First Announcement
THE ASTROPHYSICS OF PLANETARY HABITABILITY
Conference in Vienna, Austria, February 8 – 12, 2016
http://habitability.univie.ac.
Dear colleagues,
we are pleased to announce a five day conference on “The Astrophysics of Planetary Habitability”, to be held at the University of Vienna, Austria, from February 8-12, 2016.
With a continuously increasing number of discovered exoplanets, research is shifting from pure detection to characterization of planets. The rapidly improving quality of observing tools and the success of space-based observations of exoplanets are driving detection and characterization toward ever smaller planets; several rocky planets have already been detected in or near the habitable zones around their host stars.
Exoplanetary studies are increasingly confronted with questions on
habitable conditions. These conditions are determined by various
astrophysical factors such as stellar high-energy radiation, particle
winds, magnetic fields, accreting small bodies, planetary collisions,
and planetary system dynamics.
This conference addresses astrophysical factors and processes that
are pivotal for the formation, sustainability, and evolution of habitable conditions on planets from the era of planet formation in disks to the end of the main sequence life of the host stars.
Key topics include, among others,
• Formation of terrestrial planets in protoplanetary disks,
their interactions with disk material, and the formation
of protoatmospheres
• The role of stellar radiative and particle output for the
evolution of planetary atmospheres
• The importance of stellar and planetary magnetic fields for
habitability
• The physics of erosion processes of planetary atmospheres
• The effects due to dynamical interactions in planetary systems
around single and binary stars, including collisions,
migration, and transport mechanisms.
For more information on the conference, please check our website:
http://habitability.univie.ac.
A second announcement containing information about online registration, abstract submission, online hotel room reservation, and invited speakers will be issued in early fall 2015.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Vienna in February 2016!
Manuel Guedel and Rudolf Dvorak
On behalf of the Scientific and Local Organizing Committees
SOC: Eric Chassefière (F), Manuel Güdel (A, chair), Nader Haghighipour
(USA), Wilhelm Kley (D), Helmut Lammer (A, co-chair), Douglas Lin
(USA), Rosemary Mardling (AU), Elke Pilat-Lohinger (A, co-chair),
Heike Rauer (D), Ansgar Reiners (D), Klaus Strassmeier (D)
LOC: David Bancelin, Rudolf Dvorak (chair), Bibiana Fichtinger, Colin
Johnstone, Theresa Lüftinger (co-chair), Thomas Maindl, Daniel
Steiner
