ICQ
The IWCAs and their predecessors, the American Workshops on Cometary Astronomy (four AWCAs were held in the United States between 1982 and 1987), were established by the ICQ as a forum for bringing amateur and professional astronomers together with the goals of (1) improving the acquisition of cometary information, (2) increasing understanding as to what science can be gained through observing comets by both amateurs and professionals, and (3) providing a forum in which cometary astronomers can meet others from distant geographical locations and discuss various issues. This concept was continued for IWCA I (held in February 1994 in Selvino, Italy), IWCA II in Cambridge, England, IWCA III in Paris, and we plan to continue it for future IWCAs.
We are now planning to hold the fourth IWCA in Shanghai, China, on 2009 July 23 (Thursday) -- one day after the long total solar eclipse of 2009 July 22 (totality will be visible in Shangai, weather permitting). The IWCA IV will be co-hosted by the ICQ, the Chinese Astronomical Society, and the Beijing Planetarium. The plan is to hold the IWCA IV at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, which is about 1.7 km from the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Pudong where numerous non-Chinese Workshop attendees will be staying. A map showing the Museum location is provided here. (When attendees get to the gate of the Museum, there will be guides and/or signs to them to the IWCA meeting room.)
The Workshop will start about 9:30 am and end around 5:00 pm. Lunch will be a complimentary buffet. Current plans are for a half-day meeting in English with all participants (Chinese and non-Chinese attendees), and the second half of the day will have the meeting split into two groups: one being conducted in Chinese only, and the other being conducted in English only. Additional details will appear here as soon as they become available. [There had originally been plans to have the IWCA IV in Japan in July 2009, but international interest has unfortunately been too weak to warrant the effort of planning such a meeting.]
The Chinese astronomers have established a webpage in Chinese for this Workshop: http://sites.google.com/site/iwcaivsh/Home.
People interested in attending this Workshop, and those interested in giving a talk, are encouraged to contact the ICQ Editor [icq(at)cfa.harvard.edu]. Jin Beize has also offered to answer questions regarding travel questions within China; he can be contacted by e-mail at: jinzhao318(at)hotmail.com
People who have indicated their intention to attend IWCA IV: Jin Beize (China); Nicolas Biver (France); Bernd Brinkmann (Germany); Donghua Chen (China); Tao Chen (China); John Drummond (New Zealand); Daniel Fischer (Germany); Jim Gifford (Australia); Daniel Green (USA); Werner Hasubick (Germany); Tony Hoffman (USA); Stephen McCann (U.K.); Philippe Morel (France); Alain-Jo Motte (France); Syuichi Nakano (Japan); Bill Ward (U.K.); Jin Zhu (China).