Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 10:12:49 -1000 (HST) From: Karen Meech To: Audrey.Delsanti@obspm.fr, Catherine.deBergh@obspm.fr, Gerhard.Schwehm@esa.int, Heike.RauerEdlr.de@nihoa.ifa.hawaii.edu, I.P.Williams@qmul.ac.uk, Jacques.Crovisier@obspm.fr, Klaus.jockers@linmpi.mpg.de, Nicolas.Biver@obspm.fr, Therese.Encrenaz@obspm.fr, af@star.pst.qub.ac.uk, antonella.barucci@obspm.fr, arpigny@astro.ulg.ac.be, capria@rm.iasf.cnr.it, catherine.delahodde@astrsp-mrs.fr, cosmo@ifsi.rm.cnr.it, cosmo@leo.ifsi.rm.cnr.it, csterken@vub.ac.be, domi@mesioa.obspm.fr, dotto@mporzio.astro.it, eberhard.gruen@mpi-hd.mpg.de, gjc@specola.va, hboehnha@mpia-hd.mpg.de, hukaufl@eso.org, jkd@roe.ac.uk, lamy@astrsp-mrs.fr, licandro@tng.iac.es, ma@astro.umd.edu, marcello.fulchignoni@obspm.fr, meech@nihoa.ifa.hawaii.edu, mrk@ll.iac.ed, nicolas.thomas@phim.unibe.ch, ohainaut@eso.org, rschulz@so.estec.esa.nl, rwest@eso.org, tozzi@arcetri.astro.it, wms@stsci.edu Subject: Deep Impact Workshop Invitiation Dear Colleagues - As you are probably aware, on July 2005, NASA's Deep Impact mission will deliver a 360kg impactor to comet 9P/Tempel 1 at 10km/s. The results of the impact should be readily observable from Earth and good observations from Earth will provide unique information about the interior properties of a cometary nucleus. Although the flyby spacecraft of the Deep Impact mission will make unique in situ measurements, the constraints of space missions limit us to imaging and near-infrared spectroscopy. We are further constrained to an 800-sec interval from time of impact until the flyby spacecraft has flown past the point of observability of the impact site. The mission has been designed to provide good observing conditions from Earth and we are encouraging a wide range of observations from before the event (to establish a baseline of behavior over a week or more) until long after the event (since long-lived changes in the behavior are a plausible outcome). I am in charge of coordinating the ground- and space- based support for the mission, both for establishing the pre-impact baselines and to coordinate observers for maximal scientific yield at the time of encounter and immediately following. We would like to discuss the possibility of key project proposals for several international observing facilities, and would like to involve as many members of the community as possible, along the lines of the observing campaigns for the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impact with Jupiter in 1994. To this end, on behalf of the PI, Mike A'Hearn and myself, we would like to invite you to attend a workshop to be held at ESO Garching on Feb. 14 and 15, 2004 (over the weekend). The purpose of this workshop will be to: 1. To update the community on the status of the mission and the science goals. 2. To discuss the key ground support observations that we will need at various wavelengths at the time of encounter. 3. To begin dicussions on the unique capabilities of ESO facilities to participate in the Deep Impact science. 4. To form collaborations and begin the intial work for writing a key project proposal for both the pre-impact science (the comet is visible Nov 2004 through impact) and the encounter science. I apologize for the slightly late notice, we just settled all the workshop details before the Christmas holidays, and then I spent christmas observing for Deep Impact. Please respond if you might be interested in attending (i.e. if we should keep you on the mailing list). Within a few days we will have a web site in place with information about the workshop and the logistics. Please pass this letter along to other colleagues who might be interested in attending. Warm Regards, Karen Meech Deep Impact Ground Observing coordinator