2 ANNOUNCEMENTS: OATS-DAUT SEMINAR-Wedn. June 7, at 12:00 and OATS-DAUT SPECIAL SEMINAR- Thurs. 8 June at 12:00

[Gabriella Schiulaz]

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INAF-OSS. ASTRON. DI TRIESTE and DAUT SEMINAR
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Speaker: Jason X. Prochaska (University of California Observatories) 

Title: Quasars Probing Quasars and the Surrounding IGM 

Date: Wednesday, June 7th, 2006 
Time: 12:00 noon 
Venue: Villa Bazzoni (via Bazzoni, 2) -Seminar room, ground floor

Abstract: 
I will discuss results based on studies of absorption line systems in projected quasar pairs. This will include the QSO-MgII cross-correlation function, the incidence of optically thick at near separations to QSOs (<200 kpc) and ongoing studies of flourescence from these systems. I'll describe the implications for studying the mass and sizes of absorption systems and also the lifetime and physical environment of z~2 quasars. 


AND

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OATS-DAUT SPECIAL SEMINAR 
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Speaker: Luciana Bianchi (Johns Hopkins University) 
Title: Learning about Star Formation from the Local Universe 

Date: Thursday, June 8th, 2006 
Time: 12:00 noon 
Venue: Villa Bazzoni 

Abstract: 
Abstract: GALEX is a NASA small explorer mission performing imaging and spectroscopic surveys of the sky in the ultraviolet. GALEX provides unprecedented sky maps in two UV bands, comparable to the deepest existing surveys at other wavelengths, and unbiased catalogs of UV sources. I will give a brief overview of the instrument and of the available data, and present selected science results. The UV sources, classified by comparing their UV-to-IR colors to model colors, significantly increase the statistics of some classes of astrophysical objects, such as low-redshift QSOs, and provide an unprecedented census of white dwarfs in the Milky Way. A dedicated, deep survey of nearby galaxies offers a snapshot of the recent star formation across entire galaxies, shedding new light on the process of star formation and its modalities in different environments and conditions. The UV data, combined with IR and optical data, provide a complete account of the current SF, obscured and unobscured by dust, down to extremely low SFR, and suggest a wide variety of morphologies and conditions across these galaxies. The relationship UV-to-global star formation rate, calibrated from local galaxies studies, can ultimately be applied to distant galaxies from the deep fields to map the history of star formation in the universe over the redshift range z=0-2. 
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For additional information on scheduled OAT seminars see:
http://adlibitum.oats.inaf.it/seminari/



Future Seminars 


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OATS-DAUT SEMINAR 
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Speaker: Alexis Finoguenov (Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik & University of Maryland - Baltimore County) 
Title: Groups and clusters of galaxies in deep XMM-Newton surveys 

Date: Wednesday, June 14th, 2006 
Time: 12:00 noon 
Venue: Villa Bazzoni 

Abstract: 
I my talk I will review the recent progress on cluster search in several projects that made use of XMM-Newton data: COSMOS, SXDS-UDS, CDFS, Lockman Hole and present the results on cluster identification using the photometric redshift estimates. A statistical description of surveys in terms of the cumulative log(N>S)-log(S) distribution compares well with the previous results, although yielding a somewhat higher number of clusters at similar fluxes. The luminosity function of clusters in deep surveys matches well the results of nearby surveys, providing a comparably tight constraint on the faint end slope of alpha=1.93+/-0.04. For the probed luminosity range of 8x10^42-2x10^44 ergs/s, the surveys are in agreement with and add significantly to the existing data on the cluster luminosity function at high redshifts and imply no substantial evolution at these luminosities to z=1.3. 



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OATS-DAUT SEMINAR 
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Speaker: Valeria Manna (INAF / OATS) 
Title: Astronomical data analysis workflow on a service-oriented Grid architecture using Business Process Execution Language 

Date: Wednesday, June 21st, 2006 
Time: 12:00 noon 
Venue: Villa Bazzoni 

Abstract: 
Many international Grid projects have been launched recently in order to face the enormous amount of astronomical data which is pro- duced and/or will be produced in the next years by the new genera- tion of large telescopes and CCD mosaic detectors. Grid is the effective and natural solution for the CCD mosaic data processing but due to complex composition of astronomical applications a Grid workow management system is required in order to simplify the description of nested tasks execution, monitoring and data handling. The recently released Business Process Execution Language for Web Services (BPEL4WS) speci cation is positioned to become the standard for Web services composition. It allows you to create com- plex processes by creating and wiring together different activities that can, for example, perform Web services invocations, manipulate data, throw faults, or terminate a process. The evolution towards a service-oriented architecture, supported by emerging standard, is an activity that has many attention. This issue is being tackled within the EU-funded EGEE project (Enabling Grids for E-science in Europe) whose primary goals are the provision of robust middleware components and the creation of reliable and dependable Grid infrastructure to support e-Science applications, using an archi- tecture that offers a Web Service interface. We present a proposal for the execution of astronomical data analysis workflow on a service-oriented Grid architecture using the new standard language BPEL4WS.



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OATS-DAUT SEMINAR 
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Speaker: Abouazza El Mhamdi (INAF-OATS - Trieste) 
Title: Understanding spectra of Core Collapse Supernovae 

Date: Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 
Time: 12:00 noon 
Venue: Villa Bazzoni 

Abstract: In this talk I will focus on the spectroscopic properties of a selected optical photospheric spectra of core collapse supernovae (CCSNe). The investigation is made through Synthetic Spectra analysis. Special attention is devoted to traces of Hydrogen and Helium at early phases. Differences in the way Hydrogen manifests its presence within CCSNe are highlighted. Rough estimates of ejecta and Hydrogen masses are given. A low mass and thin hydrogen layer with very high ejection velocities above the helium shell, is found to be the most likely scenario for Type Ib SNe. Some interesting and curious issues relating to oxygen lines suggest future investigations. 
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Gabriella Schiulaz
segreteria OAT
Phone: 040-3199241
schiulaz at oats.inaf.it 
segreteria at oats.inaf.it