IMPORTANT DATES

October 14, 2016
Deadline for registering in advance of the symposium

October 24–28, 2016
Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium

 

The Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium


Final Announcement

Meeting Location and Date

The Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium will be held October 24–28, 2016 at the Westin Huntsville in Huntsville, Alabama.

Purpose and Scope

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe. The study of GRBs has expanded enormously since the publication of their discovery in 1973. With X-ray and gamma-ray observations from active space missions such as Fermi, Swift, MAXI, INTEGRAL, Konus, AGILE, NuSTAR, CALET, and AstroSAT this is an exciting time for GRB physics. Observations of the prompt spectra from X-rays to GeV gamma-rays are revealing additional components to the emission. Afterglow observations at radio, optical X-ray, and up to GeV energies continue to provide clues as to the nature of GRB hosts and jets. Recent and developing capabilities such as ZTF, XSHOOTER, MASTER, LOFAR, RATIR, ALMA, and CARMA will expand this area of GRB studies.

With the discovery by IceCube of a background of astrophysical neutrinos and by LIGO of gravitational wave signals, the era of multi-messenger astronomy has arrived.

It is likely that GRBs will play a key role in this field, particularly with next-generation instrumentation such as HAWC, CTA, upgrades to IceCube, ANTARES, and the continued development of Advanced LIGO/Virgo and other gravitational wave detectors. The wealth of data contributes to improving the theoretical understanding of the GRB phenomenon.

The Eighth Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium will cover all areas of GRB science with a particular emphasis on multi-messenger observations and theory. Topics will include prompt emission (observations and theory), afterglows (observations and theory), high redshift observations and early universe implications, central engine and jet physics, supernovae and progenitors, host galaxies, short and sub-energetic GRBs (observations and theory), multi-messenger observations, and future instruments. While the focus of the meeting is GRBs, we will discuss related topics, such as core-collapse supernovae, fast radio bursts, and tidal disruption events.

Note: All electronic submission forms are part of the USRA Meeting Portal, which requires users to set up a personal profile to access our electronic forms (setting up a profile is quick and easy, requiring only a few minutes of your time).