national astronomy meeting 2017...introducing the 25th ras national astronomy meeting welcome john...

Conference Book2-6 July 2017University of HullE.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics

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Conference Book - Table of Contents

Introducing the 25th RAS National Astronomy Meeting iii

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

E.A. Milne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Social Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Getting Around Hull Campus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Local Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Public Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Timetable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv

Plenary Talks 1

Plenary I: A Solar Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Plenary II: It’s Not to be Swept Under the Rug: Dust in the Interstellar Medium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Plenary III: Galactic Archealogy: Mapping the Chemistry and Dynamics of the Milky Way . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Plenary IV: How Stars Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Plenary V: Promoting Diversity and Sustainable Excellence in Science Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Plenary VI: Defying Gravity: Our Eruptive Sun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Plenary VII: Tantalising Glimpses of the Dark Ages and Dark Matter from the Earliest Galaxies . . . . . . . . 3

Misc Science Events 4

Hack Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Community Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Media Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Special Lunches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Parallel Sessions 8

Early-Universe Cosmology and Gravitational Waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Discovering Exoplanets Hidden in the Stellar Noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Non-Cosmology Science with the Euclid Observatory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

GAIA DR1: Contents, Access and Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Conversion of Magnetic-Field Energy and Energetic Particles in the Sun and Heliosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Transient Astronomy: The Technology and the Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Low-Surface-Brightness Astronomy: The New Era of Deep-Wide Galaxy Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Python in Astronomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

The Dynamics of Solar-Stellar Atmospheres: Winds, Flares and CMEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

The Future of Astronomical Polarimetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Astronomical Concepts in Cultural Astronomy: Reviewing Approaches and O↵ering Experiences . . . . . . . . 42

The Dark Energy Survey: New Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Open session on Magnetospheric, Ionospheric and Solar-Terrestrial physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Generation and evolution of Solar and Stellar Magnetic Fields, and Implications for the Solar-Stellar Connection 52

Active Galactic Nuclei in the Local Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Galactic Chemical Evolution, Stars, and the Creation of Elements in the Big-Data Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Looking Forward to Cosmology in the Era of LSST and Euclid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Solar-System Exploration in the Era of Digital Sky Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Comparative Planetary Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Exploring the High-Redshift Universe with Current and Future Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Is the Sun in Transition? The Unusual Cycle 24, and Implications for the Solar-Stellar Connection . . . . . . . 84

Modern Morphologies: 10 Years of Galaxy Zoo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

The Magellanic Clouds: Exploring All Aspects of the Magellanic System Including its Link to the Milky Way . 92

Current Developments in Numerical Astrophysics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Latest Trends In Observing And Understanding The Dynamics Of The Solar Atmosphere: From MHD WavesTo Small-Scale Transients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Observational Studies of the Solar Corona: Results from Recent Missions and Eclipses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

AstroReach@NAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Galaxies in Di↵erent Environments: From Groups to Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Connecting Scales of Galactic Star Formation in Theory and Observation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Massive Stars as Cosmic Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

The Physical Processes Underlying Space Weather: Formation, Eruption and Propagation of Coronal MassEjections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Low-Frequency Astronomy with LOFAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

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Introducing the 25th RAS NationalAstronomy Meeting

Welcome

John Zarnecki

Welcome to Hull for NAM 2017. This is the first timethat NAM has been to Hull – it’s long overdue and we arevery pleased to be here. This meeting is well-establishedas part of the UK astronomy and geophysics calendar bynow, and has visited most parts of the UK and Ireland.The programme encompasses 32 parallel sessions broadlydivided into 6 themes. In addition there are special lunchsessions, public & school events and social events. I wouldparticularly like to encourage everyone to attend the com-munity session on Wednesday (13:30-15:00) where you willhave the chance to discuss some of the big issues in researchwith senior representatives from STFC and the UK SpaceAgency. NAM is a major undertaking – and many peo-ple throughout the RAS and the local institutions deserveour thanks for much hard work in the planning and im-plementation. From a personal point of view, I can saythat my first NAM as President was over-shadowed by theBrexit vote which occurred just days before the meeting.I am hoping for a less dramatic national context this yearso that we can concentrate on astronomy and geophysicsonly! If you are not yet a member of the RAS, this is alsothe perfect opportunity to join us, and help us in our worksupporting conferences like this one, as well as making thewider case for astronomy and geophysics. Our sta↵ on theSociety registration desk will be pleased to advise and as-sist you in your application. I do hope you all find thescientific programme stimulating and informative , thatyou also benefit from the related activities, and you findsome time to explore Hull and its surroundings. Remem-ber that Hull is UK City of Culture this year so there isa vibrant programme of events taking place - I hope youhave a chance to sample some of them.

John Zarnecki, President of the Royal Astronomical Soci-ety

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Brad Gibson

Speaking on behalf of the entire E.A. Milne Centre forAstrophysics, it is a great pleasure for me to welcome youto the 25th National Astronomy Meeting (NAM2017). Es-tablished in 2015 with the generous support of the Uni-versity of Hull and Arthur Milne’s family, the Centre’s 23sta↵ and postgraduates now play a pivotal role in enablingScience, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)provision across the entire region. The city of Hull has ral-lied around the Milne Centre, embracing NAM2017 withinits spectacular UK City of Culture programme of o↵erings.We hope you have the chance to explore what is a beau-tiful city, blessed with some of the most stunning beachesin the country, alongside what we hope will be an excitingscientific meeting.

I would like to thank the members of the Milne Centreand many of our undergraduates, for contributing in count-less ways to the successful planning of NAM2017. This en-deavour simply could not have happened without you all.For organising the Schools’ Days, let me especially thankConnor Macrae, Phil Bell-Young, and Sheona Urquhart;for the conference book, posters, and badges, LawrenceBilton, Chris Jordan, Kevin Pimbblet, David Benoit, andConnor Macrae; for web page maintenance, Siri Chong-chitnan; for room bookings, Elke Roediger. Finally, andit is impossible for me to overstate or exaggerate this: or-ganising NAM2017 would have been an impossible taskwithout Gareth Few and Yjan Gordon, who oversaw andcoordinated essentially every aspect of the programme. Adeep and personal vote of thanks is sent to the both ofthem.

Brad Gibson, Director of the E.A. Milne Centre for Astro-physics

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E.A. Milne: A Humble Journey to Astrophysics

Edward Arthur MilneThe E.A. Milne Centre for Astrophysics is named in hon-our of the Hull-born physicist and mathematician EdwardArthur Milne. Milne was a truly prolific researcher; amongsthis many discoveries, the most groundbreaking were his in-sights into the inner structure and atmosphere of stars. Hiswork on cosmology also paved the way for the our modernunderstanding of the history and evolution of the Universe.Arthur, as he was known, also made a significant contributionduring the First World War, when he was part of a highlyskilled group of mathematicians who developed a techniquethat enabled anti-aircraft and naval guns to accurately tar-get Zeppelin bombers. The cutting-edge research continuesat the E.A. Milne Centre in his legacy.

The Life of Edward Arthur Milne

Arthur Milne was born in Hull to a modest family with deep Yorkshire roots. From Hymers College, where he had afree place, he won enough scholarships (five) to pay for his university education at Trinity College, Cambridge. He cameunder the influence of the mathematician GH Hardy, but in 1916, at the invitation of the Nobel polymath AV Hill, Milneabandoned his studies to develop a height-finding device, designed by Horace Darwin, for anti-aircraft gunnery. At HMSExcellent in Portsmouth, Hill’s team transformed gunnery by taking a scientific approach and Milne was commissioneda Lieutenant, RNVR. (The Army had rejected him for poor eyesight.)

Ballistics unlocked Milne’s mathematical originality. He quantified the behaviour of winds in the upper atmosphere,essential for high-angle shells; he corrected faulty formulae; he refined the mathematics of sound for huge listeningtrumpets that located enemy aircraft at night; he hung out of flimsy planes to obtain meteorological data.

After the Armistice his outstanding analyses took him back to Cambridge as a Fellow – a rare feat without anundergraduate degree. He came into the orbit of JJ Thomson, E Rutherford, FWAston, PMS Blackett and the astronomerHF Newall, who, aware of Milne’s investigation of the Earth’s atmosphere, suggested he tackle stellar atmospheres.Although a novice to astronomy, his rapid succession of fundamental papers cemented his reputation in astrophysics. Thespectroscopic method he and RH Fowler devised for finding stellar temperatures and pressures was adopted worldwide.At the age of 30, by then Beyer professor at Manchester, Milne became a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1941 the Societyawarded him a Gold Medal.

When Milne moved to Oxford in January 1929, to the Rouse Ball chair, he was appalled by the University’s marginal-isation of science. Energetically he set about improvements - and was not afraid to court controversy there and onother fronts. Bolstered by a happy summer with American astronomers at Ann Arbor, Michigan, he attacked Eddingtonover his mass/luminosity relationship. Their verbal jousting at Royal Astronomical Society meetings attracted an eageraudience. Milne loved the cut and thrust of debate whereas Edington scored on paper. Ten years would elapse beforethe ‘carbon cycle’ explanation of the source of stellar energy settled the notorious contretemps about stellar structure inEddington’s favour.

At Oxford Milne built up astrophysics and Rhodes Scholars sought him. Graduate students appreciated the weeklycolloquia he had introduced, then an innovation, with speakers as illustrious as A Einstein and E Hubble. S Chan-drasekhar, a lifetime friend, visited regularly. HH Plaskett at the Observatory complemented Milne, the theoretician,and together they established a world centre of cosmic studies. From 1937 to 1939 Milne was President of the LondonMathematical Society and in 1935 the Royal Astronomical Society honoured him with a Gold medal. Later from 1943 to1945 he was the Royal Astronomical Society’s President.

A gloomy remark from JH Jeans provoked Milne to postulate his Kinematic Relativity, based on Time, and it seemeda plausible alternative to Einstein’s General Theory based on Space. But Milne was mocked for using light signals tomeasure distance. This foreshadowed radar, yet has not been adequately recognised, according to H Bondi. As R Penrosenotes in the Introduction to my biography we define distance today in terms of time. Milne’s fascination with the conceptof Time led him to suggest the strange notion that two scales operate in the Universe. Consequently ‘constants’ ofnature vary over the ages, a thesis expanded by JBS Haldane. Milne’s bold powerful unorthodox ideas underpinned byhis Christianity frequently aroused criticism, yet even his adversaries admired his ingenuity. In general his work was

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received better outside Britain and, as well as lecturing abroad, he spent three months in 1932 with EF Freundlich atthe Einsteinturm in Potsdam.

During World War II he worked for the Ordnance Board on ballistics, living in south London throughout the Blitz.His speciality was on the penetration of armour plating encasing tanks and warships. In 1944 a VI rocket (Doodlebug)demolished his house. He resumed academic life at Oxford while continuing part-time to advise on defence matters.

In later years Milne was stricken with debilitating Parkinsonism, the result of encephalitis lethargica he had as ayoung man, but he refused to slacken his pace. He died from heart failure, aged 54, in Dublin at a Royal AstronomicalSociety conference.

By Meg Weston Smith (Milne’s daughter)

Author of:

Beating the Odds. The Life and Times of EA Milne Imperial College Press 2013

“EA Milne and the Creation of Air Defence” in Notes and Records of the Royal Society 1990

“EA Milne: a nova of the inter-war years” in Astronomy Now July 2005

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Social Events

Social events at NAM2017 will include:

• Welcome Reception - Sunday 2nd @ 18:00 - Canham Turner Building

• Public Talk by Chris Lintott - Monday 3rd @ 19:00 - Middleton Hall (Drinks reception before at 18:00, supportedby Winton)

• 5-a-side football - Tuesday 4th @ 18:00 - University sports ground

• BBQ - Tuesday 4th @ 19:00 - Canham Turner Building

• Pre-Conference Dinner drinks - Wednesday 5th @ 18:45 - Mercure Hull Grange Park Willerby

• Conference Dinner & RAS Awards Ceremony:

The conference dinner will take place at 19:30 on Wednesday the 5th July.

The venue is the Hull Grange Park Mercure hotel, located approximately 5 miles from campus, and a shuttle busservice will be provided. As well as being an excellent opportunity to unwind and socialise on the last evening of theconference, the RAS awards presentation will take place during the dinner.

This event will be hosted by the brilliant impressionist Jon Culshaw, who is also an astronomy enthusiast.

Provisional Menu:

Starter: Prawn and crayfish cocktail, bloody mary sauce, rustic bread OR Crispy breaded brie, pear and walnut salad,cranberry relish (vegetarian)

Main: Slow-cooked brisket of beef, local ale, caramelised onion gravy OR Roasted Mediterranean vegetable and goat’scheese Wellington, basil cream sauce (vegetarian)

Dessert: Baked vanilla New York cheesecake, blackberry and apple compote

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Getting Around Hull Campus

Here you will find custom maps to the locations of all the parallel and plenary sessions, the hack day etc., along withwhere to find locations for lunches and co↵ee breaks around the campus.

Campus Map

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Wilberforce Building

The Wilberforce building will primarily be used for parallel sessions and the hack day. Room locations are spread betweenthe ground and first floor.

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Larkin Building (with Middleton Hall)

The Larkin building will also primarily be used for the parallel sessions. The Larkin building is also adjacent to MiddletonHall, where the plenary talks will be held for each day of the conference.

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Local Information

On-Campus

It’s been a long day and you want to grab some food on campus. The on-campus facilities include a Spar supermarket,and the Sanctuary bar (‘Sanc’) serving food and drinks. These are located in ’University House’ and will be open thefollowing hours throughout the conference:

Sunday 2nd July Shop CLOSED Bar 19:00 - Midnight, serving drinks

Monday 3rd July Shop 08:30 - 20:00 Bar 09:00 - Midnight, serving food till 19:00 and drinks all night.

Tuesday 4th July Shop 08:30 - 20:00 Bar 09:00 - Midnight, serving food till 15:00 and drinks all night.

Wednesday 5th July Shop 08:30 - 17:00 Bar 08:30 - Midnight, serving food till 15:00 and drinks all night.

Thursday 6th July Shop 08:30 - 17:00 Bar 09:00 - 16:00, serving food till 15:00 and drinks till close.

There are two cash machines located outside of the Students Union Building. There is no charge for making standardcash withdrawals. There is an emergency call number on the side of the cash machine should any problems occur.

Beverage and snack outlets on campus are as follows:Cafe Opening TimesThe Art’s Cafe Mon/Fri: 8am-6pmFoss Cafe Mon/Fri: 8:30am-2:30pmDerwent Cafe Mon/Thurs 8:30am-5pmLibrary Cafe Mon/Fri 8:30am-9:30pmZucchini’s Mon/Fri 8:30am-4:30pm

The university has a sports centre with the capacity to host variety of activities such as badminton and squash as wellas a host of turn up and play sessions ran by our Sports Development team. This will be open Mon-Thurs (7am-10pm).

Buses are available to the city centre, running frequently from the location shown on the map. The 103 or 105 bus willtake you to the Hull Paragon Interchange and will cost approximately £2.00 for a single fare or £3.50 for a day rider.Alternatively should you wish to book a taxi, Ride (previously 57 & 65 Cars), is the nearest depot and can be called on01482 575757 for pickup.

O↵-Campus Pubs

In general you will find many pubs/restaurants to be reasonably priced in Hull. Main courses for meals are typically⇠£15 and wine/beer £3.50 per pint/glass. Below are a list of local favourites.

• Immediately across the road from the campus is the The Old Grey Mare, which o↵ers a small selection of food anddrink.

• A five minute walk along Cottingham road from the university is The Gardener?s Arms. This lively pub usuallyserves both Hull locals, and the student population. There is always a good selection of beer (with cheap prices),and a sports bar to the rear with pool tables etc.

• Located on Newland Avenue, around 15 minutes walk from campus, the Boathouse has a good selection of cocktails,craft beers, and excellent burgers.

• Also on Newland Avenue, The People’s Republic has a very retro feel, complete with an arcade games table(featuring the likes of Pac-Man, Galaga etc.). There is a large selection of great tasting beer, both bottles anddraught, in the mid-expensive price range (£3-6, depending on your choice).

• Xander’s can also be found on Newland Avenue. Its menu consists of traditional pub food, and there is a goodselection of beers available. The food is slightly more expensive than that of an average pub, but is worth the price.

• Newland Avenue is not short of options for a drink as Larkin’s, named after famous honourary Hullensian PhilipLarkin, is also located here. Larkin’s serves both good English pub food, and has a good selection of various typesof beer. Typically a main course would be no more than £10, and the portion size is enough to satisfy any customer.

• Situated in the Old Town district of Hull’s city centre, the Lion and Key is a small but cosy pub. While the pricesmay be slightly higher than most places, they o↵er a good selection of beers and whiskies.

• Alongside the river Humber sits the Minerva pub. This classical pub serves excellent food, and has a wide varietyof beer/gin to choose from. To accommodate trying all the di↵erent beers, a ‘flight’ would be recommended (which

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gives 3 1/3 pint glasses of whichever beers you choose). Outside seating provides views of the Humber with whichyou can enjoy your food/drink.

Public Transport

For those accommodated at Thwaite Hall, transport to the university campus is best down via the 103 or 105 bus. Forlive bus times please see https://www.eyms.co.uk/bus-services/find-my-bus, or view the following timetables.

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https://www.eyms.co.uk/bus-services/find-my-bus

Conference Timetable

In your lanyard, you have been provided a handy timetable for the conference, however, below you will find a full listedtimetable for the 5 days.

Sunday

15:00-19:30 Registration18:00-19:30 onwards Welcome reception (Canham Turner)

Monday

09:00-10:30 Parallel SessionsEarlyUni (Wilberforce LT-28)Exoplanets (Larkin LT-D)NonCosEuclid (Wilberforce LT-2)GAIA DR1 (Larkin LT-C)MagField (Wilberforce LT-1)TransAstro (Wilberforce LT-12)

10:30-11:00 Co↵ee11:00-12:00 Plenary – A Solar Revolution - Scott McIntosh (Middleton Hall)12:00-13:30 Lunch (University House)

Careers lunch (Kingsley Suite)13:30-15:00 Parallel Sessions

GAIA DR1 (Larkin LT-C)LowSurfBright (Wilberforce LT-28)MagField (Wilberforce LT-1)PyAstro (Wilberforce LT-27)SolWind (Wilberforce LT-2)TransAstro (Wilberforce LT-12)

15:00-15:30 Co↵ee15:30-16:30 Plenary – It’s Not to be Swept Under the Rug: Dust in the Interstellar Medium

- Jean Chiar (Middleton Hall)16:30-18:00 Parallel Sessions

AstroPolar (Larkin LT-D)CultAstro (Larkin LT-A)DarkEnergy (Larkin LT-C)LowSurfBright (Wilberforce LT-28)MIST (Wilberforce LT-12)PyAstro (Wilberforce LT-27)SolMag (Wilberforce LT-1)SolWind (Wilberforce LT-2)

18:00-18:30 Pre-talk drinks reception (Middleton Arts Cafe)19:00-19:30 onwards Public Talk – Galaxy Zoo from Penguins to Peas: How a million people explored

the Universe together - Chris Lintott (Middleton Hall)

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Tuesday

09:00-10:30 Parallel SessionsAGNsLocal (Wilberforce LT-28)GalChem (Larkin LT-D)LSScosmology (Wilberforce LT-2)MIST (Wilberforce LT-12)SolMag (Wilberforce LT-1)SolSys (Larkin LT-C)

10:30-11:00 Co↵ee11:00-12:00 Plenary – Galactic Archaeology: Mapping the Chemistry and Dynamics of the

Milky Way - Christina Chiappini (Middleton Hall)12:00-13:30 Lunch (University House)

MIST Lunch (Brynmor Jones Library)13:30-15:00 Parallel Sessions

AGNsLocal (Wilberforce LT-28)CompPlan (Wilberforce LT-27)GalChem (Larkin LT-D)HighRed (Wilberforce LT-1)LSScosmology (Wilberforce LT-2)MIST (Wilberforce LT-12)SunTrans (Larkin LT-C)

15:00-15:30 Co↵ee15:30-16:30 Plenary – How Stars Form - Chris McKee (Middleton Hall)16:30-18:00 Parallel Sessions

CompPlan (Wilberforce LT-27)GalChem (Larkin LT-D)HighRed (Wilberforce LT-1)MIST (Wilberforce LT-12)ModMorph: Bars & Transitions (Wilberforce LT-28)SunTrans (Larkin LT-C)

18:00-20:30 5-a-side football (University Sports Ground)19:00-19:30 onwards Barbeque (Canham Turner)

Wednesday

09:00-18:00 Hack day (Wilberforce LR-17 & Wilberforce LR-20)09:00-10:30 Parallel Sessions

HighRed (Wilberforce LT-1)MagClouds (Wilberforce LT-15)MIST (Wilberforce LT-12)ModMorph: Properties and Technique (Wilberforce LT-28)NumAstro (Larkin LT-C)SolAtmos (Larkin LT-D)SolCorona (Larkin LT-A)

10:30-11:00 Co↵ee11:00-12:00 Plenary – Promoting Diversity and Sustainable Excellence in Science Careers

- Claartje Vinkenburg (Middleton Hall)12:00-13:30 Lunch (University House)

Diversity Lunch (Kingsley Suite)UKSP Special Lunch (Brynmor Jones Library)

13:30-15:00 Community Forum (Middleton Hall)RASSTFCUKSA

16:30-18:00 Special Interest GroupsPublishing Workshop (Wilberforce LR-12)Media Workshop (Wilberforce LR-29)

18:30 Bus pickup (The Courtyard/Thwaite Hall)18:45-19:30 Pre-dinner drinks19:30 onwards Conference dinner and RAS awards ceremony

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Thursday

09:00-10:30 Parallel SessionsAstroReach (Larkin LT-A)GalEnv (Wilberforce LT-1)GalStar (Wilberforce LT-15)MassiveStars (Wilberforce LT-28)NumAstro (Larkin LT-C)SolAtmos (Larkin LT-D)SpaceWeather (Wilberforce LT-27)

10:30-11:00 Co↵ee11:00-12:00 Plenary – Defying Gravity: Our Eruptive Sun - Lucie Green (Middleton Hall)12:00-13:30 Lunch (University House)

Education & Public Outreach Lunch (Kingsley Suite)13:30-15:00 Parallel Sessions

AstroReach (Larkin LT-A)GalEnv (Wilberforce LT-1)GalStar (Wilberforce LT-15)LOFAR (Larkin LT-C)MassiveStars (Wilberforce LT-28)SolAtmos (Larkin LT-D)SpaceWeather (Wilberforce LT-27)

15:00-15:30 Co↵ee15:30-16:30 Plenary – Tantalising Glimpses of the Dark Ages and Dark Matter from the

Earliest Galaxies - Pratika Dayal (Middleton Hall)16:30 End of meeting

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Plenary Talks

All Plenary talks will be hosted in Middleton Hall located towards the south side/mainentrance of the campus (Please see the Larkin floor plan under the Getting AroundHull Campus section for reference).

Plenary I: A Solar Revolution

Scott McIntosh - Mon 3 July 11:00 - 12:00

To many (citizens and astronomers alike) the Sun is a boring star. It’s taken for granted, despite providing the energyrequired to fuel our existence. In a time of increasing dependence on space-based technology, and the impending increaseof human exploration in the solar system, we need to understand our star better than ever before. Despite centuries ofobservation it often seems like there are more answers than questions about the Sun, what makes it tick, and go boom!Over the past five years we may just have found the cypher, the Rosetta Stone, to decode the Sun’s magnetic activity.This Rosetta Stone potentially upsets our ability to understand stellar activity in any simple way - the Sun is a guideto the stars. Beyond giving insight into the (past and future) climatology of our star’s atmosphere, we start to gainphysical insight into the processes responsible for ”space weather” phenomena like flares and coronal mass ejections -maybe they are not ”intrinsically unpredictable” after all! The source, the rotational energy and structure of the star’sinduced circulation.

Plenary II: It’s Not to be Swept Under the Rug: Dust in the InterstellarMedium

Jean Chiar - Mon 3 July 15:30 - 16:30

Interstellar dust grains - small sub-micron-sized particles that pollute the space between the stars - play an importantrole in the chemistry of the galaxy as well as the star and planet formation process. We glean most information aboutdust composition in the interstellar medium from infrared spectroscopy. The vibration of molecules making up the dustcause light from a background star to be absorbed at very specific frequencies in the infrared portion of the spectrum.Dust originates in the outflows of old stars and is composed mainly of silicate minerals and carbon particles. In starformation regions, the silicate grains are covered with icy mantles. I will give an overview of the nature of these dust andice components, with emphasis on our current understanding of the cosmic life cycle of these materials.

Plenary III: Galactic Archealogy: Mapping the Chemistry and Dynamicsof the Milky Way

Cristina Chiappini - Tue 4 July 11:00 - 12:00

Galactic Archeology (GA) is a coined term to the idea that the MW assembly history could be reconstructed by analysingthe chemical composition and kinematics of its stars. One of the main obstacles, that we finally start to overcome, is thelack of precise chemo-kinematical-age information for large samples of stars covering large portions of the Galaxy. We areslowly migrating from a situation were most of GA studies were confined to the tinny so-called Hipparcos volume ( 100pc around the Sun), towards larger chemo-kinematical maps of the MW. These studies have first extended the studiedvolume to 3 kpc around the Sun, with pioneer spectroscopic surveys such as RAVE and SEGUE (although with much

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less precision on stellar parameters and no age information), and are now reaching even farther distances ( 5-6 kpc) withsamples of APOGEE and LAMOST surveys. This was accompanied by spectroscopic and photometric surveys of theinner Galaxy (VVV, ARGOS, GIBs, GES). In this field the use of stellar abundance ratios as an indirect age estimatorhas been proved useful, but the lack of more precise ages still prevent us to answer some of the key questions aboutour Galaxy’s assembly, such as: what is the origin of the thick disk? which is the dominant process of the bulge/barformation? What is the impact of secular evolution, and ultimately, where was our Sun born? The answers to thesequestions require challenging modelling of star formation, stellar evolution (and initial mass function), gas accretion andmerger histories. It is now clear, that it is only in the MW that we will be able to constraint some of these key quantities(which will also impact our more general view of galaxy and bulge formation). This complexity imposes the search foreven tighter observational constraints to those models. In particular, I will highly some examples of new observationalconstraints coming from the combination of spectroscopic & photometry information with astrometry (from Gaia) andasteroseismology (from CoRoT, Kepler, K2 and the future Plato). These now produce multidimentional-complex datasets,which have already started to strongly modify the way we work in this field. I shall choose examples that illustrate howthis new information are leading to the emergence of important new concepts with respect to our Galaxy’s assembly andevolution.

Plenary IV: How Stars Form

Chris McKee - Tue 4 July 15:30 - 16:30

Stars are the atoms of the universe. The process by which stars form is at the nexus of astrophysics since they are believedto be responsible for the re-ionization of the universe, they created the heavy elements, they play a central role in theformation and evolution of galaxies, and their formation naturally leads to the formation of planets. Whereas early workon star formation was based on the assumption that it is a quiescent process, it is now believed that turbulence plays adominant role. In this overview, I shall discuss the evolution of our understanding of how stars form and current ideasabout the stellar initial mass function, the rate of star formation, the formation of massive stars, the role of magneticfields, and the formation of the first stars.

Plenary V: Promoting Diversity and Sustainable Excellence in Science Ca-reers

Supported by Nature Astronomy

Claartje Vinkenburg - Wed 5 July 11:00 - 12:00

While most support the idea of more diversity in science, many diversity e↵orts fail to achieve results or even backfire.This is especially evident in disciplines where (white) men are overrepresented at all levels and where there is a strongbelief in meritocracy and in raw talent as prerequisite for excellence. At the same time, the up-or-out career system inscience may soon hit its expiration date, with mediocrity and loss of talent as the price to pay for suboptimal selectiondecisions and an obsolete breadwinner or ”ideal scientist” career model. Similarly, workplaces that can be characterizedas ”masculinity contests” tend to reproduce exclusionary mechanisms for those who do not (want to) fit the prototype.Diversity interventions often ignore the role of implicit and explicit favoritism in selection, performance evaluation, andpromotion. Based on my research at the ERC (on careers of applicants and on bias in panels) and at Delft University, Iwill present design specifications for interventions to promote diversity and sustainable excellence that engage gatekeepers,improve decision making, and mitigate bias.

Plenary VI: Defying Gravity: Our Eruptive Sun

Lucie Green - Thu 6 July 11:00 - 12:00

Our Sun is a dynamic star, exhibiting eruptive activity events known as coronal mass ejections. These ejections expelaround 1012 kg of magnetised plasma into the heliosphere, across a range of speeds from 100 s to 1000 s of km s�1, as theresult of a reconfiguration of the coronal magnetic field. The energy required to power a coronal mass ejection appears tobe built-up in the low plasma beta environment of the coronal magnetic field over days/weeks prior to the eruption, in anenergy storage and release process. This talk will look at the characteristics of coronal mass ejections, the 3-dimensionalmagnetic field configurations that are thought to be responsible for them and the physical processes that trigger anddrive these events. How the energy is built up and how coronal mass ejections are initiated will be discussed from boththe observational and theoretical perspectives.

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Plenary VII: Tantalising Glimpses of the Dark Ages and Dark Matter fromthe Earliest Galaxies

Pratika Dayal - Thu 6 July 15:30 - 16:30

Galaxy formation in the first billion years mark a time of great upheaval in the history of the Universe: as the firstsources of light, these galaxies ended the ’cosmic dark ages’ and produced the first photons that could break apart thehydrogen atoms su↵using all of space starting the process of cosmic reionization. As the earliest building blocks, theshapeless ellipticals galaxies that formed in the first billion years also determine the physical properties of all subsequentgalaxy populations. At the forefront of astronomical research, the past few years have seen cutting-edge instrumentsprovide tantalising glimpses of such galaxies chaotically assembling in an infant Universe. I will show how this data hasprovided an unprecedented opportunity to pin down the reionization state of the Universe (at least in its last stages),understand their physical properties, and study the key physics driving their formation and evolution. Finally, I will tryto give a flavour of how the assembly of early galaxies, accessible with the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope andthe associated reionization history, can provide a powerful testbed for Warm Dark Matter models.

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Science Events

As well as our core science programme we will be hosting an array of science workshops/forums. Please check our mapsto find the relevant locations these are being held.

Hack Day

Supported by Winton

Wednesday 5th July 2017 (Wilberforce LR-17 & LR-20)

Following in the NAM tradition, the coding hack day is back for NAM 2017.

Hosted by the OpenAstronomy group (http://openastronomy.org/), this is the perfect opportunity for participantsto get involved in some interesting projects, get help with coding and answers to any astronomy programming-relatedproblems.

The event is informal and designed for people to drop in and out between any parallel sessions they are going to.

In the morning, we will organise some groups to work on various astronomy projects (suggested by you guys or our team).People can work on these problems in their own time throughout the day.

Even if you don’t have any coding experience, please feel free to join us to see what tools are available for you to usein your work. And remember, coding is anything from LaTeX to Python to C++ and can involve any kind of software,hardware and data we can get hold of.

We will provide you with a room and internet connection, just bring down your laptop (and power cable) and join.

In preparation for the event, we are compiling a list of project ideas and the skills on o↵er, if you have a project ideaor want to o↵er your skills to help others then please visit our wiki: https://github.com/OpenAstronomy/nam2017_

hackday/wiki

We will be providing:

• Wireless internet connection

• Power sockets

• Co↵ee supply (with biscuits, while stocks last)

• Projector

• White board

• Small telescopes

• CCD Sensor

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http://openastronomy.org/

https://github.com/OpenAstronomy/nam2017_hackday/wiki

https://github.com/OpenAstronomy/nam2017_hackday/wiki

https://academic.oup.com/mnras

Getting Your Paper Published:

a Workshop for Authors

4:30pm—6pm

Wednesday 5th July

Wilberforce LR-12

Aimed at early career researchers, the course will be run by MNRAS Editor-in-Chief, journal staff and our-publishers OUP, and will cover the following:

How to write a good paper MNRAS submission process How long the review process takes & how it works Responding to referee reports How to be a referee Ethical issues Publishing developments

No need to book, just turn up on the day!

Community Forum

The RAS, STFC and UK Space Agency will provide updates on their current activities, followed by a Q&A session withdelegates.

This session will take place on Wednesday 5th July, at 1.30PM, Middleton Hall.

Media Workshop

Press o�ce contacts:

• Anita HewardRoyal Astronomical [email protected]: +44 (0)7756 034243

• Robert MasseyRoyal Astronomical SocietyMob: +44 (0)7802 [email protected]

• Morgan HollisRoyal Astronomical [email protected]

Special Lunches

There are a number of special lunches delagates may have registered to attend. They are listed below:

• Careers Lunch (Monday 3rd July; floor 7, Brynmor Jones library)This session will give PhD students and postdocs valuable advice on how to survive and thrive in academia andin the wider economy. We will have a speaker from industry, looking to employ PhD graduates; an early careerresearcher will discuss how to pursue a career in academia, and an outreach specialist will talk about the growingopportunities in public engagement. Come along to find out where your career might take you, and what you needto do to make your ambition a reality.

• MIST Business Lunch (Tuesday 4th July; floor7, Brynmor Jones library)Special lunch organized for the Magnetospheric, Ionospheric and Solar-Terrestrial physics group.

• UKSP Lunch (Wednesday 5th July; LT D, Larkin building) Business lunch organized for the UK SolarPhysics community.

• Diversity Lunch (Wednesday 5th July; floor 7, Brynmor Jones library)The RAS is committed to tackling diversity issues. In this session, chaired by Dr Sheila Kanani, Education, Outreachand Diversity o�cer at the RAS, we will give an update on RAS diversity and equality, and will demonstrate howthe society is working with other groups to encourage people of all backgrounds to pursue study and careers inastronomy, space science and geophysics. Speakers include the National Autistic Society and astronomer RobertBurston who has Asperger’s Syndrome, and will present his talk on Autism & Genius (abstract below).

Autism and Genius: Darwin, Einstein, Dirac

Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac are arguably three of the most influential people that have everlived. They have a↵ected not only our theoretical understanding of the universe and our place in it, but our industry,technology, societies and culture across the globe. This talk aims to briefly examine what these e↵ects have been,within and beyond the framework of academic science, before exploring a new, radical, explanatory and sometimesamusing theory of the characters of these intellectual giants: Autism.

It has been suggested that Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Paul Dirac each had some form of autism. Thestrength of the evidence in favour of these diagnoses and to what extent autistic traits informed the working methods

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and therefore the scientific achievements of all three is assessed. The talk then goes on to discuss the challengescontemporary autistic scientists face because of the prevailing culture within UK academic science, particularly inrelation to job selection criteria, funding criteria and day-to-day working environments. It is conjectured that someof the most capable and influential scientists in history would have failed under the prevailing UK academic system.

Learn the amusing tales of how Darwin decided whether or not to get married, when a search party was called outto find Einstein and how Dirac handled people who didn’t understand his equations. Also learn how autism haschanged the world.

• Education & Public Outreach Lunch (Thursday 6th July; floor 7, Brynmor Jones library)Join the Education and Outreach team at the RAS for informal networking on topics of interest in astronomy andgeophysics outreach, with di↵erent table discussions led by experts in their education and outreach area.

Each table session will be approximately 8 minutes then an alarm will sound and participants will be asked movearound the room in order to talk to people in as many areas of astronomy and geophysics outreach as possible.

Table heads and their areas of outreach are listed below, so come along with specific questions or just to chat tothem about astronomy and geophysics outreach!

Sarah Jenkins (Jenesys Associates) - evaluation

Liz Avery (ROG) – presenting to the public

Helen Mason (DAMPT, Cambridge) - astronomy outreach and art

Marek Kukula (ROG) - public astronomy

Becky Parker (IRIS) - schools outreach

Paul Denton (BGS) - geophysics outreach

Jeremy Curtis - UKSA outreach plans

Robert Massey & Sheila Kanani - RAS outreach

Neville Hollingsworth - STFC outreach

Hannah Renshall - IOP outreach

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Parallel Sessions

The key science themes are discussed within parallel sessions that are being hosted by the E.A. Milne Centre at theUniversity of Hull. The abstracts for each session (both talks and posters) may be found here. Detailed below are thesessions running throughout the week and their respective locations.

Monday 3 July 09:00 - 10:30

Early Universe Cosmology and Gravitational Waves (Wilberforce LT-28)

Discovering Exoplanets Hidden in the Stellar Noise (Larkin LT-D)

Non-Cosmology Science with the Euclid Observatory (Wilberforce LT-2)

GAIA DR1: Contents, Access and Use -Session 1 (Larkin LT-C)

Conversion of Magnetic-Field Energy and Energetic Particles in the Sun and Heliosphere -Session 1(Wilberforce LT-1)

Transient Astronomy: The Technology and the Techniques - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-12)

Monday 3 July 13:30 - 15:00

GAIA DR1: Contents, Access and Use - Session 2 (Larkin LT-C)

Low-Surface-Brightness Astronomy: The New Era of Deep-Wide Galaxy Surveys - Session 1 (Wilber-force LT-28)

Conversion of Magnetic-Field Energy and Energetic Particles in the Sun and Heliosphere - Session2 (Wilberforce LT-1 )

Python in Astronomy - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-27)

The Dynamics of Solar-Stellar Atmospheres: Winds, Flares an CMEs - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-2)

Transient Astronomy: The Technology and the Techniques - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-12)

Monday 3 July 16:30 - 18:00

The Future of Astronomical Polarimetry (Larkin LT-D)

Astronomical Concepts in Cultural Astronomy: Reviewing Approaches and O↵ering Experiences(Larkin LT-A)

The Dark Energy Survey: New Results (Larkin LT-C)

Low-Surface-Brightness Astronomy: The New Era of Deep-Wide Galaxy Surveys - Session 2 (Wilber-force LT-28)

Open session on Magnetospheric, Ionospheric and Solar-Terrestrial physics - Session 1 (WilberforceLT-12)

Python in Astronomy - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-27)

Generation and evolution of Solar and Stellar Magnetic Fields, and Implications for the Solar-StellarConnection - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-1)

The Dynamics of Solar-Stellar Atmospheres: Winds, Flares an CMEs - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-2)

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Tuesday 4 July 09:00 - 10:30

Active Galactic Nuclei in the Local Universe - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-28)

Galactic Chemical Evolution, Stars, and the Creation of Elements in the Big-Data Era -Session 1(Larkin LT-D)

Looking Forward to Cosmology in the Era of LSST and Euclid - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-2)


Generation and evolution of Solar and Stellar Magnetic Fields, and Implications for the Solar-StellarConnection - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-1)

Solar-System Exploration in the Era of Digital Sky Surveys (Larkin LT-C)

Tuesday 4 July 13:30 - 15:00

Active Galactic Nuclei in the Local Universe - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-28)

Comparative Planetary Science - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-27)


Exploring the High-Redshift Universe with Current and Future Facilities - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-1)

Looking Forward to Cosmology in the Era of LSST and Euclid - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-2)


Is the Sun in Transition? The Unusual Cycle 24, and Implications for the Solar-Stellar Connection- Session 1 (Larkin LT-C)

Tuesday 4 July 16:30 - 18:00

Comparative Planetary Science - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-27)



Open session on Magnetospheric, Ionospheric and Solar-Terrestrial physics - Session 4

Modern Morphologies: 10 Years of Galaxy Zoo - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-28)

Is the Sun in Transition? The Unusual Cycle 24, and Implications for the Solar-Stellar Connection- Session 2 (Larkin LT-C)

Wednesday 5 July 09:00 - 10:30


The Magellanic Clouds: Exploring All Aspects of the Magellanic System Including its Link to theMilky Way (Wilberforce LR-1)


Modern Morphologies: 10 Years of Galaxy Zoo - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-28)

Current Developments in Numerical Astrophysics - Session 1 (Larkin LT-C)

Latest Trends In Observing And Understanding The Dynamics Of The Solar Atmosphere: FromMHD Waves To Small-Scale Transients -Session 1 (Larkin LT-D)

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Observational Studies of the Solar Corona: Results from Recent Missions and Eclipses (Larkin LT-A)

Thursday 6 July 09:00 - 10:30

AstroReach@NAM - Session 1 (Larkin LT-A)

Galaxies in Di↵erent Environments: From Groups to Clusters - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-1)

Connecting Scales of Galactic Star Formation in Theory and Observation - Session 1 (WilberforceLR-15)

Massive Stars as Cosmic Monsters - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-28)

Current Developments in Numerical Astrophysics - Session 2 (Larkin LT-C)


The Physical Processes Underlying Space Weather: Formation, Eruption and Propagation of CoronalMass Ejections - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-27)

Thursday 6 July 13:30 - 15:00

AstroReach@NAM - Session 2 (Larkin LT-A)

Galaxies in Di↵erent Environments: From Groups to Clusters - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-1)

Connecting Scales of Galactic Star Formation in Theory and Observation - Session 2 (WilberforceLR-15)

Low-Frequency Astronomy with LOFAR (Larkin LT-C)

Massive Stars as Cosmic Monsters - Session 1 (Wilberforce LT-28)


The Physical Processes Underlying Space Weather: Formation, Eruption and Propagation of CoronalMass Ejections - Session 2 (Wilberforce LT-27)

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national astronomy meeting 2017...introducing the 25th ras national astronomy meeting welcome john...

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