The X-ray Universe 2005 Symposium

The X-ray Universe 2005 Symposium
Second Announcement,    14-Apr-2005

The X-ray Universe 2005

El Escorial, Madrid, Spain
26-30 September 2005

Organized by the
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)
of the
European Space Agency (ESA)



The XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre is organizing a major astrophysical symposium from Monday, 26th. to Friday, 30th. of September 2005 in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, a small town in the mountains some 50 kilometers northwest of Madrid. San Lorenzo is the most visitied historic centre in Spain.

The main focus of the meeting will be on high energy astrophysics.

Note: A serendipitous highlight for travellers, just after the meeting, will be the Annular Solar Eclipse which takes place on 3rd of October, with Madrid lying almost on the central line.
Further details can be found at:  http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEmono/ASE2005/ASE2005.html



Contact

ESA Conference Bureau
P.O. Box 299
2200 AG Noordwijk
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 565 5005
Fax: +31 71 565 5659

Conference web page: http://www.congrex.nl/05a11/

Email for conference: conference2005@sciops.esa.int

Scientific Organising Committee

Mike Watson (Chair)Leicester Univ.UK
Norbert Schartel (Vice-chair) ESAC MadridE
Monique ArnaudCEA SaclayF
Xavier BarconsIFCA SantanderE
Giuseppina FabbianoCfA CambridgeUSA
Andrew FabianIoA CambridgeUK
Paolo GiommiASI RomaI
Manuel GuedelPSI VillingenCH
Guenther HasingerMPE GarchingD
John P. HughesRutgers Univ.USA
Hideyo KuniedaISAS/JAXAJ
Michiel van der KlisAmsterdam Univ.NL
Nick WhiteNASA-GSFCUSA

ESAC Local Organising Committee

Michelle Arpizou, Bruno Altieri, Matthias Ehle (Chair), Carlos Gabriel, Matteo Guainazzi, Marcus Kirsch, Nora Loiseau, Leo Metcalfe, Andy Pollock, Richard Saxton, Laura Tomas

Aims and Scope of the Symposium

The XMM-Newton and Chandra space observatories have now been operating for half a decade and are continuing to provide superb data which is changing our view of almost every aspect of the Universe at high energies. In the near future the launch of Astro E-2 will provide enhanced capabilities for high resolution spectroscopy, and Swift recently joined HETE-2 in making detailed studies of gamma-ray bursts. Significant new insights are also emerging from Integral's view of the sky at hard X-ray and gamma- ray energies.

With this backdrop the "The X-ray Universe 2005" symposium is intended to encompass a broad range of high energy astrophysics topics, to provide a showcase for results and discoveries from current and near-future missions and a forum for the discussion of astrophysical themes with a high-energy connection.

Venue of the Symposium

The conference will be held at the "Euroforum" Conference Centre in El Escorial;

Euroforum Escorial
Calle del Rey, 38
San Lorenzo de El Escorial
28200 Madrid
Spain

Tel: +34 91 896 7000
Fax: +34 91 896 7070

http://www.euroforum.es   (Please note that this website is only in Spanish)

The municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial is located close to Madrid at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range. The town has a beautiful historic centre which was declared as Artistic Historical Monument in 1971 and UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. El Escorial offers visitors a wide range of opportunities for both tourism and relaxation in superb surroundings.

Preliminary Programme

The programme will consist of about 15 invited talks and some 100 contributed talks, partly organized in parallel sessions. Ample time will be allocated for discussions and for viewing posters. This announcement solicits abstracts for the contributed talks and posters. The final programme will be given in following announcements.

The Symposium is scheduled to last for 5 days and will embrace the wide range of astrophysics in which XMM-Newton, Chandra and other missions are making important advances.

Session topics will include, but are not limited to:
Specialist workshops are also planned to be incorporated in the Symposium:

Calendar of Events

31 May 2005: Deadline for registration and abstract submission
end Jun 2005: Definitive invited programme. Authors of contributed talks and posters will be contacted
mid Aug 2005: 3rd announcement, with final programme, lists of posters and talks, and more logistical information
26-30 Sep 2005: Symposium

Contributed Papers and Proceedings

Papers for presentation will be selected on the basis of half a page abstracts with a maximum of 1500 characters. Papers will be selected on the basis of:

Abstracts should be submitted via an online-submission form available at:
    http://www.congrex.nl/05a11/

Authors will be notified of the decision of the Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC) by the end of June 2005. Authors whose papers or posters have been accepted will then receive further instructions and informations on presentation facilities available at the Conference Centre.

Accepted abstracts will be included in an Abstracts Book, to be circulated at the start of the Symposium.

The Proceedings of the Symposium will be published by the ESA publications division within about three months of the meeting. A LaTeX template for the papers will be made available to authors of accepted talks and posters. A copy of the Proceedings will be sent to each participant.

Hotel Information

The Euroforum Conference Centre in El Escorial will not only be the location for the Symposium including lunch and coffee breaks but also offers convenient accommodation in 212 rooms in total (30 of them being twin rooms). Rooms can easily be booked through the Conference Bureau when registering for the Symposium.

Contact details are:

EuroForum Escorial
Calle del Rey, 38
28200 San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain
Tel: +34 91 896 7000
Fax: +34 91 896 7070
Web: www.euroforum.es

The daily accommodation rate including breakfast (excl. 7% tax) is:
  Single room: 95 Euros
  Twin room (occupied by 2 persons):   131 Euros

Lunches

Lunches will be served at Euroforum on all days of the Symposium and are included in the registration fee. If participants need a special diet, they should let us know when checking in at the conference desk.

Social Events

There will be a Welcome Cocktail for the participants on the evening of Sunday, the 25th. of September, in the Euroforum.

A Conference Dinner is planned for Thursday the 29th. of September in the evening. Please let us know if you would like to participate in this event when registering. Expected costs will be around 40 Euro. Further information will be provided in future announcements and on the Symposium Web page.

Registration Form and Abstract

Please submit the registration form and/or abstract in order to register for the Symposium before the 31st. of May, 2005.

Web forms are available at:    http://www.congrex.nl/05a11/

A registration fee of 280 Euro is asked and includes:
For late registrations, after the 31st. of May, the fee will be 330 Euro.

Travel Grants

A limited amount of financial support will be provided to cover costs of participation in the conference.

The grants will be given in priority to qualified scientists to whom few or no other means of support are available, e.g. colleagues from countries in economic difficulties and young scientists.

It is a requirement that the applicant submits an abstract for a planned poster presentation or for a talk. In the abstract submission form, the applicants should express their wish to be considered for financial support.

Applicants will be notified by the end of June 2005.