Photo by Patryk Zgubiński
Last week, JIVE participated at the XLI Meeting of the Polish Astronomical Society in Toruń, Poland
This year, the event marked the 100th anniversary of the Polish Astronomical Society and was part of the World Copernican Congress that was organised on the occasion of the 550th commemoration of Nicolaus Copernicus' birth. The Meeting's host, Nicolaus Copernicus University, boasts a most vibrant Institute of Astronomy and its recently refurbished 32-metre radio telescope, a vital component of the European VLBI Network .
Key moments from JIVE's participation in this distinguished event:
—During the event, JIVE set up an informative booth, acting as a hub for dialogues regarding its pivotal role in the European VLBI Network and the cutting-edge services and solutions it offers. Being the institute that maintains the European VLBI Network data processor, it is JIVE's ongoing goal to inform astronomers about the support it provides before, during and after observations.
JIVE's director, Agnieszka Słowikowska, and two of its support scientists, Junghwan Oh and Benito Marcote, engaged in discussions with the attendees, exchanging ideas and addressing potential collaborations.
—Agnieszka Słowikowska organised and moderated the Meeting's session over the prospect of Poland developing closer links with the SKA Observatory. The SKAO sees in Poland a potential partner in Central Europe, building on the Observatory's existing European membership. With VLBI one of the planned observing modes of the SKA telescopes, this partnership could also mark the beginning of a closer collaboration between SKAO and EVN—but also with JIVE, as an appropriate place to correlate the data.
—Benito Marcote's stimulating talk on "Unveiling the Transient Universe at the highest resolution with Very Long Baseline Interferometry" enriched scientific dialogue and showcased JIVE's commitment to advancing knowledge and expertise.
—Junghwan Oh's presentation of JIVE's poster delivered a comprehensive understanding of JIVE's work to a wider audience in the conference room.
— Prof. Ewine van Dishoeck' lecture during the closing session of the World Copernican Congress had, of course, an extra layer of significance for JIVE. (Listen to Prof. van Dishoeck’s lecture from 42:00 to 1:08:12)