International Meteor Conference 2012

See announcement below. Could me a great opportunity to attend both conferences and see the big scopes on La Palma.


First announcement of the International Meteor Conference 2012

Paul Roggemans, Gabriela Vaduvescu, Ovidiu Vaduvescu

The 31st IMC will be organized on the Island of La Palma of the Canary archipelago, Spain, from 20 to 23 September 2012. The standard IMC fee is set unchanged at 155 EUR. The local organization is coordinated by Gabriela and Ovidiu Vaduvescu and further supported by an international team (Geert Barentsen, Felix Bettonvil, Valentin Grigore, José Madiedo, Francisco Ocaña González, Paul Roggemans and Casper ter Kuile) and the local officials Ana Castaneda and Carlos Fernandez representing the local "Cabildo Insular" authorities sponsoring the event.

The exceptional location of the 2012 IMC offers plenty of extra's to the IMC as brainstorming forum for meteor observers, researchers and theoreticians:

· This IMC precedes the 2012 EPSC which will be organized from 24 till 28 September in Madrid, Spain, on the way home from La Palma for most participants offering both amateurs and professional astronomers the possibility to optimize travelling efforts and costs to attend both the IMC and EPSC. See also www.europlanet-eu.org .

· A holiday package of 4 days will be offered by the Local Organizing Committee preferably prior to the IMC2012 conference. Any other requests for extra days will be treated with pleasure, just let the LOC know about this in advance.

· New Moon on 16 September offers plenty of observing opportunity under the fabulous sky of the Canary Islands.

· The possibility is offered to have workshops prior to the IMC at the same favorable conditions of the IMC.

· The IMC excursion will include a visit to the three largest telescopes of the "Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory" (ORM), offering participants the chance to visit the "Gran Telescopio de Canarias"(GTC), actually the largest optical telescope worldwide. Furthermore, a visit is planned at the famous Caldera de Taburiente getting on the edge of the caldera overlooked by the above mentioned observatories.

Travelling costs to La Palma are slightly more expensive for many IMC participants than for past IMCs. So, the faster you register the better for getting the best fee for a non-stop flight Madrid - La Palma, round trip! If we would be able to know as fast as possible the number of the participants and the countries/capital/town where the people come from to La Palma, we would have a very good chance to get a very convenient price for the flight Madrid - La Palma. Even, if we would know approximated the number of potential participants and their respective countries of departure, it would be a huge help in getting the best flight offers.

More information will be released via www.imo.net/imc2012/ as it becomes available, or can be obtained via imc2012@imo.net.

Details as received from the IMO recently:

With less than four months to go till the next IMC September 20-23 at La Palma Island, Canary, Spain, many people already expressed their intention to participate at this exceptional site. All information how to get at La Palma, details about the many excursions offered before the IMC and the registration form are available at: www.imo.net/imc2012/ . We would like to draw your attention to some changes that IMO introduced for the IMC registration and some recommendations you should observe for the IMC at La Palma Santa Cruz:

1. Timely booking your flight is highly recommended. For instance, Brussels (BRU) – La Palma (SPC), a flight of about 6 hours + time for two stops, costs 432 Euro in May, which is 200 Euro more expensive than 6 months ago. Use www.skyscanner.net/ to check for available flights and avoid to delay your booking. For remote connections check different flight combinations as the shortest route isn't necessary the cheapest and also check for charters that offer connections once a week.

2. People who need invitations for visa must take into account that the bureaucracy of Foreign Affairs and the Embassies requires several weeks to treat the invitation request and to deliver visa. Nor IMO neither the IMC organizer can speed up these visa applications, we can only recommend to apply in time. Official invitation letters in Spanish (and a copy in English) will be issued by the local Spanish authority. Supply your exact name like on your passport, birth date, birthplace, official address (or address of your institute) and your passport number to the IMC Organizer imc2012@imo.net.

3. Preferably register at the reduced IMC-fee before 30 June 2012. When you bring accompanying family members, each person (12 years or older) is considered as an individual participant and must fill in the registration form. Each registration must be paid within two weeks after registration.

4. Contrary to previous IMC’s, from now on the full amount of the IMC registration fee is required. Partial prepayment is no longer admitted because the IMC organizers were confronted with last minute cancellations and cases of no show without cancellation which caused considerable unrecoverable costs for the LOC.

5. Registrations which remain without the required confirmation by the payment of the full amount of the IMC fee within two weeks will not be booked as reservation. Contact imc2012@imo.net if you experience some delay with your payment.

6. Pay attention to the cancellation policy mentioned on the registration form. This policy has been introduced to define the financial consequences of cancellation and to inform each participant about the possible refunds.

7. We encourage people to present a lecture or a poster, but all presentations must be registered in advance. The timing of the lecture sessions and space allocated for posters requires a well prepared program and should be respected.

8. Any presentation should be well prepared and include a lecture or poster version and a paper to be included in the La Palma Proceedings (instructions see www.imo.net/imc2012/proceedings ). The most optimal way to work is to write the paper for the Proceedings when you prepare your lecture or poster. Do not delay to write your paper as you will find it even less convenient after the IMC and you will cause big delays in the production of the Proceedings by delaying to deliver your paper. We would like to see your paper before the IMC to discuss editorial aspects at the IMC.

9. The Friday afternoon sessions will be dedicated to the 2011 Draconid projects coordinated by Jérémie Vaubaillon. If you want to share your Draconid results, we invite you to present your work at these Draconid session.

10. Many people register for some extra days before and or after the IMC to discover the Island or just to make the travelling more worthwhile by combining a vacation. If you consider to stay extra days, you are assured of the company of many IMC friends. The extra days can be booked at the same advantageous fees as the IMC itself. Astro Travels offers a wide range of touristic excursions which can be booked via the IMC registration. Restaurants, car rentals and tourism in general are very cheap compared to popular West European tourist resorts.

11. People who wish to participate at the European Planetary Space Congress 2012 in Madrid (23-28 September) will have a comfortable connection after the IMC to the start of EPSC 2012. Full details can be found at www.epsc2012.eu . Visa applications can be used for both the IMC and EPSC. You may request an invitation letter from EPSC to raise travelling grants.

12. The official language of the IMC is English. All communication about the IMC should be addressed to imc2012@imo.net. Put this address as CC in case you communicate with individuals of the LOC.

13. The deadline to apply for IMO grants (1 May) has passed and the limited budget available for IMC-grants has been attributed. Unfortunately late requests for any kind of financial support cannot be considered by IMO. Every year IMO receives requests to waive the IMC-fee, requests which are considered on individual bases. However note that the IMC is offered at very basic price of costs that leave no margins to admit free participation.

14. Most people seem to decide in June whether or not they are able to participate at the IMC. If you have access to any social network, astro forum or any way to advertise the IMC: please make publicity for the IMC in local media.