MIST
Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial
RAS discussion meeting on geomagnetic storms and substorms
The Global Response of the Terrestrial Magnetosphere During Storms and Substorms is an upcoming RAS discussion meeting to be held on 08 February 2019 at the Royal Astronomical Society at Burlington House. This meeting will include an invited talk from Elena Kronberg (Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research).
If you are interested in attending, you can visit the page for the meeting on the RAS's website. The programme and list of abstracts are available here on the MIST website.
The meeting is co-convened by Jasmine Sandhu (MSSL/UCL), Hayley Allison (BAS/Cambridge), Maria-Theresia Walach (Lancaster) and Clare Watt (Reading), and the the description of the meeting is as follows:
The magnetosphere is a highly variable environment, and the occurrence of storms and substorms result in the dramatic reconfiguration and redistribution of energy within the system. Understanding the conditions under which these events take place, the response of the magnetosphere, and the causes of the high variability observed is an area of active research.
This meeting aims to further our understanding of how internal and external factors combine to shape the global structure of the magnetosphere and the plasma stored therein during active times. We aim to integrate our collective knowledge of global changes in the magnetic field structure and of plasma behaviour across a wide range of energies, from cold plasmaspheric plasma through to the high energy populations in the plasma sheet, ring current, and outer radiation belt. In addition to bringing together observations from throughout the magnetosphere and ionosphere (e.g., Van Allen, Cluster, and the SuperDARN network), new modelling and simulation results will also provide insight into the response of the terrestrial magnetosphere to a wide range of geomagnetic activity.
Advances in hydrogen molecular ions: H3+, H5+ and beyond
There is a scientific discussion meeting to be held at the Royal Society on 21–22 January 2018, organised by Professor Jonathan Tennyson FRS, Professor Benjamin McCall, and Professor Steven Miller. The webpage for the meeting is available on the Royal Society's website.
This meeting will highlight recent developments in theoretical, laboratory and astronomical studies of the molecular ion H3+ and its hydrogenated cousin H5+. These developments include the first models of H5+, high-resolution studies of H3+ deuterated isotopologues, ultra-cold chemistry studies, new chemical models of the Galactic Centre, and data from the space missions Cassini (Saturn) and JUNO (Jupiter).
Les Houches Physics School
The Les Houches Physics School, entitled "The multiple approaches to plasma physics from laboratory to astrophysics" is to be held on 13–24 May 2019 in Les Houches, France. Pre-registration for the conference is now open, and will close on 15 February 2019. The venue for the school can hold 46 participants and, as such, selected attendees will be notified at the beginning of March.
This two-week school held in the French Alps focuses on plasma physics and its manifestations in laboratory experiments, space environment and in astrophysics. It targets an international audience primarily composed of PhD students and junior postdoctoral researchers. The objective is to introduce the participants to a wide range of fundamental aspects of plasma physics, as well as to the state-of-the-art in many of the sub-disciplines. The school will feature blackboard-style lectures, hands-on activities, talks on latest research, presentation by students, as well as group work such as journal clubs and social activities. This school is the latest of a series of programs held every two years since 2011 at the Les Houches School of Physics on similar topics (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017).
More information about the Les Houches Physics School can be found at the school's website. If you have any questions, the organising committee can This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
NAM 2019 parallel session proposals now open
The Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) will be held on the campus of Lancaster University from Sunday 30th June to Thursday 4th July 2019. The official website is available here. In addition to the UK's astronomy community, the meeting includes the UK Solar Physics (UKSP) and Magnetosphere Ionosphere and Solar-Terrestrial (MIST) communities. Lancaster is the home to a large and active MIST group, and so the MIST community will be right at home next year!
Isobel Hook and Jim Wild, on the behalf of the organisers, write:
We now invite the community to submit proposals for parallel sessions to be held at NAM2019. Proposals are welcome for sessions covering all aspects of NAM, UKSP, and MIST science, including cross-discipline sessions.
The deadline for submitting parallel session proposals is Monday 7 January 2019 at 17:30 UTC and proposals should be submitted here.
EISCAT symposium 2019
The dates and location for the 2019 International EISCAT symposium have been announced. It will be held in 19–23 August 2019 at the University of Oulu, Finland. A radar summer school will be held in the preceding week, and a full announcement and website will follow soon.
Andrew Kavanagh writes:
Given that EISCAT 3D is scheduled to come on-line in 2021 this is a great opportunity to develop new collaborations, get up to speed on the science EISCAT can facilitate (including E3D), and give students/postdocs a head start in working with the new system.
EISCAT has put together some cartoons showing how EISCAT 3D will operate under different scenarios including simultaneous multi-user experiments. Check out these illustrations of the beam switch timing and ability to switch between modes on the order of a second!