Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society from 16 to 20 September 2019 in Stuttgart

The 2019 Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society will take place from 16 to 20 September 2019 at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. The programme offers many interesting scientific sessions, plenary talks, splinter meetings, dedicated poster sessions, as well as featured talks from prize winners. The topics cover the full spectrum from protoplanetary disks, X-ray binaries, interstellar medium to supermassive black holes, galaxy evolution and cosmic structure formation, with special emphasis on air- and spaceborne astronomy.

The award ceremonies include award lectures by the recipients of the scientific software, instrumentation, Biermann and PhD awards. Highlight is the presentation of the Karl Schwarzschild Medal, the highest astronomical award from Germany, to Ewine F. van Dishoeck, Professor of Molecular Astrophysics at Leiden Observatory, and the president of the International Astronomical Union. Furthermore, the ESO Director General and the ESA Director of Science will give plenary talks. The traditional public talk (in German) takes place at 20:00 Thursday, 19 September 2019 in Stuttgart city centre and is presented by Harold Yorke, director of SOFIA Science Mission Operations, and Yoko Okada, astrophysicist at the University of Cologne, chaired by ESA astronaut Reinhold Ewald.

Additionally, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy SOFIA, a unique infrared telescope on board a Boeing 747, is going to visit the Stuttgart airport during the meeting. All registered participants have the chance to visit SOFIA

The conference program is framed by the AG General Assembly, the meeting of the Council of German Observatories, social events, meetings of the working groups for the history of astronomy and education, public relations, as well as of the AstroWomen network, doctoral students, and a teacher training. The conference will be accompanied by events in the Stuttgart Planetarium and in the observatory in Welzheim. In addition, there are guided tours in Weil der Stadt and Leonberg, the birth and childhood cities of the world-famous astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler.

„We are grateful to the Deutsches SOFIA Institute (DSI) at Stuttgart University for hosting this year's international scientifc conference of the German Astronomical Society, “says Joachim Wambsganss

President of the German Astronomical Society. Alfred Krabbe, director of DSI, and SOC Chair emphasizes: „It is a great pleasure to welcome the Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society in Stuttgart. The host of the meeting, the University of Stuttgart, is one of the most outstanding German research centres, and is at the forefront of science and technology. This applies in particular to the Faculty of Aerospace, which has a long tradition in Stuttgart. The German SOFIA Institute (DSI) is proud to have the opportunity to organise such an international conference meeting.“

The meeting hashtag is #ag2019stuttgart. Media representatives are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society 2019. Journalists and science bloggers (w/o press card) are requested to send an email to the Local Organizing Committee at ag2019@dsi.uni-stuttgart.de, with the subject: "ag2019 - press". Media registration is free.

The Annual Meeting of the German Astronomical Society 2019 will follow German Astronomical Society Code of Conduct: https://conference.dsi.uni-stuttgart.de/event/2/page/17-code-of-conduct

Meeting Website: https://conference.dsi.uni-stuttgart.de/event/2/