Spanish X-ray Astronomy 2017: the path towards Athena

Start date: 15:00, 23/10/2017

End date: 25/10/2017

Meeting place: Granada, Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC)

Organizer: Martín A. Guerrero Roncel (IAA-CSIC)

Scientific Rationale:

The activity and impact of the Spanish X-ray astronomical community has kept growing in the last decades. Following the successful Spanish X-ray Astronomy 2013 (Barcelona) and 2015 (Santander), we plan a new meeting in this series. This time, the meeting will be aimed at showcasing the Spanish activity and future in Athena, the upcoming ESA X-ray mission. World experts involved on the design and developments of the Athena observatory and its main scientific instruments will contribute to this meeting to spread among the Spanish astronomers the scientific objectives, technological challenges, and capabilities of this extraordinary project:

“The Athena X-ray Observatory Project”, speaker TBA
“The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) for Athena”, by Dr. Didier Barret (IRAP)
“The Wield Field Imager (WFI) for Athena”, by Dr. Arne Rau (MPG)

With its unprecedented sensitivity and spectral resolution in the X-ray band, Athena, the Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics, will explore high-energy phenomena in all astrophysical contexts. The study of the formation and evolution of large-scale hot gas structures from the Early Universe to the present day and the census of black hole growth in the Universe will be key scientific objectives of Athena, among many other important topics in contemporary astrophysics. Synergies with other world-class instruments, including GTC and ESO optical facilities and the upcoming SKA Square Kilometer Array in the radio band and CTA Cherenkov Telescope Array in the GeV-TeV band, will maximize its (their) scientific return to produce a new vision of the Cosmos.

The main purpose of the meeting will be to present the Athena project to the Spanish X-ray astronomical community and to identify and start working on the scientific opportunities that can arise from the possible synergies between Athena and the different astronomical infrastructures (GTC, CTA, SKA, ESO, …) that will be available to the Spanish astronomical community by the time Athena started operations in 2028.

Scientific topics covered by the meeting will include:

Active Galactic Nuclei and Quasi-Stellar Objects
Gamma Ray Bursts
Novae and Supernovae
Supernova Remnants
X-ray Binaries, Neutron Stars and Pulsars
Stars and Interstellar Medium
X-ray Astronomical Archives
Future X-ray Missions
Athena: Spanish Contributions
Athena and the Synergies with Spanish Astronomical Infrastructures: GTC, ESO, SKA, OCTOCAM, WSO-UV, CTA

Scientific organizing committee (SOC):

Francisco J. Carrera Troyano, IFCA (CSIC-UC)
Rosario González Riestra, XMM-Newton Science Operations Centre (ESAC)
Martín A. Guerrero Roncel (chairman), IAA-CSIC
Isabel Márquez, IAA-CSIC
Josefa Masegosa, IAA-CSIC
Silvia Mateos Ibañez, IFCA (CSIC-UC)
Giovanni Miniutti, CAB (INTA-CSIC)
Teodoro Muñoz Darias, IAC
Nanda Rea, ICE (CSIC-IEEC)
Jose Miguel Torrejón Vázquez, UA

Local organizing committee (LOC):

Sara Cazzoli, IAA-CSIC
Martín A. Guerrero Roncel, IAA-CSIC
Carolina Kehrig, IAA-CSIC
Isabel Márquez, IAA-CSIC
Josefa Masegosa (chairman), IAA-CSIC
Edgar Iván Santamaría, Universidad de Guadalajara (Jalisco, México)

Calendar– relevant dates:

Registration deadline requesting contributed talk: September 22nd (Autumn Equinox)
Final Scientific Programme: October 9th
Registration deadline: October 13th
Meeting date: October 23-25th

More information:

This is a RIA supported workshop (AYA2015-71939-REDI): NO FEE is requested.

Due to seating capacity, up to 50 participants can be registered.