Astrophysical issues to be explored by researchers from Texas and Mexico during UT Austin conference

By McDonald Observatory

March 28, 2000

AUSTIN, Texas: The Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin will host the Seventh Texas–Mexico Conference on Astrophysics, April 6–8, 2000. The biennial meeting brings together professional astronomers and astrophysicists and graduate students from several institutions in the greater Texas–Mexico region to discuss current astrophysical problems and present their own research in various disciplines of astronomy and astrophysics.

“The conference provides the opportunity for researchers and students to discuss topics of mutual interest. These are neighborhood meetings, but they have an international flavor,” said Dr. Greg Shields, the Jane and Roland Blumberg Centennial Professor in Astronomy at the University of Texas and chair of the scientific organizing committee. He added that the first conference by this group was held in 1986.

Although this year’s conference theme—Flows, Blows, and Glows—highlights the series’ traditional emphasis on nebular and interstellar studies, the meeting includes a wider range of topics. Over the three-day event, six topics will be presented: ionized nebulae, interstellar medium and star formation, cosmology and the evolution of the galaxies, active galactic nuclei and black holes, supernovae and gamma-ray bursts, and stars.

The sessions consist of invited talks of 30–40 minutes, contributed talks of 15–20 minutes, and poster presentations. Proceedings will be published in Revista Mexicana de Astronomia y Astrofisica. In addition to Shields, the scientific organizing committee comprises Dr. Reggie Dufour, Rice University; Drs. Manuel Peimbert and Silvia Torres-Peimbert, National Autonomous University (Mexico); and Drs. Paul Shapiro and Craig Wheeler, University of Texas. The local organizing committee, chaired by Dr. Cecilia Colomé, includes Shields and Yancy Shirley.