Lukasz: Created page with "Dear Colleagues, The transient sky has never been more exciting. Numerous current and near-future large-scale surveys (PanStarrs, PTF, SkyMapper, Gaia, SWIFT, OGLE, LOFAR, LSST)..."

2012-05-29T13:05:35Z

Created page with "Dear Colleagues, The transient sky has never been more exciting. Numerous current and near-future large-scale surveys (PanStarrs, PTF, SkyMapper, Gaia, SWIFT, OGLE, LOFAR, LSST)..."

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Dear Colleagues,

The transient sky has never been more exciting. Numerous current and
near-future large-scale surveys (PanStarrs, PTF, SkyMapper, Gaia,
SWIFT, OGLE, LOFAR, LSST) are promising vast numbers of new, transient
objects corresponding to a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, from
solar system objects, through new types of stellar variability and
signatures of exoplanets, to Supernovae and orphan Gamma Ray Bursts.
However without prompt and appropriate follow-up observations, much of
the scientific potential of these new discoveries will be lost. It
becomes crucial for transient astronomy that the new phenomena are
rapidly observed with small and medium size telescopes and the data
are analysed quickly to share the knowledge.

The Gaia Photometric Science Alerts team, is responsible for
generating alerts on transient and anomalous events detected in the
data stream of the Gaia satellite - cornerstone ESA mission scheduled
for launch in August 2013. The alerts will become public immediately,
and to assure the complex data processing pipeline produces reliable
and robust alerts, they need to be thoroughly tested. Therefore, the
first alerts will need to be verified with an extensive programme of
dedicated follow-up observations.

Thorough and robust classification requires a dedicated network of
telescopes and a well-organised team. Now, with the Gaia launch so
close, we are approaching a crucial point in time. We need to organise
our teams, choose instruments and telescopes, construct observing
proposals, and prepare the community for the influx of Gaia alerts.

During the first two Gaia Science Alerts workshops we have addressed
the requirements for the ground-based verification of alerts and their
follow-up. We have established the foundations of the collaborative
network of telescopes and scientists willing to get involved in the
transients follow-up and Gaia alerts verification.

In the third workshop this summer we will present and discuss the
early-stage tests performed by our partners based on alerts generated
by the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey (CRTS) and other surveys.
We will also continue building and extending the network with new
partners.

One of the main issues related with the follow-up of transients is
their robust and rapid classification at the survey level and then
evolving classification with the additional follow-up data. We will
concentrate on this subject during the third workshop and present
current techniques and methods of transient classification presented
by experts in the field and astronomers applying the techniques to
their data.

Workshop will take place on 6-7 September 2012 in the old university
of Bologna in Italy.
Further details and registration is available here:
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/ioa/wikis/gsawgwiki/index.php/Workshop2012:main

Best regards and hope to see you in Bologna!

Lukasz Wyrzykowski on behalf of
the Workshop Organizing Committee
-----------------------------------------------------
Gaia Science Alerts Workshop 2012

6-7 September 2012, Bologna, Italy

http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/ioa/research/gsawg

email: gsaw2012@gmail.com

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Lukasz: Created page with "Dear Colleagues, The transient sky has never been more exciting. Numerous current and near-future large-scale surveys (PanStarrs, PTF, SkyMapper, Gaia, SWIFT, OGLE, LOFAR, LSST)..."