Bridging Laboratory and Astrophysics: From the Infrared to the Submm
A Meeting-in-a-Meeting (MiM) at the 214th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, June 8-10, 2009, Pasadena, California.   Hosted by the AAS Working Group on Laboratory Astrophysics. 


Here, at the bottom of this page, you can find information on Members, Meetings, White Papers, Groups & Networks and Announcements:.

History: Established at the 210th Meeting, May 2007 in Honolulu, in response to recommendations from the scientific community via the 2006 White Paper on Laboratory Astrophysics and the endorsement of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee (AAAC), which advises the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on selected issues within the fields of astronomy and astrophysics that are of mutual interest and concern to the agencies. The AAS Council set up a steering committee to formulate Bylaws for the Working Group at its 209th Meeting, January 2007 in Seattle.
 
Members: Twelve members nominated by the steering committee on the basis of their professional qualifications relating to their active contribution to Laboratory Astrophysics as a user or provider of laboratory data, and appointed by the Council of the AAS. Among these may be professionals who are not members of the AAS. In addition, the Council will nominate at least one senior officer to serve on the Working Group.

Term: Three years staggered, terms beginning and ending at the close of the Annual Summer Meeting. Members may be re-appointed.

Charge: The Working Group is charged with improving the interaction between the data users (astronomers, astrophysicists, and astrochemists) and the data providers (laboratory astrophysicists and astrochemists). The providers include experimentalists and theorists carrying out research motivated by problems in astrophysics and astrochemistry. The Working Group will include prominent members of the user community, yet still be kept small for efficiency. The activities of the Working Group will be guided by advancing astronomy through the promotion of laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry. Since astronomy is primarily an observational science detecting photons, atomic, molecular, and solid state processes that produce the observed photons will be a main focus. Because our understanding of the Universe also relies on knowledge of the evolution of matter (nuclear and particle physics) and of the dynamical processes shaping it (plasma physics), the focus will incorporate work in these areas as well. The Working Group may discuss policies with other academic, international, or governmental organizations, as appropriate to advance its activities. The Working Group may act on behalf of the AAS to seek out possible sources of funding for support of the discipline from local and national sources, public and private.
 
Reports: In accordance with the AAS Bylaws, the Working Group shall submit an annual report of its activities to the AAS Council. A copy of this report shall be presented to the AAS Council at its regular business meeting.

 
Aspects to be considered by the Working Group include:

  1. Highlight the importance of laboratory and theoretical data for advances in astrophysics and astrochemistry.

  1. Act as a conduit for improving the interaction between data users (astronomers, astrophysicists, and astrochemists) and data providers (laboratory astrophysicists and astrochemists).

 
  1. Sponsor sessions at AAS meetings that build on earlier successful Topical Sessions on laboratory astrophysics.

 
  1. Coordinate sessions involving laboratory astrophysics with other organizations, such as those listed below, at national and international conferences.

 
  1. Provide a communications channel by which astronomers can request needed data.

 
  1. Work closely with relevant IAU Commissions, Divisions and Topical Groups in the American Physical Society (APS), and the Division of Planetary Sciences (DPS) within the AAS.

 
  1. Provide updates on exciting new results and meeting announcements through articles in the AAS Newsletter.

 
  1. Include all areas of laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry: X-ray, UV, visible, IR, sub-mm, nuclear, plasma, etc.

 
  1. Coordinate and sponsor active participation in the next decadal survey and in pre-Phase A for new missions and facilities.


Among the related Organizations that the Working Group may interact with are:
 

1)    Astronomical and related Organizations

a)     IAU Commission 14/ Atomic & Molecular Data

b)    IAU Commission 29/ Stellar Spectra

c)     IAU Commission 34/ Interstellar Matter

d)    AAS DPS

2)    Other Professional and Governmental Organizations

a)     APS (Divisions on Astrophysics; Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics; Nuclear Physics; Plasma Physics, and their associated forums as well as the Topical Group on Plasma Astrophysics)

b)    American Chemical Society (ACS) (Divisions of Physical Chemistry, Geochemistry, and Organic Chemistry)

c)     American Geophysical Union (AGU) (Planetary Sciences, Space Physics, and Aeronomy Sections)

d)    International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) (Particle and Nuclear Astrophysics and Gravity International Committee (PANAGIC))

e)     International working groups and organizations (Molecular Universe of the European Union, Physics & Chemistry of the ISM (PCMI) in France, Laboratory Astrophysics (FGLA) in Germany, etc.)

f)     NASA (Science Mission Directorate/Astrophysics, Solar System)

g)     NSF (Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry)

h)    DOE (Offices of Basic Energy Sciences, Nuclear Physics, and High Energy Physics)

i)      Department of Commerce (DOC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)


 
Members  Meetings  White Papers   Groups & Networks  Announcements  Return to Top

Working Group Members

Michael A'Hearn (University of Maryland) --- UV/Vis spectroscopy, planetary science

Nancy Brickhouse (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) --- databases for modeling

John Cowan (University of Oklahoma) --- nuclear astrophysics

Paul Drake (University of Michigan) --- plasma physics/high density plasmas

Steven Federman* (University of Toledo) --- UV/visible atomic and molecular physics (Past Chair 2007-2008)

Gary Ferland (University of Kentucky) --- modeling

Adam Frank (University of Rochester) --- astronomical plasmas

Murthy Gudipati (JPL) --- Planetary ices

Wick Haxton (University of Washington) --- nuclear physics

Eric Herbst (Ohio State University) --- astrochemistry

Michael Mumma (NASA/GSFC) --- IR spectroscopy, planetary science

Keith Olive (University of Minnesota) --- particle astrophysics

Farid Salama* (NASA/Ames) --- UV/visible, IR spectroscopy including solids as well as planets (Chair)

Daniel Wolf Savin* (Columbia University) --- atomic and molecular collisions

Lucy Ziurys (University of Arizona) --- mm/sub-mm spectroscopy


*Steering Committee: Steven Federman (U Toledo), Farid Salama (NASA ARC), Daniel Savin (Columbia U)
 

 Members  Meetings  White Papers   Groups & Networks  Announcements:  Return to Top


List of related recent meetings and conferences:
ICAMDATA 2006, October 2006, Meudon Obs., France

Molecules in Space & Laboratory, May 2007, Paris, France

First Workshop on Titan: Observations, Experiments, Computations, and Modeling, February 2007 , Honolulu, HI, USA

ASOS (International Colloquium on Atomic Structure and Oscillator Strengths): ASOS-9, Lund, Sweden, August 2007

APS Plasma Physics, November 2007

Second Workshop on Titan: Observations, Experiments, Computations, and Modeling, March 2008 in Miami, FL

IAU Symposium 251, Organic Matter in Space, February 2008, Hong Kong

International Conference on HEDP/HEDLA-08, April 2008, St. Louis, MO, USA

Bridging Laboratory with Astrophysics, a Meeting within a Meeting, 212th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, June 2-4, 2008 in St. Louis, Missouri

Cosmic Dust, Heidelberg, September 2008

40th Annual Meeting, AAS Division for Planetary Sciences, 10-15 October 2008 - Ithaca, New York - USA

Third Workshop on Titan: Observations, Experiments, Computations, and Modeling, February 2009 , San Juan Puerto Rico

AURA Workshop on Future of UVOIR Space Astronomy, March 26-27, 2009, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD

Cavity-enhanced spectroscopy: Studies of molecules or radicals of astrophysical or astrochemical interest, European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, 19-24 Apr 2009, Vienna, Austria


List of related future meetings and conferences:

 Deciphering the Universe through Spectroscopy, 21 - 25 September 2009, Potsdam, Germany

10th International Colloquium on Atomic Spectra and Oscillator Strengths (ASOS) for Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas, August 3 - 7, 2010, Berkeley, California

Members  Meetings  White Papers   Groups & Networks  Announcements:  Return to Top

White Papers in Laboratory Astrophysics:

Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey:

New Discoveries in the Galactic Neighborhood through Advances in Laboratory Astrophysics (pdf)

New Discoveries in Planetary Systems and Star Formation through Advances in Laboratory Astrophysics (pdf)

New Discoveries in Stars and Stellar Evolution through Advances in Laboratory Astrophysics (pdf)

New Discoveries in Cosmology and Fundamental Physics through Advances in Laboratory Astrophysics (pdf)

New Discoveries in Galaxies across Cosmic Time through Advances in Laboratory Astrophysics (pdf)

Laboratory Astrophysics and the State of Astronomy and Astrophysics (pdf)

NASA LAW 2006: Laboratory Astrophysics White Paper 2006

NASA LAW 2002: Laboratory Astrophysics White Paper 2002

Groups & Networks

Astrophysics & Astrochemistry Science and People

2006-2009 Triennial Report from IAU Commission 14 (pdf)

2006-2009 Triennial Report from IAU Commission 14: Atoms (pdf)

2006-2009 Triennial Report from IAU Commission 14: Collision (pdf)

2006-2009 Triennial Report from IAU Commission 14: Solids (pdf)

2002-2005 Triennial Report from IAU Commission 14: Atomic Molecular Data (pdf)



Members  Meetings  White Papers   Groups & Networks  Announcements:  Return to Top

AAS Newsletters

03-04 2008 Issue (PDF)


Announcements:

Bridging Laboratory with Astrophysics
This metting was held as a Meeting within a Meeting at the 212th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, June 2-4, 2008 in St. Louis, Missouri and was hosted by the AAS Working Group on Laboratory Astrophysics.

Minutes of the Town Hall Meeting on Laboratory Astrophysics that was held at the 212th AAS Meeting.

The Omega Laser Facility is a user facility featuring both high-energy and high-intensity lasers and capable of a wide variety of scientific experiments.

Call from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS).

science-softCon UV/Vis+ Spectra Data Base



Members  Meetings  White Papers   Groups & Networks  Return to Top






Send questions or comments to aaslabastro@aas.org. Web site designed and maintained by Farid Salama and David Lesberg. Last updated June 4, 2009