Updated 2024 April 4

BAA meetings

Other organisations’ meetings

PLATO Planetary Systems – formation to observed architecture, 2024 May 14-16, Catana, Sicily, Italy
PLATO is the 3rd mission of class M in the ESA Cosmic Vision program. Its main goal is detecting terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar type stars. With its huge FOV, most of the PLATO targets are bright stars that will be monitored with high cadence (25 s) for at least 2-3 years during the long duration observing program, while contemporary a number of very bright stars in the sample will be observed with 2.5 s cadence. The collected data, photometry from space and high-resolution spectroscopy from the ground, will provide accurate planetary structures as well as architectures and evolutionary stage – via asteroseismic analysis – of a large number of planetary systems. PLATO is planned for a launch in Dec 2026.

The Interstellar Research Group (IRG) 8^th Interstellar Symposium 
IRG’s 8th Interstellar Symposium, in collaboration with the International Academy of Astronautics and Breakthrough Initiatives, will take place July 10 – 13, 2023 (with pre-symposium seminars taking place) in Montreal, QC, Canada at McGill University. This symposium will feature many of the leading voices in space exploration, culture, and more.

Towards Other Earths III: The Planet-Star connection, 17-21 July 2023, Porto, Portugal
Planetary systems result from the synergy between the stars and the planets they host. It can be convenient, at first, to consider them in isolation, but the links between them affect all aspects of exoplanetary sciences. Stars can be a hurdle to exoplanetary sciences. The precision and accuracy of our knowledge of stellar parameters is often a major driver for the precision and accuracy of the respective planetary parameters. Stellar activity and its impact on planet detection and characterisation is one of the significant challenges for the next decade. But stars can also be facilitators to exoplanetary sciences. The correlation between stellar metallicity and the frequency of giant planets is well established and the link between stellar and planetary composition is an active topic. In the next few years we also have a lot to learn from the dynamical interactions between stars and planets.

2023 July 24-28 Sagan Summer Hybrid Workshop
Characterising Exoplanet Atmospheres: The Next Twenty Years
Observations of an exoplanet’s atmosphere provide the best hope for distinguishing the makeup of its outer layers, and the only hope for understanding the interplay between formation, natal composition, chemical and disequilibrium processes, and dynamics & circulation. The field is entering a revolution in our understanding of exoplanet atmospheres thanks to measurements from the ground, from space, and particularly from the new JWST – the superlative facility for exoplanet studies. In the longer term, such observations will also be essential for seeking signs of biosignature gasses in nearby exoplanets using future, next-generation observatories.

This year’s workshop will cover theoretical modelling, interpretation, and observations of exoplanets using a variety of telescopes, techniques, and hands-on exercises, presented by leading experts in the field.

Are We a Unique Species on a Unique Planet or are we just the ordinary Galactic standard?. 2024 July 30 – August 2, Copenhagen, Denmark
Homo sapiens may be the only species in the entire Galaxy with an intelligence advanced enough to understand how it all arose and evolved. But we may also be so dumb that we just don’t understand that the universe is already teaming with life everywhere, similar or very different from ourselves. Each of the scenarios would be equally fascinating, and the sign of a road towards a meaningful answer has never been closer than it is today. We are lucky to have convinced world-leading experts to come to Copenhagen to discuss the issue with us during four intense conference days.

07-13 November 2022 Forming and Exploring Habitable Worlds
Forming and Exploring Habitable Worlds was a multi-discipline four to five day international meeting which took place in Edinburgh, UK.