Second announcement: Magnetism and variability in O stars


17-19 September 2014

Venue: De Rode Hoed, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Variability is a fundamental property of OB star winds. This variability is not strictly periodic, but cyclic on a timescale that scales with the estimated rotation period of the star. The underlying cause or trigger of this variability is not known.The major time-variable wind features likely find their origin close to, or at the surface of the star, and have been suggested to be connected to non-radial pulsations or bright magnetic star spots.

The past few years have shown very promising new developments, both observationally and theoretically. High-precision space-based photometry reveals rapid variations, incompatible with pulsations, but consistent with the continuous presence of co-rotating bright stellar spots. These spots could be of magnetic origin; surface magnetic fields have recently been detected in several OB-type stars, and theoretical studies show that magnetic fields can be generated in massive stars.

Understanding the role of magnetic fields and variability in O and early B stars, in the context of their internal structure, stellar winds, and evolution, is a major challenge in massive star research. This is the focus of a 3-day conference to be held in Amsterdam, organized to mark the formal retirement of Huib Henrichs, one of the pioneers of this field of research.

Important dates:
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May 15th: Second announcement and registration
June 1st: Deadline abstract submission
June 16th: Deadline block-booking hotels
July 1st: Deadline early payment registration fee
August 1st: Registration closed

Registration:
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Please register for participation at your earliest convenience. In case you would like to give an oral presentation, please submit your abstract before June 1st, 2014. Payment of the registration fee can be done electronically through our website. The registration fee is 275 Euro when paid before July 1st, 2014, the fee includes coffee/tea, lunches and the conference dinner; the late registration fee is 325 Euro. The registration will close on August 1st, 2014.

Scientific programme:
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We aim for 50-100 participants; rather than having a skeleton program with invited speakers, the community is invited to come forward on their own accord, and the SOC will construct a scientific programme from the input received. So far, over 40 participants have registered and provided a title for a talk or a poster; the current list already promises a very exciting scientific programme. In order to construct the preliminary programme, the participants are requested to submit an abstract (deadline June 1st, 2014) to the SOC (L.Kaper@uva.nl).

Social programme:
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-Tuesday September 16:
Public lecture by Huib Henrichs
Welcome reception at Science Park
-Wednesday Sep 17 – Friday Sep 19:
Conference at De Rode Hoed
-Thursday September 18:
Conference dinner
-Saturday September 20:
Social outing

Accommodation:
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Amsterdam is a touristic place, so it is recommended to make hotel reservations at your earliest convenience. We have made block bookings at some hotels near the city center (De Rode Hoed is in the city center); the deadline for these block booking (and discount) is June 16th, 2014. Amsterdam Schiphol airport is well connected to the city center by public transport.

Weblink: http://www.astro.uva.nl/ostars/

Email: ostarsws@list.uva.nl