J.A. Rubiño talk "CMB 50 years later"

Since its discovery in 1964, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) has been one of the fundamental pillars on which modern cosmology is based.

The Advanced Severo Ochoa Fellow José Alberto Rubiño will give a public talk entitled "The cosmic microwave background 50 years later. From discovery to the detection of polarization B modes" on March 28th at the Universidad de La Laguna. The talk will be a historical review of the most significant milestones in the field. It will describe how the detailed observations of the CMB can be used to extract information about the initial conditions of our universe (inflation) and the global parameters that characterize it, with special emphasis on the energy content (dark matter and dark energy).

Among other experiments, the recent results of Planck satellite and the BICEP2 experiment will be reviewed, in the context of recent detection of B modes. Finally, he will discuss the observational perspectives for the study of CMB in the coming years.

Start date: 28 Mar, 2014 - 13:00
End date: 28 Mar, 2014 - 14:30
Location: Aula Magna Facultad de Física y Matemáticas, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife.
Organizer: Universidad de La Laguna

Seminar on the participation of the IAC in SDSS-IV

In the seminar "SDSS at the IAC. Ongoing SDSS-III science and SDSS-IV planning: APOGEE-2, eBOSS, MaNGA, TDSS and SPIDERS" Dr. C. Allende, Dr. I. Perez-Fournon & Dr. J. Falcon-Barroso will provide an overview of SDSS activities at the IAC, and current plans for participating in SDSS-IV (2014-2020).

Those plans include the participation in APOGEE-2, a project that will study the details of the assembly and growth of the Galaxy using observations from the 2.5m Sloan Foundation Telescope at Apache Point Obs. (APO) in New Mexico, U.S.A. (APOGEE -2 North) and the 2.5m Du Pont Telescope at Las Campanas Obs. in Chile (APOGEE -2 South). The Severo Ochoa program is partially supporting the participation of the IAC in APOGEE-2. The IAC is involved in the construction of the new spectrograph for APOGEE -2 South, essentially a copy of the original APOGEE spectrograph, with the Severo Ochoa program support focused on polishing of the folding mirrors #1 and #2 of the spectrograph, as well as with engineering support from the Technology division to assess the effectiveness of seismic protection measures under consideration.

Start date: 18 Mar, 2014 - 12:30
End date: 18 Mar, 2014 - 14:00
Location: Aula, IAC Headquarters, Tenerife.
Organizer: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Prof. Michel Mayor will visit IAC as member of the CAI

The monitoring of the IAC Severo Ochoa Program is undertaken by the IAC Steering Committee and by an External Advisory Board consisting of 5 senior international experts.

Prof. Michel Mayor (Geneva Observatory, Switzerland) is one of the members of this advisory board, as well as a member of the Research Advisory Committee (CAI) of the IAC. Prof. Mayor will be visiting the IAC the next Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March 2014, in the framework of the CAI meeting at the IAC.

According to the IAC Statutes, the CAI is an external consultative and advisory body to the Governing Board of the IAC for the guidance of its research and public outreach policy. It also analyzes the scientific and technological production of the Institute and its training capacity.

Members of this CAI are:
- Christoffel Waelkens (chair), Institute for Astronomy KU Leuven (Belgium ), exPresident of the International Scientific Committee of the Canarian Observatories.
- Andrea Dupree, Harvard Smithsonian CfA (USA), first woman president of the American Astronomical Society.
- Michel Mayor, Geneva Observatory (Switzerland), who discovered the first planet around a Sun-like star.
- Saku Tsuneta, Scientific Director of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Japan).
- Álvaro Giménez, Scientific Director of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Start date: 13 Mar, 2014
End date: 14 Mar, 2014
Location: Omega meeting room, IAC Headquarters, Tenerife.
Organizer: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Seminar on the ERC funding programme 2014 -2020

European Research Council (ERC) grants support individual researchers of any nationality and age who wish to pursue their frontier research. The ERC encourages in particular proposals that cross disciplinary boundaries, pioneering ideas that address new and emerging fields and applications that introduce unconventional, innovative approaches. ERC grants are awarded through open competition to projects headed by starting and established researchers - the sole criterion for selection is scientific excellence.

ERC grants are part of the European Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation. Last December the ERC published the new work programme containing the first ERC calls under Horizon 2020. To gain an overall view of the rules and possibilities, we cordially invite you for an ERC information session. The seminar will be chaired by Dr. José Manuel Fernández de la Labastida, Scientific Management Department, ERC Executive Agency.

For more information about the ERC, please visit: http://erc.europa.eu

Start date: 11 Feb, 2014 - 12:00
End date: 11 Feb, 2014 - 13:30
Location: Aula, IAC Headquarters, Tenerife.
Organizer: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Severo Ochoa Seminar: Gaia Mission.

Dr. Elena Pancino (Severo Ochoa visitor at the IAC) will chair a seminar on Gaia mission.
Gaia - the ESA cornerstone astrometric mission - was launched in December 2013, with the goal of censing the Milky Way population in a 6D space (positions and velocity) of 10^{^9} point-like obects, with errors 100-1000 times smaller than Hipparcos, with three color magnitudes and spectra as well. The scientific impact of its data will be large in many fields of astrophysics, from Galactic science, to Solar system objects, to stellar astrophysics, to galaxies and Quasars; from the distance ladder revision to fundamental physics. I will describe the mission concept, the scientific goals, and the present status of the mission, with special attention to the flux calibration of Gaia data.

For more information about the Gaia mission, please visit: Gaia website

Start date: 22 Apr, 2014 - 12:30
End date: 22 Apr, 2014 - 14:00
Location: Aula, IAC Headquarters, Tenerife.
Organizer: Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias