MOBSTER-1: Stellar variability as a probe of magnetic fields in massive stars

13-17 July 2020

Online

Dear Colleagues,

We hope that you will able to join us for the Conference “MOBSTER-1: Stellar variability as a probe of magnetic fields in massive stars”, which will be held virtually on 13-17July 2020.
Registration and abstract submission for poster contributions is still open. 

Presentation

MOBSTER (Magnetic OB[A] Stars with TESS: probing their Evolutionary and Rotational properties) is an international collaboration aiming to leverage photometric data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to better characterise and understand magnetic stars in the upper H-R diagram. It also aims to identify new magnetic candidate stars for which spectropolarimetric follow-up observations can be obtained. Therefore, MOBSTER has many ties to the massive star, stellar magnetism, binary and asteroseismology communities, including working groups 4 (AF stars) and 5 (OB stars) of the TESS Asteroseismic Science Consortium (TASC), and other large collaborations such as MiMeS and BinaMiCS. 

Motivation

The scientific scope of the MOBSTER-1 conference includes all astrophysical “themes” related to massive stars, with a specific focus on how they interplay with current research on the origin and impact of magnetic fields. This virtual conference will focus on five themes that were identified as lying at the intersection between the science cases of the MOBSTER Collaboration and of the general massive/intermediate-mass star community.

Main scientific themes

  • Binarity: e.g. binarity of massive stars in TESS data, the BinaMiCS project, tidally induced pulsations, etc.
  • Asteroseismology: e.g. asteroseismology of intermediate- (A) and high-mass (OB) stars, seismic diagnostics for (interior) magnetic fields, etc.
  • Magnetic characterisation: e.g. spectropolarimetry, photometric identification of magnetic stars, surveys of magnetic stars, magnetic stars across the HR diagram, spectroscopic characterisation of magnetic stars, etc.
  • Evolution: e.g. aspects of stellar evolution related to the other topics, origins of magnetism in massive stars, star formation, etc.
  • Rotation, winds & outflows: e.g. intrinsic variability of stellar winds (CIRs, DAC), spotted stars and rotational modulation, magnetospheres, etc.

SOC

Dominic Bowman (co-chair, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)
Poonam Chandra (National Centre for Radio Astrophysics/Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India)
Margarida Cunha (Universidade do Porto, Portugal)
Alexandre David-Uraz (University of Delaware, USA)
Emily Levesque (University of Washington, USA)
Catherine Lovekin (Mount Allison University, Canada)
David Mkrtichian (National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, Thailand)
Mary Oksala (California Lutheran University, USA)
Véronique Petit (co-chair, University of Delaware, USA)
Tomer Shenar (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium)
Sergio Simón-Díaz (Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Spain)
Thomas Rivinius (European Southern Observatory, Chile)

VOC (“Virtual” organizing committee)

Saida Caballero-Nieves (Florida Institute of Technology, USA)
Alexandre David-Uraz (chair, University of Delaware, USA)
Zsolt Keszthelyi (Anton Pannekoek Institute/Universiteit van Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Milena Ratajczak (Uniwersytet Warszawski, Poland)
Matthew Shultz (University of Delaware, USA)
Dorottya Szécsi (Universität zu Köln, Germany)

Hoping to see you all soon!

Best regards,

Dominic Bowman, Alexandre David-Uraz, Véronique Petit (on behalf of the SOC and VOC)

Weblink: https://sites.google.com/view/mobster1vc/home

Email: mobster1vc@gmail.com