================================================================================ Current and Future Pulsar Science with the Arecibo Telescope A Y2K Workshop at Arecibo - March 12-14 2000 Second Announcement - Travel, Accomodation & Program ================================================================================ Dear Colleague, Thanks to a good response to the first announcement, we are now batting on with plans for the workshop at the Observatory on March 12-14 2000. At least 21 people intend to come and, together with local participants, we are expecting around 30 people for the sessions which will be held at the Observatory's Visitor Center Auditorium. This mail gives information concerning the accomodation plans, as well as a preliminary talk program. We intend to be as flexible as possible with the program, so please feel free to email dunc@naic.edu with comments and suggestions for improvement that you may have. As you will see, there are some free slots in the program. So if you have any sudden urges to give a talk, don't suppress them - please let us know and we'll try and slot you in. This (hopefully) penultimate announcement is being sent to you now so that you can go ahead and start making your travel plans! The final announcement will include the full scientific program and will let you know what the nominal meeting fee to cover administrative overheads, meals etc will be. Presently, we expect this to be around US $50-75 per participant payable on arrival. On behalf of all of us at the observatory, we look forward to welcoming you to Puerto Rico for this workshop which we hope will be scientfically rewarding for all concerned. with best wishes Dunc Lorimer. ************************FIRST***THE***IMPORTANT***STUFF************************* In order for us to go ahead with the arrangements, please read the following and send a short email to dunc@naic.edu telling us: - that you'll DEFINITELY will/won't be coming (hopefully the former) - when you plan to arrive (flight numbers if possible) and when you leave! - whether you will require transportation from airport to the observatory (N.B. this is only possible before 3:30 pm on Friday Mar 10; see below) - whether you will need a map if you plan to hire a car - any other comments (talk title, room-mate worries etc etc) ******************************************************************************** PRELIMINARY SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM Sun 12 March 2000 Morning: arrival at the observatory Afternoon: Either (a) tours of the observatory (for those who wish) Or.... (b) discussion meeting for pulsar timers Or.... (c) body surfing down at the beach Evening: BBQ at the Observatory Pool Mon 13 March 2000 0900-0920 Welcome Recent AO Observational Results I (Chair: Fernando Camilo) 0920-0940 Alex Wolszczan - Search and timing results with the PSPM 0940-1000 free slot --- any takers?? 1000-1020 Maura McLaughlin - TBA 1020-1040 Frederick Jenet - TBA 1040-1100 Coffee Recent AO Observational Results II (Chair: Vicky Kaspi) 1100-1120 David Nice - Does coherent timing measure up? 1120-1140 Eric Splaver/Andrea Somer - MkIV/ABPP timing 1140-1200 Ingrid Stairs - Geodetic Precession in PSR B1534+12 (TBC) 1200-1220 free slot --- any takers?? 1220-1400 Lunch Single pulses - theory and observations (Chair: Zaven Arzoumanian) 1400-1420 Jan Gil - Coherent pulsar radio emission 1420-1440 Mark McKinnon - Sign-changing circular polarization in single pulses 1440-1500 free slot --- any takers?? 1500-1530 Coffee Results from other observatories I (Chair: Andrea Somer) 1530-1550 Jean-Francois Lestrade - Systematic flux monitoring of PSR J1643-1224 1550-1610 Barney Ricket - cm-wave ISS observations 1610-1630 Dipanjan Mitra - Pulsar Scattering from the Gum Nebula 1630-1650 Joseph Lazio - Low-Frequency Detection and Observations of Pulsars Evening: Dinner at one of Arecibo's fashionable local restaurants Tue 14 March 2000 Results from other observatories II (Chair: Joe Lazio) 0900-0920 Paulo Freire - Timing millisecond pulsars in 47 Tucanae 0920-0940 Nichi D'Amico - TBC 0940-1000 Vicky Kaspi - TBC 1000-1020 Boe Lewandowski - TBA 1020-1040 free slot --- any takers? 1040-1100 Coffee Present Pulsar observing at AO (Chair: Maura McLaughlin) 1100-1120 Dunc Lorimer - overview of pulsar observing at AO 1120-1140 Andy Dowd - The WAPP : Arecibo's new wide-band pulsar machine 1140-1230 What features present/potential users would like to see (discussion!) 1230-1400 Lunch Future Pulsar observing at AO (Chair: Eric Splaver) 1400-1430 Future Projects: A multibeam survey 1430-1500 Future Projects: Pulsar VLBI 1500-1530 Coffee 1530-1700 Discussion on future instrumentation priorities (Chair: ????) GETTING HERE The international Airport in San Juan serves all major US airlines, as well as direct flights from/to Europe from KLM and British Airways. The observatory is situated some 55 miles (88 km) west of the airport and is nowadays easily accessible via the Autopista Route 22. We plan to enlist the help of the observatory's famous driver, Dimas Alvarez, who will be able to make some trips to San Juan up to FRIDAY March 10 to pick people up from the airport and bring them to Arecibo. As you can imagine, trying to coordinate this so that young Dimas does not spend too much time on the roads is a problem and we cannot guarantee that you'll be picked up. Participants arriving AFTER 3:30 pm on Friday March 10 will *have to* make their own arrangements since, unlike astronomers, Dimas doesn't work on weekends. As we receive your airport TOAs, we shall endeavour to pick up as many people that wish to be picked up and put you in touch with fellow participants who are arriving at similar times if you wish to share transportation. If you have to (or prefer to) go it alone, here are some top tips: - Hire a car for the duration of your stay. This is particularly desirable if you plan some vacation in Puerto Rico since the island is best explored by car. Detailed instructions on getting to the observatory from the airport are available on request (dunc@naic.edu). - Get a taxi from the airport to Arecibo. This costs around US $80-100. There's a taxi rank as you come out of the arrivals door of the airport. Here you can arrange a price, but be sure to tell the driver that you want to go to the Arecibo observatory, rather than the town of Arecibo. I forgot this once and was stung an extra $20! ACCOMODATION AND LIST OF PARTICIPANTS All accomodation below has been booked for nights of Mar 10,11,12,13,14. Accomodation should be possible for *most* of the people that expressed a preference for staying at the observatory. As mentioned earlier, we have only limited space on site and thus worked on a first-come-first-served basis. The following is a list of names and room sharing that we have come up with. We can't presently guarantee that this is a final list, since some rooms at the observatory may be taken by visiting observers. I have made provisional bookings for the following people to stay on-site: (ties "--" denote room sharing) David Kaplan--Eric Splaver, David Nice--Joseph Lazio, Maura McLaughlin--Andrea Somer--Ingrid Stairs (3-birth family unit), Dipanjan Mitra--Janusz Gil, Fernando Camilo--Zaven Arzoumanian, Frederick Jenet--Bryan Jacoby, Alex Wolszczan The following participants will be booked into El Buen Cafe: Jean-Francois Lestrade, Barney Rickett, Mark McKinnon, Nichi D'Amico, Paulo Freire--Boe Lewandowski, Jim Cordes, Don Backer Anybody wishing to change these arrangements should contact dunc@naic.edu and we'll try our very best to work something out. Finally, the following participants expressed an interest in attending. Please email me (dunc@naic.edu) ASAP to confirm/refute attendance... Vicky Kaspi, Aris Karastergiou, Ramach Ramachandran The following participants from the observatory itself are: Daniel Altshuler, Ramesh Bhat, Mike Davis, Andy Dowd, Dunc Lorimer, Snezana Stanimirovic, Chris Salter, plus other AO-staff and hangers-on... WHAT TO BRING - (APART FROM YOUR TALK!) March is one of the best months of the year for visiting Puerto Rico - the hurricanes and rainy seasons are normally a distant memory and the hot summer months are on the horizon. Snorkeling, (body) surfing and sunbathing at some of the nearby beaches are must-dos and those of you who have snorkeling gear are strongly recommended to pack it in your suitcase. Hiring gear is also possible at the local dive shop. Any scuba divers who would like to get together and do a dive trip are strongly recommended to contact dunc@naic.edu. Keen golfers may be interested to know about the municipal "links" course at Remy on the western tip of the island where you can play a round amongst the palm trees for around $50 (including club rentals). Anybody with vacation time on their hands is strongly recommended to spend a couple of days on the islands of Vieques and Culebra situated off the eastern tip of the mainland which offer peace and tranquility, no internet connection, magnificent sunsets and of course plenty of idyllic beaches. ================================================================================