna Tinetti from UCL, the Principal Investigator of the Ariel Mission, who will present the concept and the goals of the mission and will continue with Athanasia Nikolaou from Sapienza who will present the prospects of Ariel for small planets. Next, Anastasia Kokori from UCL, coordinator of the ExoClock project, will share the scope and the principals of the ExoClock Project, while Martin Crow, an active ExoClock observer form the British Astronomical Association, will share his experience from observing exoplanets and participating to ExoClock. Finally, Angelos Tsiaras from UCL, coordinator of the ExoClock project, will demonstrate how to analyse exoplanet observations with the dedicated, user-friendly tools developed for the project.
The ExoClock project website: www.exoclock.space
Educational material can be found at: www.exoworldsspies.com
Programme:
The Ariel mission. Giovanna Tinetti
Planetary Perspectives of Ariel: Looking at the tree and adding the forest. Athanasia Nikolaou
The ExoClock project: How amateurs can contribute to Ariel. Anastasia Kokori.
Experiencing ExoClock with an active participant. Martin Crow
Analysing exoplanet observations. Angelos Tsiaras
The Europlanet Telescope Network, 30 September 2020
As part of the recently launched Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastructure, a new collaboration between telescopes around the world has been started for providing coordinated observations and rapid responses in support of space missions and in following-up of new events. The so-called Europlanet Telescope Network (bit.ly/37SCiyj) will thereby provide professional scientists and amateur astronomers with access to an initial set of 16 telescope facilities. Scientists and amateurs can now apply to visit those facilities (see website: bit.ly/2Br5LDt). The Europlanet Telescope Network further plans to support the integration of amateur astronomers into planetary sciences, since their observations can be of crucial importance for several scientific areas.
This Splinter Meeting gave an overview on the network, the involved telescope facilities, and opportunities for support for amateur astronomers in Europe and beyond.
Program of the meeting: – Introduction to the Europlanet Telescope Network (Scherf, M) – Overview of the telescope facilities (Tautvaisiene, G) – How to apply to the Call (Snodgrass, C) – Europlanet support to amateur astronomy campaigns on Solar System astronomy (Hueso, R) – Telescope showcase: The Robotic Faulkes Telescope Network (Lewis, F) – GaiaGOSA and the planned observational alert website (Podlewska-Gaca, E; Dudzinski, G) – Discussion
Europlanet 2024 RI has supported the SuperLuna! campaign. Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.
Europlanet AISBL (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif - 0800.634.634) is hosted by the Department of Planetary Atmospheres of the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Avenue Circulaire 3, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.
Europlanet 2024 RI has supported the SuperLuna! campaign. Europlanet 2024 RI has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.