Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
SECOND GRANADA WORKSHOP:  THE EVOLVING SUN AND ITS INFLUENCE ON PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS Granada, Spain 18-20 June, 2001

2001 Workshop Venue: Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA).

 FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT  already released.

2001 Workshop Venue: Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA).

 SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT  already released.

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

An international workshop on the changes of the Sun with time and their effects on Earth, on the planetary environments and on the development of life in the Solar System is to be held in Granada, Spain, during June 2001. The primary scientific objectives of the workshop include the changes in the Sun's total and spectral irradiance from nuclear evolution and from the decrease of Sun's magnetic activity with time. For example, although the paleo-Sun was less luminous than now, the young Sun had much stronger emissions at short wavelengths that arise from enhanced magnetic activity. The conference will include topics such as the structure and evolution of the Sun, the solar dynamo and magnetic activity, past and present solar irradiance, inferring solar behavior from solar analogs of different ages, the Sun-climate connection, paleo-climate models, life in the solar system, exosolar planets, the Sun and Earth in the future, and new space missions to study the Sun, planets and exosolar planets.

This workshop is supported by the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) and the Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA), through the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (Granada) and the Centro de Astrobiologia (Madrid).

The purpose of this First Announcement is to bring the workshop to the attention of astronomers, solar physicists, climatologists, and astrobiologists willing to participate, and to solicit expressions of interest in attending and presenting papers.

SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES

Our understanding of the formation of planetary systems around solar-type stars, and their evolution, is now being re-examined in light of the many recently discovered extra-solar planets. Moreover, the role of the early Sun's activity and its high-energy radiation on the chemistry of the upper atmospheres of the planets is still also an open issue. The relations between the behavior of the Sun, and the atmospheres of the planets in the solar system, as well as solar-type stars and extra-solar planets, are crucial problems to study and understand.

Topics so be considered for discussion during the workshop are:

Today's Sun: The Present Sun - Physical properties and structure, magnetic activity and sunspots, spectral irradiance and its variations, the Sun-Earth relationships.

Yesterday's Sun: The Paleo-Sun - Activity changes from paleo-climate records, luminosity variations from solar analogs, irradiances in the X-ray and UV as a function of time, the Sun during the last 20,000 yr.

Tomorrow's Sun: The Future Sun - The expected changes in the Sun's properties in the future as it evolves and their effect on the Earth's climate and life in the Solar System.

Planets/Earth climate (past & present): Overview of the Solar System, climate models, formation and evolution of planetary atmospheres, origin of life, effect of the early Sun's enhanced irradiance on planet environments, current status and future developments of extra-solar planet searches, planet formation models.

The aim of this workshop in Granada is to facilitate the discussions and interchanges between scientists involved in the study of the Sun, with those working in planetary research and climatology to define challenging new research programs as well as optimizing the results from future high resolution space missions.

STRUCTURE

For this purpose, the workshop has been designed to be relatively small in size (compared to usual astronomy meetings) and focused on few talks and as much real discussion as possible. The interaction between members of two different scientific communities, is of very special attention for the Granada workshops.

Formal talks and discussions will only be held during morning sessions. Afternoons will be left for social activities leading to further informal discussions (as well as some knowledge of Granada). Review and invited talks are organized for the first two days, while discussions, led by one or two experts, will be held on Wednesday. The possibility to present poster papers is nevertheless open to allow all participants to show their most recent results. Enough space and time will be available for the posters to be studied and discussed. Both oral contribution and poster papers, including discussions, will be published.

SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

J. Christensen-Dalsgaard (Denmark), Th. Encrenaz (France), A. Gimenez (co-Chair, Spain), E.F. Guinan (co-Chair, USA), M. Mayor (Switzerland), T.C. Owen (USA), J. Perez-Mercader (Spain), T. Roca (Spain), R. Rodrigo (Spain).

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

V. Costa, D. Galadi, A. Gimenez, M. Guitart, L.M. Lara, B. Montesinos.

TENTATIVE SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM:

Monday, 18: - - Review on latest advances in solar astronomy - - Review on latest advances in magnetic activity - -Talks on solar irradiance, Sun in time, activity changes, and evidences of the Sun's influence on past climates, and paleoclimates - -Discussion of posters

Tuesday, 19: - - Review on extra-solar planets and astrobiology - - Review on latest advances in planetary atmospheres - - Talks on the early Solar System, the proto-Earth, photochemistry of planetary atmospheres and formation of planetary atmospheres. - - Discussion of posters

Wednesday, 20: - - Discussion on relevant future space missions - - Discussion on consequences for Life on other planets (both inside and outside the Solar System) - - Workshop Summary

In order to facilitate informal discussions between participants, a program of social activities is being prepared whose cost will be included in the registration fee. Preliminary arrangements are being done for Granada tours (Cathedral and Historic Center, Alhambra Palaces, Generalife, Albayzin, Sacromonte, etc.) together with typical dinners on Monday and Tuesday. A tour of Sierra Nevada, including the observatories, is being planned for Wednesday afternoon.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Granada is a well-known, beautiful city in Southern Spain, 435 km from Madrid, 256 km from Sevilla and 126 km from Malaga, with a rich history and many tourist attractions. The Alhambra Palace and the nearby mountains of Sierra Nevada are among the most beautiful places in Spain. Granada has an important influence of its University in the city life (around 50,000 students for a total population of less than 300,000).

The Institute of Astrophysics (IAA) has a long tradition already despite the relative youth of Spanish astronomy in the fields of observational photometry, instrumentation, galactic structure, the study of galaxies and the exploration of the solar system. In addition the IAA operates a modern observatory in the heart of the Sierra Nevada mountains with two telescopes of 0.9 and 1.5 meters.

Arrival to Granada is very easy by plane which is the recommended transport. 2-3 daily flights operate from Madrid and Barcelona with connections from many other airports around the world. The international airport of Malaga is only 1.5 hours drive from Granada. Driving from Madrid takes around 4 hours. Buses and trains are also available from Madrid and other cities.

It should be also mentioned that during the week previous to this meeting in Granada, the First Eddington Workshop will be held in the nearby town of Cordoba from 11 to 15 June 2001. (see http://astro.esa.int/SA-general/Projects/Eddington/Eddi2001). Eddington is a space mission in the program of ESA for asteroseismology and extrasolar planet hunting. Transportation from Cordoba to Granada will be provided for those participating in both events.

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST:

Alvaro Gimenez - ag@laeff.esa.es

fax: 34 1 813 11 60

pho: 34 1 813 11 55