September 15-17, 1999
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA



The University of New Hampshire is pleased to announce that the next Compton Symposium will be held in the scenic coastal town of Portsmouth, NH. The symposium is scheduled for September 15-17, 1999. Please mark your calendar and stay tuned to this web site for further information.


Meeting Location: Sheraton Harborside Hotel
250 Market Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801
Phone: 603-431-2300
Fax: 603-433-5649
Hosted by:
The University of New Hampshire
Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space

NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center
The Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory Science Support Center




FINAL CONFERENCE TIMELINE (ps or pdf) AND DETAILED PROGRAM (ps or pdf) ARE NOW AVAILABLE


A LIST OF SUBMITTED ABSTRACTS IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON-LINE


You can obtain a copy of the second circular here.
You can obtain a copy of the first circular here.

Our conference poster is available here as a pdf file.

[ Important Dates | Organizers | Technical Session Information | Local Information | Special Events | New Hampshire Information ]



IMPORTANT DATES

Fall, 1998 First Circular
May, 1999 Second Circular / Call for Papers
July 1, 1999
Abstract Deadline HAS PASSED!
August 9, 1999
Hotel Registration Deadline HAS PASSED!
August 15, 1999
Early Conference Registration Deadline HAS PASSED!
September 14, 1999
Education Workshop
September 15-17, 1999
Technical Sessions
September 16, 1999
Banquet
September 18, 1999
Post Conference Excursion
October 15, 1999
Manuscript Deadline
March, 2000
Proceedings Publication by AIP



ORGANIZERS


Scientific Organizing Committee


Local Organizing Committee


Sponsors




TECHNICAL SESSION INFORMATION


Invited Speakers

C. AkerlofUniversity of Michigan Prompt Optical Photons from Gamma-Ray Bursts
M. CataneseIowa State University Ground Based Gamma Ray Astronomy
R. Diehl Max Planck Institute - MPE Gamma-Ray Line Astrophysics
G. EmslieUniv. of Alabama - Huntsville High Energy Measurements for the Y2K Solar Maximum
N. GehrelsNASA Goddard Space Flight Center Future Prospects for NASA's Gamma Ray Astronomy Program
K. HurleyUniv. of California - Berleley The Four and One-Half (Plus or Minus One Half) Soft Gamma Repeaters in Review
P. Milne
Naval Research Laboratory OSSE Mapping of Positron Annihilation Radiation
R. SariCalifornia Institute of Technology Gamma Ray Bursts and Afterglows
P. SreekumarISRO Satellite Center (ISAC), Bangalore The Extragalactic Gamma-Ray Background: Results from CGRO
A. StrongMax Planck Institute - MPE Diffuse Galactic Continuum Gamma-Rays
C. WinklerESA - SSD / ESTEC Science with the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL)




Contributed Program

The Scientific Organizing Committee has completed the task of putting together the complete program. An timeline showing an overview of the conference is available (ps or pdf). A more detailed conference program is also available (ps or pdf). The abstracts are available on-line, listed in the order in which they were submitted to the organizers.




Program Format

Each invited talk will be alloted 30 minutes (25 minutes for presentation plus 5 minutes for discussion). Each contributed oral presentation will be alloted 12 minutes (10 minutes for presentation plus 2 minutes for discussion). Contributed poster papers will be provided with a 4' x 4' (121 cm x 121 cm) tackboard.




Abstracts

The abstract deadline of July 1, 1999 has come and gone. Late abstracts will be accepted until Wednesday, September 8. Abstracts are to be submitted using a LaTeX abstract form. Abstract text should be no more than 300 words. In order to print the abstract a LaTeX style sheet is also required. (This is not needed for submitting the abstract. It is only needed for those who may wish to print their abstracts beforehand.) Completed abstract forms are to be submitted by e-mail (compton5@unh.edu).




Conference Registration

The early registration deadline is August 15. Attendees can register for the symposium on-line, by fax or by postal mail. A secure on-line registration form can be found here. A text form for fax or postal registrations can be found here. Unless a bank transfer is used (mainly by foreign participants), the registration fee must be included with the registration. For example, if registration is via fax, then a credit card must be used (Visa, MasterCard or American Express); if registration is via postal mail, then all forms of payment are possible (credit card, check or money order). For security reasons, we are not accepting registrations (and/or payments) via e-mail. In order to ease the burden on students attending the symposium, we are offering two optional student registrations - one with a copy of the proceedings and one without a copy of the proceedings. Early registration deadline is August 15. After August 15, ALL registrants will pay the late registration fee. The complete fee schedule is as follows:

Early Registration $240
Early Student Registration (w/proceedings) $225
Early Student Registration (w/o proceedings)
$125
Late Registration (after August 15))
$290
Banquet Fee
$50

No registration will be considered complete until payment is received. Cancellation of a prepaid registration, minus a small processing fee, can be done any time up to the start of the meeting. For a full refund minus a $25 processing fee, cancellation must be received on or before September 1. After September 1, until the start of the meeting, the processing fee will be $50. After the start of the meeting NO REFUND will be available. ALL TRANSACTIONS MUST BE IN U.S. DOLLARS.

Registration and banquet fees may be remitted in one of the following ways:




Proceedings

The proceedings editors have prepared some specific guidelines to use when preparing and submitting manuscripts for the proceedings of the 5th Compton Sympsoium. Conference proceedings will be published by the American Institute of Physics (AIP). All contributors will be invited to submit a manuscript for the proceedings. The page limits will be 5 pages for contributed papers and 8 pages for invited papers. The manuscript format must conform to the guidelines provided by the AIP for 6" x 9" page size. General guidelines for mauscript preparation can be found at the AIP proceedings website The general AIP guidelines for 6" x 9" page size are available as a pdf document.

For those authors who wish to use a LaTeX macro, AIP has made available a template to follow for camera ready manuscript preparation. The LaTeX style files and LaTeX documentation for 6" x 9" conference proceedings are avilable here. Please ftp ALL the files in this directory. These files include the macros, documentation and sample input files.

For those authors who wish to use MS-Word, AIP has made availble several MS-Word 97 templates that can be used for manuscript preparation. (Unfortunately, this is for PC users only. There is no Macintosh version.) An AIP User's Guide for Ms-Word 97 Submission Templates is available. Please read the documentation before preparing your paper. Templates are available for using both U.S. standard letter size paper and standard A4 size paper. Click here and select the 6" x 9" format for your choice of paper size. If you intend to submit your manuscript electronically, you must choose the template for US standard letter size paper.

Final submission to the editors will be in the form of camera-ready copy. Manuscripts will be accepted as hard copy or as electronic files. Acceptable file formats are postscript and pdf. If electronic files are submitted, please be sure to use the templates for US Letter size paper and do not include any color figures or color text. Manuscripts will be due on October 15, approximately one month after the conference. Publication date will be March, 2000.



SPECIAL EVENTS


Education Workshop

An education workshop for local middle- and high-school educators will be held on the day prior to the opening of the technical sessions (Tuesday, September 14). This will involve sessions on both hands-on astronomy activities as well as short lectures covering a wide range of astronomical topics.



Conference Banquet

A conference banquet is being organized for Thursday evening, September 16. The banquet will take place at the Seacoast Science Center, located on the coast at Odiorne State Park, just south of Portsmouth. In addition to offering scenic vistas of the New Hampshire Seacoast, the Seacoast Science Center offers several exhibits illustrating the nature and history of the local seacoast. The menu will feature a traditional New England clambake, with lobster and steamed clams. Both chicken and vegetarian menus will also be offered.

The banquet speaker will be Dr. Stephen Murray (CFA) who give a talk entitled:

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, and a Spectrum is Worth a Million:
Early Results from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory


Post-Conference Activities

Should there be sufficient interest, there will be two activities organized for the Saturday following the conference (September 18). Attendees should indicate their interest in either activity on the registration form. In each case, any costs are separate from the registration fees.




LOCAL INFORMATION


Hotel Accommodations

The Symposium will be held at the Sheraton Harborside Hotel in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The hotel is situated in downstown Portsmouth, within a short walking distance of many restaurants and historic sites. Participants will be required to secure their own room reservations. A room block have been reserved at the Sheraton Harborside until August 9, so please make your reservations by then. After that date, the rooms will be on a space and rate available basis. The following hotels will be available for conference participants.




Transportation

Portsmouth can be reached via three major airports, all of which are about an hour's drive from Portsmouth. The Manchester airport is perhaps the most convenient and flights into Manchester are often cheaper than comparable flights into Boston.

Given the close proximity of the conference hotel to the downtown Portsmouth area, car rental for the conference is not necessary. For those not renting a car, bus/shuttle service is available from both the Boston and Manchester airports.

By car, both the Sheraton and the Hampton Inn are most easily accessible from Exit 7 off of Route 95, the main north-south route through the New Hampshire Seacoast. The Portsmouth Sheraton Harborside is about one mile EAST of Route 95. (The Sheraton will be right in front of you as you approach a fork in the road. Turn right at the fork to reach the hotel entrance.) The Hampton Inn is about one mile WEST of Route 95. (Access to the Hampton Inn is straightforward, but poorly marked. About one mile from Route 95, there will be a traffic light with Circuit City on the left and BJ's Wholesale Club on the right. At that light, turn left onto Durgin Lane. The hotel is at the end of that road, adjacent to the Home Depot.)



Local Dining

Portsmouth is well-known in the local area for its abundance (some say, its over-abundance) of good restaurants. Most are within easy walking distance from the conference site. Here are a couple of on-line listings of Portsmouth restaurants.



NEW HAMPSHIRE INFORMATION


The New Hampshire Seacoast - General Information Sites

Here is a selection of links that can provide further information about the New Hampshire Seacoast region:

The following web sites are provided by two local newspapers :



Portsmouth Area Highlights

Here is a selection of links to specific points of interest and activities in the Portsmouth area :



Seacoast Area Highlights

Here is a selection of links to specific points of interest and activities in New Hampshire seacoast area :



Elsewhere in New Hampshire

Here is a selection of links that can provide further information about other places within New Hampshire that may be of interest to conference participants:



Last Updated: 6-September-1999

Conference Secretary :
Ms. Robbin Pendexter
Space Science Center
Morse Hall
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824
Phone: (603) 862-1061
Fax: (603) 862-4685

Address E-mail Correspondence to : compton5@unh.edu