Welcome

The 19th Annual International Astrophysics Conference will be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, March 9 - 13, 2020.(Welcome Reception and Evening Registration begins Sunday, March 8).

The theme of the meeting will be “From the Sun's Atmosphere to the Edge of the Galaxy: A Story of Connections” and will follow the same format as before with 25-minute presentations punctuated by selected 40-minute invited talks that will explore various themes in greater detail.

The oldest and the newest heliospheric space missions are distinguished by being the farthest and closest human-made objects ever to the Sun. Plunging into the depths of the atmosphere of the Sun, the Parker Solar Probe, launched in August 12, 2018, has completed the first three closest encounter passes to the Sun, edging closer and closer with each orbit. The venerable Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched in 1977, entered the very local interstellar medium on 25 August 2012 and at ~141 astronomical units from the Sun is now further from the Earth than any other human-made object. Voyager 2, following suit, likewise entered the interstellar medium on 5 November 2018. It is astonishing that, since the start of the space age in October 1957, humankind is now reaching for the stars and reaching into a star itself. Despite the immense distance separating the Voyager spacecraft from the Sun, the Sun’s influence is still felt in the immensely cold distant very local interstellar medium. This conference will address the connected story of how the Sun and interstellar medium collectively shape their environment.

Please contact us if you are interested in attending this meeting.