We are pleased to announce that SPARCS X 2020 “Capturing science from the pathfinder survey data” will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, 8-11 September 2020.
Registration will soon be open via: https://www.idia.ac.za/SPARCS2020/
SPARCS is the forum to maximize the scientific return from the SKA Pathfinder projects’ continuum surveys. The SKA PAthfinder Radio Continuum Survey (SPARCS) Working Group has the following goals:
- To coordinate developments of techniques, to avoid duplication of effort and ensure that each project has access to best practice;
- To hold cross-project discussions of the specific science goals, to ensure cross-fertilisation of ideas and optimum survey strategies;
- To coordinate the surveys in their choice of area, depth, location on the sky, and other survey parameters, to maximise the science return from the surveys;
- To distill the SKA pathfinder experiences into input to the SKA.
The SPARCS IX 2019 meeting was held in Lisbon. It was fantastic discussion of new science results and techniques from the pathfinders. The program and presentations are available here: http://www.iastro.pt/research/conferences/sparcs2019/
With the SKA Pathfinders now fully operating, SPARCS X meeting will be the workshop to share the latest techniques, insights and results. The meeting will be a mixture of invited and contributed presentations, plus a “workshop Wednesday” where each SPARCS working group will lead sessions on the key outcomes so far, challenges and future plans for the continuum surveys.
We look forward to seeing you at the workshop.
On behalf of the Organising Committee
Russ Taylor, UCT, Cape Town, South Africa
Mario Santos, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa
Oleg Smirnov, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Brad Frank, Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, Cape Town, South Africa
Fernando Camilo, SARAO, Cape Town South Africa
Carole Jackson, ASTRON, Dwingeloo, Netherlands
Ray Norris, WSU/CSIRO, Sydney, Australia
Image Credit: MeerKAT 2016, South African Radio Astronomy Observatory