- Cosmo-torun - cosmo.torun.pl

(fwd) Master Optical/Radio/Xray Catalogue (final version) now available on
by Andrzej Marecki 06 Jun '02

06 Jun '02

-- forwarded message -- Newsgroups: sci.astro.research Path: mat.uni.torun.pl!news.man.torun.pl!news.man.poznan.pl!news-fra1.dfn.de!news-lei1.dfn.de!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newspeer1-gui.server.ntli.net!ntli.net!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!server3.netnews.ja.net!bath.ac.uk!unknown From: eric(a)flesch.org (Eric Flesch ) Subject: Master Optical/Radio/Xray Catalogue (final version) now available on Approved: sci.astro.research-request(a)slimy.greenend.org.uk (mjh) Sender: unknown(a)scorpius.star.bris.ac.uk (Address not verified) Organization: Orcon Internet Message-ID: <mt2.0-4318-1023269017(a)star.bris.ac.uk> X-Posting-Tool: modtool v2.0 Date: Wed, 5 Jun 2002 09:23:20 GMT Lines: 55 Xref: mat.uni.torun.pl sci.astro.research:1433 Announcing the final version of the Master Catalogue of Radio/Xray Detections overlaid onto the Optical Background. This version is earmarked for the refereed process. Changes are as follows: Optical background: The APM catalogue has recently been completed to include the southern galactic cap, and these data have been added to the optical background of the Master catalogue (which merges APM & USNO). Thanks to Mike Irwin for the final push to complete the southern fields, and to Ray Stathakis for publishing that data on the AAO website. Radio detections: The FIRST and NVSS catalogues are found to have astrometry at least as good as the APM, so field shifts for these are restricted to corrections of the APM astrometry. Thanks to Rick White in clarifying issues involved in this. Detection of double radio lobes has been much improved in this version, and over 10,000 of these are displayed. These detections are reliable in this version, compared with an admittedly cursory effort last time. Xray detections: It is necessary to shift the ROSAT HRI, RASS, PSPC and WGA fields over the optical background to find the correct astrometry. The method has been improved now to clean up recalcitrant fields. Whilst never perfect, the bulk of xray fields have been aligned with good confidence. QSOs and AGN with optical APM/USNO signatures are included even if they do not have radio/xray associations. These include the SDSS early data release and there are about 30,000 in total. QSOs from old papers from the 70's and 80's are now correctly identified using improved likelihood algorithms. There are about 200 such objects, previously identified incorrectly, which are now assigned to the correct optical object. The Master Catalogue assigns probabilities to radio/xray objects that they are QSOs, galaxies, stars, or erroneous associations. This has been refined via a decision tree algorithm, as well as the complete APM data allowing better compensation against local sky densities. The probabilities are calculated against a 670,000,000 object whole-sky background database. Get the Master Catalogue at ftp://quasars.org/quasars . There is a ReadMe there and smaller subset catalogs. There will be some site cleanup as this catalog goes to publication, so get the subset catalogs now if you want them. This version of the Master Catalogue improves selection of about 15% of the objects compared with the previous version, but the highest-probability QSO candidates are mostly unchanged. The SUMSS southern sky radio catalog is due for release any day now, and I will update the Master Catalogue with that data when it is available. Eric Flesch Wellington, New Zealand 5 June 2002 -- end of forwarded message -- -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrzej Marecki | Torun Centre for Astronomy | e-mail: amr(a)astro.uni.torun.pl N. Copernicus University | WWW: http://www.astro.uni.torun.pl ul. Gagarina 11 | tel: +48 56 6113032 PL-87-100 Torun, POLAND | fax: +48 56 6113009 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 0

Cosmic Background Imager
by Andrzej Marecki 05 Jun '02

05 Jun '02

The team of Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) released images with a resolution as good as 6 minutes of arc which allows to resolve blobs of matter with masses of about 5-80 x 10^14 solar masses i.e. corresponding to the mass of galaxy clusters. See: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~tjp/CBI/ -- Andrzej

1 0

proposition for masters students 2002/2003
by Boud Roukema 23 May '02

23 May '02

---------------------------------------------------------------------- Proposition for Supervising Masters (Magister) projects at TCfA for Oct 2002 - Sep 2003 Supervisor: B. Roukema Number of students: up to 3-4 students is possible Title: Observational Constraints on Cosmological Parameters Description: There are many possible projects which could be done as a master's thesis project, in using publicly available archival data from observational surveys to constrain one or more of the local or global cosmological parameters, either those related to shape (curvature, topology) or maybe also those unrelated to shape ("dark energy"). The precise projects would be chosen in discussion with the masters students during Oct-Nov 2002. Some examples would include further development and application of the "Dark Energy" software package which has been worked on during the "Shape of the Universe" monograph course: http://www.astro.uni.torun.pl/sympa/shape-univ/ Requirements: - basic knowledge in astronomy, physics, mathematics, computing skills - desire to measure something about the shape of the Universe - willingness both to learn from and to teach others interested in observational cosmology at TCfA - willingness to learn the following practical skills: touch-typing, emacs, \LaTeX, usage of the sympa mailing lists - willingness to participate in the "Shape of the Universe" monograph course and/or Bronek Rudak's semester 9 "Kosmologia" course: http://www.ncac.torun.pl/~bronek/KOS.html - nie ma problemu je�li student magisterowy nie (jeszcze) dobrze m�wi� po angielsku ----------------------------------------------------------------------

2 3

XXI Texas Symposium - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! (fwd)
by boud＠astro.uni.torun.pl 21 May '02

21 May '02

Hi everyone, I'm not that eager to go to an "expensive hotel chain" meeting, but if I miss the northern summer cosmo meetings then at least I could go to one big cosmo meeting this calendar year... Cze�� Boud > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 17:44:37 +0200 (CEST) > From: XXI Texas Symposium <texaflor(a)arcetri.astro.it> > Subject: XXI Texas Symposium - REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! > Texas in Tuscany XXI Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics Florence, Italy, December 9-13, 2002 FIRST CIRCULAR (May 2002) Introduction The XXI Texas Symposium on Relativistic Astrophysics will be organized in Florence, 9-13 December 2002, by the National Institute of Astrophysics - Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory, in collaboration with the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and other scientific Institutions (the complete list will appear in a subsequent announcement). The meeting will be held in the Palazzo dei Congressi, in the historic center of the city, and will consist of Invited Review Talks (IT) in the morning (each lasting about 40 minutes) and Joint Discussions (JD) during the afternoon. Invited Talks will review recent developments in various fields in Astrophysics, Cosmology and related issues of Physics of Gravitation and Elementary Particles. Joint Discussions will cover specific areas with a number of shorter invited talks (about 20 minutes each). In addition, participants will be able to propose poster papers covering their recent research. The goal of the meeting is to provide a general review of the status and the prospects of research for a diversified audience of astrophysicists and physicists. How to reach Florence Florence can be reached directly by airplane from several major European cities. Alternative airports with international connections are Bologna or Pisa (both about 1 hour train ride from Florence). Another alternative is Rome (the train ride from the Rome Central Station Termini to Florence can be as short as 95 minutes) or Milan (the train ride from the Milan Central Station to Florence takes almost 3 hours). Please note, however, that both in Milan and in Rome the trip from the Airport to the Central Station will take about one additional hour. Accommodation The Organizers have selected a travel agency in Florence to handle all the problems connected with accommodation. The Organizers will not be able to help in any other way with this matter. Block reservations in various hotels are being made, which will be assigned on a first-come-first-served basis until November 15, 2002. Participants who want to arrange directly their own accommodation, or to contact a different travel agency are of course free to do so; they are however advised to book their accommodation as soon as possible, given the strong touristic pressure on Florence. Booking will be firm after a deposit equal to the cost of the first night in the chosen hotel. The quoted costs include breakfast, and all applicable taxes. The deposit will be acknowledged in the final bill, to be paid by the participant directly at the hotel upon leaving. Participants who want to leave earlier than initially arranged must notify the hotel at least 24 hours in advance. Cancellations will be possible only until November 15, 2002; in these cases the deposit will be returned less a 30% handling fee. The accommodation form is now available at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/accommodation_first.html Registration The registration fee for the Symposium will be 300 Euros if paid by November 1 and 400 Euros thereafter. This will cover participation, coffee breaks and a personal copy of the Proceedings. The registration form is now available at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/registration_first.html Program The following topics will be covered by Invited Talks and (in some cases) additional Joint Discussions: - PHYSICS AROUND THE BIG BANG - THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EARLY UNIVERSE - COSMOLOGICAL PARAMETERS - THE DAWN OF LIGHT IN THE UNIVERSE - COSMOLOGICAL BACKGROUND - DARK MATTER AND GRAVITATIONAL LENSES - LARGE SCALE STRUCTURES AND CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES - GAMMA RAY BURSTS - ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEI - SUPERNOVAE, REMNANTS AND COLLAPSED STARS - BLACK HOLES - GRAVITATIONAL WAVES - COSMIC-RAY AND GAMMA-RAY ASTRONOMY - NEUTRINO PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY Invited speakers A partial list of invited speakers includes: R. Blandford, C. Cesarsky, A. Fabian, F. Halzen, A. Lasenby, B. Leibundgut, P. Madau, I. Novikov, B. Schutz, P. Steinhardt, V. Trimble, G. Veneziano, M. Vietri, S. White. The program with the complete list of speakers and convenors of the Joint Discussions will appear on the web at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/program.html. The Proceedings of the Symposium will include the invited reviews and the presentations at the joint discussions (no posters). Scientific Organizing Committee F. Pacini (Chair, Italy), M. Baldo Ceolin (Italy), M. Rees (UK), R. Barbieri (Italy), V. Rubin (USA), C. Cesarsky (ESO), G. Setti (Italy), A. Gimenez (ESA), J. Silk (UK), G. Hasinger (Germany), M. Tavani (Italy), R. Kolb (USA), Y. Totsuka (Japan), R. Manchester (Australia), V. Trimble (USA), I. Novikov (Denmark), G. Veneziano (CERN), A. Olinto (USA), L. Woltjer (France) Local Organizing Committee M. Salvati (Chair), R. Bandiera, L. Falai, R. Maiolino, F. Mannucci, A. Marconi, E. Masini, N. Nagar. Further information: http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~texaflor/ e-mail: texas_florence(a)arcetri.astro.it fax ++ 39 055 220039

1 0

astro-ph/0205155 another step in cosmo-topology...
by Boud Roukema 13 May '02

13 May '02

Cze�� wszystkim, An interesting paper by Rocha et al., a European collaboration (including Krzyszek G�rski) on COBE analysis of equal-side-length torus models of the Universe: http://de.arXiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0205155 They use the word "asymmetric" to talk about the possibility that the side lengths might be unequal. Given the absence of any serious physical theory for the global shape of the Universe, it seems best, IMHO, to keep all options open... Pozd, Boud

1 0

Paddy+Tirth: DE & DMatter same thing?
by Boud Roukema 09 May '02

09 May '02

Paddy and his PhD student Tirth have come up with an idea for how dark matter and dark energy could just be two components of the same thing: http://de.arXiv.org/abs/hep-th/0205055 Cool! :)

1 0

Dimming Supernovae by Axions
by Andrzej Marecki 08 May '02

08 May '02

Yet another "non-orthodox" view on SN dimming attributed to the expansion of the Universe: http://t8web.lanl.gov/people/terning/axion.html (This is based on a paper accepted by Physical Review Letters 88 (2002), 161302.) -- Andrzej

2 1

ASTROVIRTEL: Third Call for Proposals (fwd)
by boud 13 Apr '02

13 Apr '02

I don't think we're ready for this yet, but feel free to think about this. If anyone can think of a project, go ahead and write your thoughts to the list - be creative! And don't worry about your ideas being crazy. Starting off from a crazy idea and playing with it can often yield a good idea... Which is better than no ideas at all... > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 12:26:20 +0200 (MET DST) > From: AstroVirtel User <astrov at eso.org> > To: boud.roukema@... > X-SBFolder: Default > X-SBClass: OK > Subject: ASTROVIRTEL: Third Call for Proposals > > > Dear Colleague, > > The ASTROVIRTEL Project, supported by the European Commission > and managed by the ST-ECF on behalf of ESA and ESO, is aimed > at enhancing the scientific return of the ST-ECF/ESO Archive. > It offers the possibility to European Users to exploit it as > a virtual telescope, retrieving and analysing large quantities > of data with the assistance of archive operators and scientific > personnel. The first two cycles of operation of the ASTROVIRTEL > project are almost completed and some interesting results > have already been achieved and published > [see http://www.stecf.org/astrovirtel/publications.html] > > We are now announcing the Third Call for ASTROVIRTEL Proposals. > Detailed instructions for the submission of proposals can be found > at http://www.stecf.org/astrovirtel/. > > The deadline for submission is June 17th, 2002. > > ASTROVIRTEL is an initiative financed by the European Commission under > the scheme "Enhanced Access to Large Infrastructures" and therefore is > open to European scientists from EC Member and Associated States > [for a list of these states, see > http://www.stecf.org/astrovirtel/ECStates.html] > > Do not hesitate to contact us if you need further information. The > ASTROVIRTEL email address is astrovirtel(a)eso.org . > > Best regards, > > Piero Benvenuti, Head / ST-ECF > Peter Quinn, Head / DMD > > PS: Since we merged different mailing lists, it might happen that > you receive this email twice. Our apologies. > > -- > ASTROVIRTEL > > Accessing Astronomical Archives as Virtual Telescopes > A Project supported by the European Commission > Access to Research Infrastructures > Action of the Improving Human Potential Programme > > Tel: +49 89 32006291 Fax: +49 89 32006480 > mailto:astrovirtel@eso.org URL: http://www.stecf.org/astrovirtel/

1 0

Another confirmation of the existence of dark energy.
by Andrzej Marecki 12 Apr '02

12 Apr '02

----- Forwarded message from NewsAlert ----- NEWSALERT: Friday, March 22, 2002 @ 1504 GMT --------------------------------------------------------------------- The latest news from Astronomy Now and Spaceflight Now [...] NEW EVIDENCE: EXPANSION OF UNIVERSE IS ACCELERATING --------------------------------------------------- A team of UK and Australian astronomers has discovered new, independent evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Their findings have just appeared in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. A team of 27 astronomers led by Professor George Efstathiou of the University of Cambridge has published strong evidence for the existence of dark energy using an entirely different technique. Their results show that the universe is full of dark energy, completely consistent with the earlier supernovae results. "Dark energy appears to exist and to dominate over more conventional types of matter" says Professor Efstathiou. "An explanation of the dark energy may involve String Theory, extra dimensions or even what happened before the Big Bang. At present nobody knows. The ball is now firmly in the theorists court." http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0203/22expansion/ [...] ----- End of forwarded message from NewsAlert ----- -- Andrzej Marecki

2 9

2 observation-linked galaxy projects (long term)
by Boud Roukema 03 Apr '02

03 Apr '02

Hi. I'm just sending this message to have it conveniently on the archive with an obvious "Subject:" header. I think I've already mentioned these two projects (or themes) which are linked to local observational facilities: (1) polarisation of radio-galaxies Ryszard Wielebi�ski of Bonn suggested that a good way to use the radio telescope here would be to observe galaxies at different frequencies, so with different amounts of Faraday rotation of polarised light, so that the polarisation could be inferred. (2) galaxy formation modelling in preparation for future infrared satellite data Ryszard Szczerba said something about NCAC being involved in an infrared satellite project (I think I got the name wrong - Ryszard, do you have a link to the web site of the project?), so if someone does some galaxy formation work in preparation for this, there would be a good chance of getting good observational constraints, and maybe even falsifying some models, and having to generate new ones, which is the exciting part of science :). Cze�� Boud Ryszard: this email will be archived on http://www.astro.uni.torun.pl/sympa/cosmo-torun/ Please reply directly to the list (unless you have something secret to say).

1 0