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IERS Message No. 55                                           March 8, 2004
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Journees 2004 "Systemes de reference spatio-temporels"

Observatoire de Paris, 20 to 22 September 2004

First announcement


This message is to inform you that the Journees 2004 "Systemes de
reference spatio-temporels", with the sub-title "Fundamental Astronomy:
New concepts and models for high accuracy observations", will be held
from 20 to 22 September 2004 at Observatoire de Paris.

Pre-registration is at: http://syrte.obspm.fr/journees2004/
(deadline: 30 April 2004)

SOC: A. Brzezinski (Poland), N. Capitaine (France, Chair), P. Defraigne
(Belgium), T. Fukushima (Japan), D.D. Mccarthy (USA), M. Soffel
(Germany), J. Vondrak (Czech Republic), Y. Yatskiv (Ukraine)

LOC: P. Baudoin, O. Becker, C. Bizouard, G. Bourda, A.-M. Gontier, J.-B.
N'guyen, J. Souchay (Chair)

The preliminary programme includes the following five sessions:
Session 1: Recent and future developments in the realization of the ICRS
Session 2: Models for Earth rotation: from Poincare to IAU 2000
Session 3: Nomenclature in fundamental astronomy
Session 4: Relativity in the problems of astronomical reference systems
and Earth rotation: status and prospects
Session 5: Future of UTC: Consequences in astronomy

The sessions will include discussion on the work of the new IAU Working
Groups of Division I: "Precession and the ecliptic" (Session 2) and
"Nomenclature in Fundamental Astronomy" (Session 3), as well as the
Working Groups on "Relativity in Celestial Mechanics, Astrometry and
Metrology" (Session 4) and "The future of UTC" (Session 5). Discussion
on the tasks that were previously part of the ICRS Working Group will
also take place (Session 1).

A kickoff meeting for the Project "Descartes - Nutation" (Chair: V.
Dehant) the purpose of which is to support cooperative studies devoted
to 'the understanding of the next decimal of precession/nutation, from
the theoretical point of view as well as from the observational point of
view' will be included in Session 2. Posters summarizing the proposals
selected by the Advisory Board of the Descartes - Nutation project will 
be encouraged.

2004 being the 150 anniversary of Poincare's birth, there will be a
special emphasis on Poincare's work on Earth rotation in Session 2.


Nicole Capitaine
Chair of the SOC of the Journees 2004

syrte.obspm.fr/journees2004


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