Stellar occultations: a route to major advances in Planetary Sciences
Introduction
The colloquium coincides with the 40 years anniversary of the discovery of Neptune's ring arcs to which the young Bruno Sicardy has contributed. It also coincides with the 10th year since the publication announcing the discovery of rings around the centaur Chariklo, the first rings found around a small body in the solar system, a discovery which Sicardy was also part of.
Over the past four decades Bruno has combined stellar occultations engaging with huge network of amateur astronomers across the globe as well as celestial mechanics. He studied and discovered system of rings, arcs, atmospheres...
This colloquium is meant to honour the work of Bruno, by giving the general framework of the past work and accomplishments, discussing current work, and how this shapes the future works for the next decades. The Colloquium will bring together Bruno's former students and postdocs (his scientific children) as well as his closest colleagues with whom he has been collaborating over the decades.
This colloquium is about giving a tribute to Bruno and his very Scientific Legacy, by looking beyond his past discoveries as these works will inspire future generations of Planetary Scientists. As we are entering a new era with Gaia, ELTs, JWST ... it is important to bring together people who worked with Bruno over the decades to continue along this scientific path.
Venue and Dates
The colloquium will be held in Salle Cassini at the Observatoire de Paris (France) from April 22nd to April 26th, 2024.
Lunch at the Observatory restaurant costs ~15€/person and can be paid by cash or card. The restaurant is open from 11h45 to 13h30.
The program
The program will focus on five main axes :
Ring discoveries and dynamical implications;
More dynamics, resonances, numerical simulations;
Atmospheres (Titan, Pluto, Triton, campaigns and results), evolution models of the atmospheres;
Exploration of outer solar system using occultations (shapes, internal structures, connections between occultation results and the structure implication for the solar system formation;
The growing contribution of the Amateur community.