Comet Lovejoy Workshop Homepage

March 21-22, 2012

Boulder, Colorado, USA

UCAR Center Green CG1 (Click for directions )

On Dec 16, 2011, the recently discovered comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) became instantly famous.  Comet Lovejoy not only survived perihelion but its journey around the Sun was chronicled by a dizzying array of solar and astrophysical missions.  There is much to be learned from this and other members of the Kreutz sungrazing family, but the only sure way to maximize the return is to bring different science communities together.

This two-day workshop is for those willing to put in hard work and bring serious, thoughtful discussion to the table.  It is imagined that collaborations will be established that will possibly survive until the next surviving sungrazer.

With registration, you will have access to a collaborative wiki site that will be used to share data and ideas prior to and probably during and after the workshop.

Registration Fee $50 (Click here for Registration )

Select "Comet Lovejoy Workshop" from the pull down menu.

Agenda (Tentative)

  Wednesday, March 21

     09:00-12:00 Introductory/plenary talks

• Comets in general (A'Hearn)
• Sungrazers (Knight)
• Near-Sun & corona environment (Schrijver)
• Dust from comets (Lisse)

     12:00-13:00 Lunch

     13:00-14:30 Observation summaries: SDO, SOHO, STEREO, GBO, ...
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: Biesecker

     14:30-15:00 Orbital considerations: expected vs. observed
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: St. Hillaire

     15:00-16:00 Mass loss, sublimation, ...
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: Brown + Lisse

     16:00-17:00 Interpretation of spectral observations
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: Raymond

  Thursday, March 22

     09:00-10:00 Emission mechanisms
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: Bryans

     10:00-11:00 (MHD of the) Corona-tail interactions
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: Schrijver + ... [TBC]

     11:00-12:00 Expectations for future sungrazers: statistics on sizes/orbits
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: Knight

     12:00-13:00 Lunch

     13:00-15:00 Summary of discussions and presentations, and
                 discussion of the new avenues opened by comets in corona
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: panel of coordinators
            St. Hillaire+ Brown/Lisse + Raymond + Bryans
            + Schrijver/ ...[TBC] + Knight

     15:00-16:30 Discussion and plans for the scientific analysis of the observed events +
                 Plans for future observing of sungrazers approaching the Sun
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer: [TBD]

     16:30-17:00 Meeting summary and plans for the future
          Session coordinator/speaker/summarizer:
                  Schrijver <coronal physics>, Lisse <cometary physics>,
                  Raymond <emission mechanisms>

Science Organizing Committee

John Raymond

Karel Schrijver

Doug Biesecker

Matthew Knight

Carey Lisse

Dean Pesnell

Local Organizing Committee

Doug Biesecker

Scott McIntosh

Amir Caspi

Ransom Christofferson

Amy Knack