**************************************************
   First Announcement for the ING workshop

   "SCIENCE WITH THE  
   WILLIAM HERSCHEL TELESCOPE 2010-2020"

   22 March 2010

   Followed on 23 March 
   by an instrumentation planning meeting

   Burlington House, London, UK

   http://www.ing.iac.es/conferences/wht201020/

   Bringing together astronomers from the ING 
   communities to discuss the scientific direction 
   of the WHT, and new instrument plans, for the 
   coming decade.

   Registration deadline: 12 March 2010
********************************************************

Scientific Rationale
-------------------------
During the twenty-two years since the ING began operating
the WHT, the ING telescopes have had an excellent track record 
of world-class scientific results in virtually all areas of
optical-infrared observational astronomy.  With the current
International Agreements for Astronomy in the Canary Islands ending in
2012, the ING is discussing its role for the coming decade.  As the
funding agencies explore post-2012 managerial arrangements, 
ING would like to involve the astronomy communities it serves in 
shaping the scientific roadmap for our telescopes.

Our proposed strategic vision for the coming decade is outlined in
http://www.ing.iac.es/About-ING/Strategy/decadal_strategy_2010_2020.html

A key component of this strategy is a focus on wide-field
astronomy, where 4-m telescopes have the potential to out-perform
10-m class telescopes.  In this context, ING is studying the possible
provision of a wide-field multi-object spectrograph (MOS) for the WHT
prime focus.  Such an instrument would provide unique capabilities in 
the northern hemisphere for scientific exploitation of upcoming 
European-led and international imaging surveys on the ground, and from 
space.  The requirements for such a MOS need to be established by our 
user communities, who also need to clarify their interest in 
contributing to the construction and exploitation of this facility.

With the progressive shift toward the Southern Hemisphere provided by
ESO telescopes, the ING provides essential access to the northern 
hemisphere, and there needs to be discussion about the number of 
instruments (resident or visitor) to be supported on the WHT, the 
balance between classical, visitor-oriented operations and survey 
science, and the recommendations of the ASTRONET-sponsored European 
Telescope Strategy Review Committee, which should be published shortly.

The time is therefore ripe for a workshop bringing together ING 
observers to share their views on the scientific priorities, the 
instruments and the operating mode that will keep the WHT a 
world-class 4-m telescope in the coming decade.

Format
---------

The workshop on March 22 will be devoted to invited 15-minute science 
presentations, concluding with a discussion period.

Some time will be available for short (10-min) contributed talks.
These should focus on highlighting specific improvements that would
make our instruments, and the user's science, more competitive.  There
will also be limited space for posters.  If you would like to present
a talk or a poster, please provide a title and abstract on the 
registration form.

On March 23 (morning only) those wishing to be involved in
the definition and development of a wide-field MOS on the WHT will
meet with the aim of organising a study leading to a proposal to our
agencies for the construction and exploitation of the new instrument.

The presentations made at the meeting will be made available on the 
ING web site.  We do not plan to publish proceedings.

Registration, and contact
-----------------------------

Please register at 

     http://www.ing.iac.es/conferences/wht201020/

Registration deadline: 12 March 2010

Contact us at: wht201020'at'ing.iac.es


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Dr. Marc Balcells, Director
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain
Tel. +34 922 425 403
http://www.ing.iac.es
balcells 'at' ing.iac.es



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