The Scientific Landscape for Extremely Large Telescopes in light of JWST. Part I. Americas

We are delighted to announce that registration is now open for the conference The Scientific Landscape for Extremely Large Telescopes in light of JWST. Part I. Americas. The conference will take place on 11–-15 December 2023 on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, CA. 

The Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) will be the premier ground-based optical-infrared facilities from the 2030s onward. These telescopes will provide diffraction-limited spatial resolution unrivaled from the ground or space, as well as sensitivity commensurate with their large apertures. The experience of Hubble and Spitzer, coupled with ground-based 8–10-meter telescopes, demonstrates the power of combining these observatories to carry out unprecedented, complementary, and even unexpected science. In just over one year, JWST has enabled breakthroughs in virtually all areas of astrophysics, by virtue of its wavelength coverage, sensitivity, and angular resolution. The upcoming ELTs will be the ideal complement and successors to JWST. 

The goal of this series of conferences is to review and highlight recent JWST discoveries and study the implications for the science operations of ELTs and planning of their instrumentation and user services. The conferences will cover all areas of astronomy and are open to observers, instrument builders, and theorists. To maximize participation and minimize travel time and carbon footprint, the series of conferences will consist of three coordinated events. The first one will be held in Los Angeles. The second and third ones will be held in Europe and Asia, respectively. 

Main topics: Fundamental physics and cosmology, high-redshift galaxies, galaxy formation and the intergalactic medium, supermassive black holes, the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, stars, time-domain astronomy, exoplanets, the Solar System, and instrumentation.

SOC members: 

Tommaso Treu (co-chair) (University of California, Los Angeles)
Eric Peng (co-chair) (NSF’s NOIRLab)
Brendan Bowler (The University of Texas at Austin)
Martha Boyer (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Jenny Greene (Princeton University)
Narae Hwang (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute)
Susan Kassin (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Raffaella Margutti (University of California, Berkeley)
Karen Meech (University of Hawai‘i)
Stanimir Metchev (University of Western Ontario)
Daniel Stark (University of Arizona)
Masaomi Tanaka (Tohoku University)
Katherine Whitaker (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

LOC members: 

Tommaso Treu (University of California, Los Angeles, chair)
Eric Peng (NSF’s NOIRLab)
André-Nicolas Chené (NSF’s NOIRLab)
Laura Quattropani (UCLA)
Sofia Rojas (UCLA)

Invited speakers: 

Björn Benneke (U de Montréal)
Danielle Berg (UT Austin)
Rebecca Bernstein (GMTO)
Caitlin Casey (UT Austin)
Michele Cirasuolo (ESO)
Rene Doyon (U de Montréal)
Wen-fai Fong (Northwestern)
Mario Gennaro (STScI)
Robert P. Kirshner (TIO)
Mercedes Lopez-Morales (CfA)
Dimitri Mawet (Caltech)
Kristen McQuinn (Rutgers)
Jorge Moreno (Pomona College)
Anna Nierenberg (UC Merced)
Massimo Ricotti (UMD)
Alice Shapley (UCLA)
Lou Strolger (STScI)
Ezekiel Treister (Pontificía Universidad Católica)
Kimberly Ward-Duong (Smith College)

Important dates:

Registration open: 10 August
Abstract submission deadline: 1 October
Late registration opens: 2 October
Talk selection announced: 10 October
Late registration closes: 30 November
We look forward to seeing you at UCLA.