2019 Tenth SARA Western Conference

2019 Tenth SARA Western Conference

 will be held in
Boulder
, Colorado, USA

The 2019 (tenth) SARA Western Conference will be held at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Center Green conference facility in Boulder, Colorado on March 23 to 24, 2019.  UCAR is the management organization that manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) for the National Science Foundation. Information about UCAR and NCAR is available here: https://www.ucar.edu

 

The Conference will be preceded by a tour of the NCAR Mesa High Altitude Observatory (HAO) on Friday, March 22, 2019.  HAO conducts research and provides community support and facilities in the following areas: Geospace Frontiers and Solar Frontiers. Additional information on HAO can be found here: https://www2.hao.ucar.edu

 

 

We are pleased to have Scott Mcintosh, the Director of the NCAR High Altitude Observatory (HAO), give the keynote speech at the Center Green conference facility on Saturday.   Scott achieved a first-class honors degree in Mathematics and Physics (1991-1995) and PhD in Astrophysics (1995-1998) at the University of Glasgow. He was a HAO post-doctoral fellow in NCAR’s Advanced Study Program from 1999 to 2001.  Scott’s primary field of research lies in the understanding of how magnetism, mass, and energy are transported from the Sun's convective interior to shape and fill the solar system in which we live.

 

The Tenth SARA Western Conference is a guest of NCAR, and is being facilitated by Lory Mitchell Wingate, Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, UCAR, who has made the facilities available to SARA and will be in attendance during all sessions to provide access. You may remember Lory as the keynote speaker at the 2016 SARA Eastern Conference, and she also hosted SARA in Socorro, NM, at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) during the 2017 SARA Western Conference.

 

Contact: Additional volunteers to help with conference arrangements are needed.  Please contact conference coordinator David Westman if you have any questions about the conference or if you would like to help: westernconf@radio-astronomy.org. Website: www.radio-astronomy.org

 

Presentations and proceedings: Papers and presentations on solar astronomy, radio astronomy hardware, software, education, research strategies, philosophy, and observing efforts and methods are welcome. The deadline for submitting a letter of intent to the conference coordinator including a proposed title and informal abstract or outline is 15 January 2019. Formal proceedings will be published for this conference.  Presenters should prepare an electronic copy of their presentation, so that we can make them available to attendees on a USB flash drive.

 

Registration: Registration for the 2019 Western Regional Conference is just US$80.00. This includes lunch and refreshments on Saturday and Sunday.  Current membership in SARA is required for the conference, and non-members will be able to attend on payment of an additional US $20. Payment can be made by going to www.paypal.com and directing payment to treas_at _radio-astronomy_dot_org. Please include in comments that the payment is for the 2019 Western Conference. Please include an e-mail address so a confirmation can be sent to you upon receipt of payment.

 

Hotel reservations:  The Marriott Residence Inn near the UCAR Center Green facility at 3030 Center Green Dr, Boulder, CO has agreed to a special reservations rate for the SARA Conference at $149 per night, breakfast included.  Please contact them using this link for the SARA rate:  Book your group rate for SARA Western Conference.   The last day to book at this rate is 2/22/19.   The Marriott reservations phone number is 800-331-3131, please specify the SARA conference when using this number.

The Best Western Plus Boulder Inn at 770 28th St, Boulder, CO has also offered us a special rate for the conference. They are farther from the conference site than the Marriott, but a good alternative.  Their phone is (303)449-3800, ask for Ari Rubin.  And the Millennium Harvest House Boulder, 1345 28th St, Boulder, CO has a very reasonable rate at $120 single / $130 double, their phone is (303) 443-3850.

 

 Saturday night dinner: We will make a group dinner reservation at a local restaurant for Saturday night. Please let us know before 1 March if you plan to attend this dinner so we can include you in the reservations. Send an email to: westernconf@radio-astronomy.org.

 

Visit to the Deep Space Exploration Society (DSES) site in Haswell, CO:  On Sunday afternoon, registrants at the conference can travel to Haswell, CO, to visit the Paul Plishner Radio Astronomy and Space Sciences telescope.  Haswell is about four hours drive from Boulder, and three hours from Denver International Airport.  This trip will require an additional overnight stay in the Haswell area, before visiting the Plishner site.   More details of this excursion will be explained at the conference.

 

Directions and Maps:  The UCAR Center Green campus is at 3080 Center Green Dr.   Directions to this campus from the Denver International Airport are as follows:  Take the Green Ride Shuttle, which will let you off at the Parkway Shopping Center in South Boulder.  Avis Car Rental is close by, at 4800 Baseline Road. From there, drive a short distance on Baseline, go north on the Foothills Parkway, take the left exit to Valmont Road, and turn right at Center Green Drive.

 

Call for Papers, 2019 SARA Western Conference
Boulder
, Colorado, USA

The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) hereby solicits papers for presentation at its 2019 Tenth Western Conference, to be held 22-24 March 2019, at Boulder, Colorado. Papers on solar astronomy, radio astronomy hardware, software, education, research strategies, observations and philosophy are welcome. SARA members or supporters wishing to present a paper should email a letter of intent, including a proposed title and informal abstract or outline to westernconf@radio-astronomy.org no later than 15 January 2019 (please let us know if you require more time). Be sure to include your full name, affiliation, postal address, and email address, and indicate your willingness to attend the conference to present your paper.  Submitters will receive an email response, typically within one week. Formal printed Proceedings will be published for this conference and all presentations will be made available on CD. Website: www.radio-astronomy.org