IAU Division G, Stars and Stellar Physics, Quarterly Newsletter

What is this?

As a member of IAU’s Division G I intend to send you a brief e-mail every three months or so with relevant IAU news. Your comments are welcome.

It’s IAU symposium proposal season

The IAU office in Paris has announced the opportunity to propose IAU-sponsored symposia to be held in 2020. The following page provides important information on IAU symposia:

https://www.iau.org/science/meetings/rules/#31

If you are receiving this then you are likely to ask Division G to endorse your proposal and perhaps to act as the coordinating division. The coordinating division takes some responsibility for the successful planning and execution of successful proposals by appointing someone from the division’s Steering Committee as a liaison.

Please note: Division G takes seriously our responsibility to support symposia. Proposers must provide the division president the full proposal a month before the deadline (i.e., by November 15) so that the division officers and Steering Committee members can read and comment on the proposal before we agree to endorse it. It is the science portions that we care about, so the local arrangements can be incomplete at that point.

Nominate an outstanding student for an IAU PhD prize

Two years ago the IAU started a new effort to recognize outstanding PhD theses. Each IAU division can name one recipient of the PhD prize every year. In addition to the recognition, winners receive travel support to attend the next General Assembly. Division G in the past has received many truly excellent applications, making the final decision difficult. IAU members should, however, make sure their PhD students know about this opportunity so they can apply. Watch for an announcement from the IAU.

What’s in Division G and who does what?

Information about the division and its officers can be found at:

https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/divisions/G/

Division G includes five commissions:

• G1: Binary and multiple star systems
• G2: Massive stars
• G3: Stellar evolution
• G4: Pulsating stars
• G5: Stellar and planetary atmospheres

In addition, Division G is part of two Inter-Division Commissions:

• Stellar clusters throughout cosmic space and time
• Galaxy spectral energy distributions

We also have three working groups:

• Abundances in red giants
• Active B stars
• Ap and related stars

More information can be found at the above web page, and all members are encouraged to join these bodies.

Join the IAU as a Junior Member

The IAU just this year approved the new membership category of Junior Member. Junior membership is for individuals who are within 6 years of completing their PhDs. Junior membership is temporary and expires after 6 years; a Junior Member is expected to apply for Individual Membership within that time.

Applications will be due January 15, 2019. Please bring this opportunity to the attention of recent PhDs!

News for stellar astronomers

To keep these e-mails short I will not include the many announcements for symposia or jobs that I receive. Meeting listings can be found at the CADC: http://www.cadc-ccda.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/en/meetings/, and job listings at: https://jobregister.aas.org/.

David Soderblom
U.S. National Committee for the IAU
President, Division G, Stars and Stellar Physics
Chair, IAU Membership Committee

Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore MD USA
drs@stsci.edu