No 5 – 13/11/08 – SSAA/SGAA

SGAA/SSAA News No 5 - 13/11/08
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1. ESO Users committee information
2. 39th Saas Fee course, 23-29 march 2009
3. IYA2009: Opening ceremony in Bern, 5 feb 2009
4. IAU Symp. 268 "Light Elements in the Universe" in Geneva
5. SGAA/SSAA General Assemply 2008, Minutes
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1. ESO Users committee information

The ESO Users Committee had on October 20, a mid-year telecon in order to
provide up-to-date feedback to the users and to prepare for the next UC
meeting that will be in April 2009 in Garching.

The minutes of this meeting with recent informations on several
critical issues are posted on
http://obswww.unige.ch/SSAA/uploads/pdf/ESO/UC_20Oct2008.pdf

Among the issues are:
- decommissioning of FORS1
- Laser Guide Stars
- vibration issues for VLTI, Hawk-I and NACO
- defocused observations of bright objects
- data reduction software development within ESO.

Don't hesitate to contact me for any further information.

Best regards,
Frederic Courbin (Frederic.Courbin∂epfl.ch)
Swiss representative at the ESO Users committee
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2. 39th Saas Fee course, 23-29 march 2009

Registrations are open for the 39th Saas Fee course 2009 on
"Magnetic Fields in Stars: From the Sun to Compact Objects".
See http://www.physik.unibas.ch/saasfee39/
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3. IYA2009: Opening ceremony in Bern, 5 feb 2009

The national opening ceremony for the International Year of Astronomy
2009 (IYA2009) under the title "Astronomy in Switzerland: top science
for a small country" will be held in Bern, 5 feb 2009 (afternoon).
All SGAA/SSAA members will receive a personal printed invitation.
Please book this date in your agendas.

More details on IYA2009 activities in Switzerland will be
available through the "central" IYA2009 Website for Switzerland
(http://www.astronomy2009.ch/ or http://www.astronomie2009.ch/)
Currently the French version of the site is operating,
the other languages are "under construction".

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4. IAU Symp. 268 "Light Elements in the Universe" in Geneva

The IAU Symposium 268 on "Light Elements in the Universe" will be
held november 9-13, 2009 in Geneva. For more information consult:
http://obswww.unige.ch/iau268/

Information from: Corinne Charbonnel (ObsGE)

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5. SGAA/SSAA General Assembly 2008, Minutes

Minutes and reports from general assembly held 26 sept 2008, in Zurich
are available on the Website of the Society at
http://obswww.unige.ch/ssaa/ under
The Society --> General Assemblies --> GA 2008


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For more information concerning the SGAA/SSAA, astronomy in
Switzerland, and related topics visit our Website
http://obswww.unige.ch/ssaa.

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