Message SF2A No 1130

Message SF2A No 1130 – 24/03/25

Appel ESA «M8/F3» pour deux nouvelles missions scientifiques
6th Announcement of Opportunity for the CHEOPS Guest Observers Programme
Appel à contributions pour l’atelier HPC, 2 juillet 2025, SF2A, Toulouse (France)
Mini colloque cosmology with large surveys, June 30- July 4 2025, Troyes (France)
CNRS thematic School « The Cosmic Dawn », 5-11 Octobre 2025, IESC Cargese (France)
44ème séminaire virtuel de l’Observatoire de Paris – PSL | Le Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory et le ciel aux énergies extrêmes
Last Accretion/Ejection Talks of the academic year: Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (28/04) and Laboratory modeling of MHD accretion disks (05/05)
End of atomic spectroscopy at NIST
SKA-Low AA0.5 first image milestone
Parution Cahiers Clairaut 189

1. Appel ESA «M8/F3» pour deux nouvelles missions scientifiques

L’ESA vient d’ouvrir un appel « M8/F3 » pour deux nouvelles missions scientifiques, une mission de type M (Moyenne), et une mission de type F (Fast) (voir ici : https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/call-for-missions-2025 ).

Le CNES soutiendra et endossera les contributions françaises aux propositions soumises en fonction de leur adéquation avec les priorités identifiées par le CERES notamment au séminaire de prospective, et après analyse des ressources impliquées. Une concertation avec les directions des laboratoires concernés ainsi qu’avec leurs principales tutelles sera également menée.

Les équipes souhaitant participer à une proposition de mission M ou F doivent se manifester auprès du thématicien concerné du CNES. La liste des thématiciens est rappelée ci-dessous.

Thématique – Responsable thématique CNES
Astronomie et astrophysique – Philippe Laudet
Exobiologie, protection planétaire et exoplanètes – Christian Mustin
Physique fondamentale – Martin Boutelier
Planètes et petits corps du système solaire – Francis Rocard
Soleil, héliosphère, magnétosphères, météo de l’espace – Kader Amsif

Transmis par Olivier La Marle

2. 6th Announcement of Opportunity for the CHEOPS Guest Observers Programme

We are pleased to announce that the 6th CHEOPS Guest Observers Announcement of Opportunity is now open. Please find attached the letter from the ESA Director of Science.

Key Dates: The AO-6 Call is now open and is foreseen to close on the 8 May 2025 (12:00 CEST).

Observing Cycle: The selected proposals will be part of the observing cycle from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. This period marks the last year of the first mission extension of CHEOPS.

Scientific Opportunities: CHEOPS provides observers with access to space-based pointed ultra-high precision photometry. Research areas include the observations of exoplanet transits, eclipses, occultations, and phase curves. Furthermore, the scientific scope may extend to any time-domain phenomena including, but not limited to, variable stars, super-nova remnants or any other astronomical transient phenomena.

Collaborative Synergies: The timely overlap of several space- and ground-based missions may provide exciting opportunities for synergies with NASA/ESA/CSA JWST, NASA/ESA HST, NASA TESS, ESO ground-based facilities, and more.

Scope: The AO-6 and the DP calls are open to the worldwide scientific community, regardless of nationality or institutional affiliation. Undergraduate and PhD students are eligible if it is guaranteed that their supervisor can provide sufficient guidance throughout the proposal. Proposers may request as much time as scientifically needed in a single proposal. Large observing programmes which will produce high-value datasets are encouraged.

Modern and user friendly:

More targets: only 50 GTO reserved targets, with all the rest being open to the entire community
More time: up to 30% science observing time (around 1500 orbits) dedicated to the GO Programme
Double-anonymous peer-review of proposals
Zero-installation tools: cloud-based visibility and ETC web tools
Community contributions of many useful tools

Live hands-on tutorials: We foresee to run hands-on tutorials on March and April 2025 at various time-zones to guide you through the proposal preparation and submission process and answer all your questions. Please register at the link below if you would like to attend or watch the recordings:

https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/cheops-guest-observers-programme/hands-on-tutorials

Find out more about the CHEOPS mission via https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/cheops, stay up-to-date about this opportunity via https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/cheops-guest-observers-programme, and feel free to email us with any questions. We look forward to receiving your observing proposals and advancing our understanding of exoplanetary and stellar systems.

Happy proposing!

Contact: cheops-support@cosmos.esa.int

Transmis par Bruno Merin

3. Appel à contributions pour l’atelier HPC, 2 juillet 2025, SF2A, Toulouse (France)

L’Action Spécifique Numérique organise un atelier dédié au calcul haute performance et simulations numériques aux journées de la SF2A le 2 juillet après-midi à Toulouse (Session 07).

Nous lançons un appel à contribution à la communauté française pour présenter ses avancées en la matière dans tous les domaines de l’astrophysique faisant usage de simulations numériques. Les contributions pourront être sous la forme d’une présentation orale ou d’un e-poster.

Rendez-vous sur le site des journées de la SF2A pour les inscriptions et les soumissions de vos contributions, https://journees.sf2a.eu/. La date limite de soumission est fixée au 25 avril. Le programme sera publié le 13 mai.

Pour toute question, vous pouvez contacter le SOC via cette adresse: soc_s07@sf2a.eu

Composition du SOC: Benoît Cerutti (IPAG), Benoît Commerçon (CRAL), Laurène Jouve (IRAP)

Transmis par Benoit Cerruti

4. Mini colloque cosmology with large surveys, June 30- July 4 2025, Troyes (France)

The 27th “Congrès Général de la Société Française de Physique” will be held from June 30 to July 4 in Troyes, France. We are pleased to announce that the Fields and Particles Division is organizing a mini-colloquium on cosmology with large surveys (MC21), to discuss the latest results and prospects for the various probes (clustering, lensing, CMB, supernovae).

Do not miss this unique opportunity to present your work to a multidisciplinary audience, including 3 Nobel Prize winners.

Registration for participation and a call for contributions (until April 16 !) are open on: https://cgsfp2025.sciencesconf.org/

You can present your work in English or French.
Do not hesitate to pass on the information to your teams, and in particular to early career researchers!

Transmis para Anna Niemiec

5. CNRS thematic School « The Cosmic Dawn », 5-11 Octobre 2025, IESC Cargese (France)

We are pleased to announce the CNRS thematic School « The Cosmic Dawn » to be held October 5th – 11th, 2025 at Institut d’Études Scientifiques de Cargèse (IESC), France.
It aims to bring together communities interested in galaxy formation and cosmic reionization processes, from theory to multi-wavelength observation, including modeling and numerical simulations. The school will foster exchanges between researchers using very different approaches. Seminars proposed by participants completement the program, and PhD students, as part of their training, are invited to submit a short presentation or poster. The posters will be displayed throughout the week and will serve as a support for discussions.

« The Cosmic Dawn », CNRS thematic school, October 5th – 11th, 2025, Cargèse, France

Lecturers
• Rebecca Bowler (University of Manchester)
• Denis Burgarella (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille)
• Pratika Dayal (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute)
• Xiaohui Fan (Steward Observatory)
• Andrea Ferrara (Scuola Normale Superiore)
• Katarina Kraljic (Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg)
• Roberto Maiolino (Kavli Institute for Cosmology)
• Laura Pentericci (Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma)
• Joakim Rosdahl (Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon)
• Patrice Theule (Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille)
• Marta Volonteri (Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris)
• Saleem Zaroubi (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute)

Additional information and registration on this website: https://www.cpt.univ-mrs.fr/~cosmo/EC2025/index.php

IMPORTANT NOTE: CNRS employees can ask their regional delegation to cover their travel expenses. They are exempt from registration fees and will benefit from free accommodation and lunches (but not dinners).

Transmis par Roser Pello and Roland Triay

6. 44ème séminaire virtuel de l’Observatoire de Paris – PSL | Le Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory et le ciel aux énergies extrêmes

L’Observatoire de Paris – PSL vous invite à vous connecter en direct sur Zoom, le mardi 25 mars 2025, de 11h à 12h.

Séminaire de culture scientifique, avec Andreas Zech, Professeur des universités à l’Observatoire de Paris – PSL.

Titre : Le Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory et le ciel aux énergies extrêmes

Résumé : Les rayons gamma de très haute énergie, dans le domaine des TeV, révèlent les objets et les processus les plus spectaculaires de l’Univers. Ils tracent l’accélération de particules dans des sources galactiques, telles que les restes de supernovae, les microquasars ou les nébuleuses de vent de pulsars, ainsi que dans des sources extragalactiques comme les blazars, les galaxies à flambée d’étoiles ou les sursauts gamma.

Les télescopes Cherenkov se sont imposés comme des instruments de choix pour observer ce ciel extrême avec une sensibilité et une résolution inégalées.
Le Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) sera le premier observatoire de ce domaine à être ouvert à la communauté et installé sur les deux hémisphères, promettant des avancées significatives par rapport aux réseaux actuels.

Andreas Zech présentera un bref état des lieux de nos recherches sur les très hautes énergies, avant de me focaliser sur l’état actuel du projet CTAO dans le cadre de notre implication à l’Observatoire de Paris.

La présentation durera 40 minutes et sera suivie d’une plage de 15 minutes dédiées aux questions.
Lien de connexion : https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82450861629

Le webinaire sera enregistré et visible en replay sur la chaîne YouTube de l’Observatoire de Paris – PSL, dans la playlist « Les séminaires de culture scientifique ».

Transmis par Nicolas Lesté-Lasserre

7. Last Accretion/Ejection Talks of the academic year: Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (28/04) and Laboratory modeling of MHD accretion disks (05/05).

Last Accretion/Ejection Talks of the academic year: Ultra-Luminous X-ray sources (28/04) and Laboratory modeling of MHD accretion disks (05/05).
This seminar series is generally focused on accretion/ejection simulations. Next talks are (exact titles tbd):
– April 28th, 11AM: Fatima Kayanikhoo (Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Warsaw) on GRRMHD simulations of ULXs. Related work: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.12282
– May 5th, 11AM: Christophe Gissinger (ENS) on Laboratory modeling of MHD accretion disks. Related work: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2412.12560

Zoom link: https://NTNU.zoom.us/j/91603104442?pwd=aAKV456T6URaO8zK1X9abaDarjc1VA.1
You can watch previous talks here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNW8YSIpk0SBbeUB8jgXsxvZmi83XhK7g&si=xnHRd-tlWSnBMVBc
If you want to be added to the mailing list, please contact: raphael.mignon-risse@uva.es

Transmis par Raphaël Mignon-Risse

8. End of atomic spectroscopy at NIST

Over the last 120 years, atomic and plasma spectroscopy was one of the most successful and visible directions of research at NIST. As a matter of fact, the very first scientific paper from the National Bureau of Standards (original NIST’s name) back in 1904 was on spectra of mixed gases. Since then, the critically evaluated datasets and databases provided unique benchmarks to researchers across numerous fields of science and industry — astronomy and astrophysics, medicine and Martian geology, lithography and nonproliferation. The advanced collisional-radiative codes allowed fast and accurate calculations of light emission from the hot matter of magnetic and inertial confinement fusion, laser-produced plasmas, solar corona, industrial plasmas. The precise measurements of spectra from neutral atoms to extremely charged ions helped discover many new exoplanets, accurately measure nuclear radii, develop new powerful diagnostic techniques. Unfortunately, the story of atomic spectroscopy at NIST is coming to an end.

We were recently informed that unless there is a major change in the Federal Government reorganization plans, the whole Atomic Spectroscopy Group will be laid off in a few weeks, in particular, since our work is not considered to be statutorily essential for the NIST mission. In anticipation of this likely outcome, our primary goal at this moment is to preserve as much of the accumulated scientific knowledge as possible. We are currently discussing mirroring our atomic spectroscopy databases and online tools at other institutions and/or universities so that they will not become a slowly dying burden but rather continue to evolve and improve. Some of the unique laboratory equipment and spectroscopic instruments may be loaned and thus saved as well. An exceptional collection of photographic plates with many still unexplored spectra will hopefully find a new home, too.

Obviously, the most painful side of this development is the layoff of our extraordinary scientific and technical staff. Some of us plan to retire, others will hit the job market. Regardless of future developments, it is more than clear that the continuity and quality of the atomic spectroscopy research in the country will suffer tremendously.

With that said, we thank you all for collaboration, support, and encouragement over many years. It was our honor and privilege to work with you.

Transmis par Yuri Ralchenko

9. SKA-Low AA0.5 first image milestone

The first image from an early working version of the SKA-Low telescope was released on the 17th of March, made using the 4 stations of SKA-Low AA0.5. This truly marks the start of the interferometric era of the SKA and is a major milestone on the path to the SKA telescopes becoming the most powerful radio telescopes in the world and unveiling many secrets of the Universe.

The press release with the first image using AA0.5 (and video) can be found here (see image immediately below):

https://www.skao.int/en/news/621/ska-low-first-glimpse-universe

The release also includes SKA-Low simulations to represent what similar observations with the different Array Assemblies may reveal.

Transmis par Chiara Ferrari

10. Parution Cahiers Clairaut 189

Le no 189 (mars 2025) du trimestriel « Les Cahiers Clairaut », la revue du Comité de liaison enseignants et astronomes (Clea), est paru.

Le dossier de ce numéro est consacré aux noms et catalogues d’objets célestes avec notamment des articles de Sébastien Derriere (Observatoire de Strasbourg) sur le CDS, de Roland Laffite (membre associé au groupe de travail « Star names » de l’UAI) sur les premiers catalogues d’étoiles et Frédéric Pitout (Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées) sur Charles Messier et son catalogue.

Hors thème du dossier, Danièle Briot (Observatoire de Paris) nous parle des systèmes stellaires multiples et Baptiste Lavie (université de Genève) présente les bandes dessinées Salomé utilisées en milieu scolaire pour faire connaître la recherche sur les exoplanètes.

Le sommaire est à découvrir là : http://clea-astro.eu/vieclea/productions-recentes/cc/cc189/les-cahiers-clairaut-nb0-189-printemps-2025

Soutenez-nous en nous rejoignant et/ou en abonnant votre institution. Et bien entendu, vous pouvez toujours nous proposer articles et activités pédagogiques pour publication.

Transmis par Frédéric Pitout

Pour faire passer vos messages, envoyez un mail au secrétariat SF2A (secretariat@sf2a.eu) avant le vendredi 18h pour une diffusion le lundi après-midi suivant.