12th Birmingham-Nottingham Extragalactic Workshop - 1st Announcement

                 AGN: populations, parameters and power
                        University of Birmingham
                        September 27-28, 2010
                   http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/workshop/


The Birmingham Nottingham extragalactic workshop series consists of
informal 2-day events, involving typically ~50 participants, with the aim
of bringing together researchers in related strands of research in a
topical and well-focussed area of extragalactic astronomy.

This year's topic focuses on accretion modes of Active Galactic Nuclei
(AGN), the relation to their environment and the implications for
feedback. Supermassive black holes, at the core of galaxies, primarily
grow through accretion of material, and are observed as AGN.  Whether an
AGN is observed as a radio, optical, infrared or X-ray source depends on
various parameters related to the black hole and its predominant mode of
accretion, the latter being linked to the immediate environment of the
black hole. In addition, the energy output and evolution of the AGN are
related to various properties of the host galaxies, e.g. colour and star
formation rate, and of the larger-scale environment, e.g. the IGM of the
group or cluster of which the host is a member.  We would like to discuss
the various processes involved in the interaction between AGN and
environment, from the points of view of observers, theorists and
simulators. We would also look for relevant lessons that can be learnt
from related fields. e.g. micro-quasars. We expect to concentrate in
particular on issues of energetics, and the extent to which the various
states of the AGN provide cosmic feedback.

The Workshop will be held in the School of Physics & Astronomy at
University of Birmingham. The format will be similar to previous workshops
in the series, with a mixture of 15 and 30 minute talks, leaving plenty of
time for discussion. A web site for the meeting is currently under
construction at http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/workshop/

Speakers who have confirmed participation at this early stage include:
Philip Best, Richard Bower, Judith Croston, Rob Fender, Martin Hardcastle,
Ryan Hickox, Alejo Martinez-Sansigre, Andrew King, Steve Rawlings.

The meeting will start at 11:00am on Monday September 27th and conclude at
around 4:00pm on the 28th, so that only one overnight stay in Birmingham
should be required. Please let us know if you would like to attend. If you
are interested in giving a talk on the theme of the workshop, let us have
a title (see form below) and brief description.

The basic workshop fee will be in the region of 60 pounds per participant
(we will announce the exact amount in the next announcement). This will
cover two lunches, plus a meal at a local restaurant on the Monday
evening. A list of local hotels and guest houses will be available soon
from the conference website.

Unfortunately we have no funds to pay for travel or accommodation.
However, we have kept the registration fee to the minimum required to
cover costs, and the inclusion of meals in this price is intended to make
your dealings with your finance office as easy as possible.

The workshop website will have a list of nearby B&Bs and hotels at which
accommodation for the night can be found. If there is enough interest, we
may try to organise blocks of rooms for participants. However, since this
workshop is going to be held in Freshers' week, subsidised rooms at
student rates will not be available.

Please reply (to workshop@star.sr.bham.ac.uk) by July 19th, after which
the programme of talks will be selected. Please pass this message on to
anyone else within your department or elsewhere who you think may be
interested.

We look forward to seeing you at the workshop.

                          Somak Raychaudhury (U Birmingham)
                          Trevor Ponman (U Birmingham)
                          Graham Smith (U Birmingham)
                          Ewan O'Sullivan (U Birmingham)
                          Alastair Sanderson (U Birmingham)
                          Alfonso Aragon-Salamanca (U Nottingham)


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Please cut/paste and mail this form to workshop@star.sr.bham.ac.uk
by July 19, 2010

              12th Birmingham-Nottingham Extragalactic Workshop
                 AGN: populations, parameters and power
                         September 27-28, 2010


Name:-

Institute:-

(Delete below as applicable)

(a) I would like to attend the Workshop but not make a presentation.

(b) I would like to present a poster entitled:-

(c) I would like to give a talk entitled:-

    Brief description of talk:-

    Preferred duration [15 min/30 min]:-

N.B. Talks should be closely related to the theme of the workshop.


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on behalf of the organising committee

        workshop@star.sr.bham.ac.uk
        www.sr.bham.ac.uk/workshop/
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