International Astronomical Union Commission 4 : Ephemerides Newsletter Nr. 11

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                International Astronomical Union

                   Commission 4: Ephemerides

            Newsletter No. 12          March 15, 2000
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12.0 Contents of this Newsletter : Designations of Stellar Companions

  12.1  Introduction

  12.2  Electronic Forum on Designations of Stellar Companions 

  12.3  IAU Symposium 200 at Potsdam : "Lunch Discussion" on 12 April

  12.4  IAU Multi-Commission Meeting : "Designations of Stellar Companions"

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  12.1  Introduction

  This Newsletter provides information about the present and upcoming
  activity about the Designations of Stellar Companions, culminating
  with a Joint Discussion to be held at the upcoming IAU General
  Assembly in Manchester, UK, August, 2000.  

  The Joint Discussion is sponsored by Commission 5 (Documentation and
  Astronomical Data) and is co-sponsored by our Commission along with
  Commissions 8 (Positional Astronomy), 24 (Photographic Astrometry),
  26 (Double and Multiple Stars), 30 (Radial Velocities), 40 (Radio
  Astronomy), and 45 (Stellar Classification).   


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  12.2  Electronic Forum on Designations of Stellar Companions 

             http://aries.usno.navy.mil/ad/wds/iaumcm.html

  Contact hdickel@nfra.nl if you wish to be included on the Forum exploder.


  There are 4 contending proposals for designating stellar companions
  being discussed:  

     KoMa
     modified-WDS
     Urban/Corbin
     non-hierarchical

  Descriptions of these proposals are under "Supplementary Documents."

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  12.3  IAU Symposium 200 at Potsdam : "Lunch Discussion" on 12 April

   "New IAU Concepts of Binary/Multiple Star Designation"

    will be presented and discussed during a lunch session on Wed. April 12  
    during the IAU Symposium 200 on the Formation of Binary Stars in Potsdam.

    An illustration of current nomenclature for binary stars and
    the proposed designations for the first 3 schemes are included in the
    Abstract/Figure  of the IAU Symp. 200 presentation which is available
    on the Forum home page under "Official IAU Forum Planning Documents'" 
    For the non-hierarchical proposal,  please see "Supplementary Documents".

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  12.4  IAU Multi-Commission Meeting : "Designations of Stellar Companions"

    This all-day meeting is Friday August 11 at the IAU General Assembly.
    The primary sponsors are IAU Commission 5 and 26 with support from
    Commissions 4, 8, 24, 30, 40, and 45 and Divisions I, III, IV, and X.
    [Most of the speakers have been contacted, we await a couple replies.]
 
	PROGRAM OF THE MULTI-COMMISSION MEETING  

	4 sessions 1.5 hours each  Friday Aug 11
	Presentations in the morning - 20 min to <30min each x 6 ~ 3 hours
	The talks are numbered 1 through 6
	Panel Discussion in the afternoon (with audience participation)
	Panel comprised of the speakers
	   on Designation Schemes in the afternoon - 1.5 hours
	   on IAU Resolution and future plans - open to all - 30 min
	Further deliberations by SOC - 60 min 

    i.   	Introduction - <=30 minutes 

           1.	Overview - includes	
	
		statement of the problem 
		presentation of the 2 or 3 best candidate solutions
		presentation of an initial "IAU resolution"

   ii.   	Pros and Cons presented from the major groups 
	(with their different observing techniques)

           2.	Visual Binaries

        (mostly) Spatially unresolved systems

           3.	Stellar Companions  

	2 speakers - 1 re astrometry,  1 re radial velocities

	COFFEE BREAK

           4. 	Extrasolar Planets, 

           5.	Pulsar companions (stars and planets)

          6a. 	Current and future Space Missions 

          6b.	Databases and Search Capabilities

	LUNCH BREAK

   iii.	Panel Discussion of Designation Schemes - lead by the speakers
	to narrow down the possibilities to 1? 
	with audience participation encouraged    	
	
	TEA BREAK

   iv.	Open Discussion of Resolution and Future Plans
	followed by further deliberations by the SOC

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Commission 4 President                 Commission 4 Vice President

E Myles Standish Jr                    Jean Chapront
301-150                                Observatoire de Paris - DANOF
Jet Propulsion Laboratory              61, Avenue de l'Observatoire
Pasadena, CA 91109   USA               F-75014 Paris, FRANCE
Tel: 1 818 354 3959                    Tel: 33 01 40 51 22 27
Fax: 1 818 393 6388                    Fax: 33 01 40 51 22 91
ems@smyles.jpl.nasa.gov                jean.chapront@obspm.fr
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     IAU Homepage              : http://www.iau.org/
     IAU Division I Homepage   : http://aries.usno.navy.mil/ad/iau.html
     IAU Commission 4 Homepage : http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/iau-comm4/
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