World astronomers to meet near Los Angeles marking int'l astronomy year
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www.chinaview.cn 2009-01-04 03:31:39

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- The American Astronomical Society (AAS) announced on Saturday that it will hold its 213th national meeting to mark the International Year of Astronomy.

The meeting is scheduled to begin in Long Beach, about 60 kilometers south of Los Angeles on Sunday, the announcement said.

More than 2,400 astronomers are scheduled to attend the meeting which will also bring together astronomers from around the world. Topics to be discussed include black holes, planets and astronomy in China, among other topics, at what is sometimes called the "Super Bowl of Astronomy," according to the announcement.

"The conference features the most elaborate participation by astronomers from China in AAS history," the announcement said. "The scientists, who will describe major telescope and space projects in China, include experts from five major Chinese institutes."

The AAS meeting will include the submission of more than 1,800 scientific papers, several prize lectures and a public policy address by the new Chief Scientist of Australia, astronomer Penny D. Sackett, said the announcement.

On the sideline of the meeting, a ceremony will be held to mark the start of U.S. celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Galileo's telescope, organizers said.

As part of the celebrations, light, traveling toward Earth from the Pleiades star cluster for the last four centuries, will be received at the Cincinnati Observatory, and a resulting signal, relayed to the meeting, will begin the event.

A dozen news conferences have been organized by the AAS during the conference, at which astronomers will discuss discoveries from telescopes on Earth and in space.