Structuring European Astronomy

The objective of the activity is to identify needs and develop actions to structure the European astronomical community around several large projects.
The Extremely Large Telescopes working group will hold regular scientific meetings to develop the scientific goals and technological needs of a future extremely large telescope. The project will employ a scientist to co-ordinate this activity. The ultraviolet astronomy working group will attempt to structure a diverse European community and identify an agreed strategy for this community. The HTRA (High Time Resolution Astrophysics) activity will bring together the expertise of different teams which have so far developed HTRA independently to prepare reports on several aspects of astrophysical observations which require high time resolution. The interoperability working group will exchange ideas and develop protocols for the integration of large databases into an Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (AVO). The Key Technologies working group will identify future technology needs, look for opportunities which technology developments in other sectors provide for astronomy, encourage European collaborative technology development projects, and provide a forum for discussing potential routes for further development. The future software group will investigate a global overview of the needs for future data processing software developments and their integration into activities such as the AVO.

  • Extremely Large Telescopes (ELT)

  • Ultra-Violet Astronomy Network (NUVA)

  • High Time Resolution Astrophysics (HTRA)

  • Astrophysical VO

  • Key Technologies

  • Workshops & Roadmapping: The participants will map astronomical science
  • goals onto technologies already available and those requiring further development, and identify links to implementation paths and funding sources. They will to look into particular technology areas and investigate how European cooperation can help make significant advances in these areas. The participants will bring together teams to develop proposals for technology development relevant to astronomical telescopes and instrumentation.

  • Information Exchange & Networking: The participants will encourage interactions to develop European capabilities for technology development for IR and Optical Astronomy using e-mail newsletters, web-pages including an interactive WIKI site or equivalent. The participants will develop industrial networks using existing frameworks where possible.

The Chair of the Structuring European Astronomy Network activity is JK Davies (UKATC) jkd@roe.ac.uk

For a PDF file copy of P Dierickx's presentation of the ELT Design Study to the OPTICON I3 Board meeting in Ghent 1 - 2 April 2004, click here:

N3: ELT Design Study