Conference: Radio Stars in the Era of New Observatories

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory will host a three-day workshop titled “Radio Stars in the Era of New Observatories” from April 17-19, 2024. The workshop will provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of new advances in solar and stellar astrophysics enabled by the current generation of radio, millimeter and submillimeter facilities, including the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, the Very Long Baseline Array, and the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope. In addition, an underlying theme will be strategizing on how to best exploit planned future facilities to advance solar and stellar science. The workshop will bring together observers and theorists to encourage discourse on how radio wavelength observations provide new and unique insights into stellar astrophysics and complement studies at other wavelengths. It will also seek participation by experts working outside of the radio domain, as well as in areas such as computation and technology development. The Radio Stars workshop will encourage the participation of students and early career researchers and provide the opportunity for interaction with established leaders in the field of stellar astrophysics in a supportive and inclusive environment. Invited speakers and other workshop participants will be recruited from underrepresented groups. Scientific highlights from the meeting will be shared with the general public through MIT Haystack’s social media platforms. The aims of the workshop are to: (1) enable the dissemination of cutting-edge research in stellar astrophysics, including results derived from NSF-sponsored facilities; (2) foster learning and creative innovation through interactions between theorists, observers, computing experts, and instrument builders; (3) provide opportunities to identify key outstanding questions in stellar astrophysics and develop strategies for use of radio wavelength observations as a tool for addressing them; (4) provide a forum to discuss laying the groundwork for stellar radio science with instruments of the future. The workshop will be summarized in a “Conference Highlights” publication and meeting presentations will be made available online through the conference web site. Sessions at the workshop will examine radio emission from both hot and cool stars during the pre-main sequence through post-main sequence evolutionary phases. Topics covered will include stellar radio emission processes, stellar magnetism, and the role of radio emission as a probe of stellar atmospheres, stellar evolution, and the interactions between stars and their environments. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.