Notices

The deadline for submission of papers for the printed proceedings is 12 November 2004, 18:00 CET. See Proceedings for further details.

2004-10-13:A report of the Symposium has been prepared by the Chairs of the Scientific Organising Committee. It is available online.

2004-09-23: A Final Announcement containing some practical information for participants of the Symposium is now available. It includes details on how to deliver material for the invited and oral presentations, transport from Paris to Meudon, network connections during the Symposium and the social dinner. See the Final Announcement link.

2004-09-20: Registration is now closed. The list of participants, including those on the waiting list, has been finalised.

2004-09-03: The registration list for the Symposium is now full and a waiting list has been opened. If you register now your name will be placed on the waiting list. If places become available you will be informed personally in the next few weeks.

2004-08-20: For security and logistical reasons a maximum of 230 participants may be registered for the Symposium. Once this limit has been exceeded a waiting list will be opened for individuals who still wish to register for the Symposium. If places later become available they will be filled from the waiting list.

2004-08-16: A complete list of abstracts for all invited, oral and poster contributions is now available online.

2004-08-09: Instructions for preparing papers for the published proceedings have been added. See here for details.

2004-07-01: The programme for the Symposium has been finalised. See here for details.

2004-05-01: The closing date for grant applications has passed. No more applications will be accepted.

2004-03-04: A list of recommended hotels is now available here.

2004-02-16: Early registration for the Symposium at a preferential rate is open from mid-February to 31 May 2004. Registration at the normal rate will run from 01 June to 15 September 2004. Click on the Registration link and complete the online forms.

Students and young researchers: You can apply for a grant which will (partially or completely) cover the registration fees, your travel costs and a per diem for your stay. Click on Registration and follow the instructions.

The Three Dimensional Universe with Gaia - Introduction

Les Rencontres de l'Observatoire 2004 are dedicated to a Symposium on "The Three Dimensional Universe with Gaia". It will take place at the Observatoire de Paris, at the Meudon site, building 18 (LAM), from 4 to 7 October 2004.

The date chosen for this Symposium corresponds to the end of the definition phase of Gaia. The purposes of this Symposium are:

• to present to the scientific community the design chosen for the mission, the final characteristics and performances, and to update the resulting scientific case
• to bring to the attention of the scientific community the extraordinary potential of Gaia and to share with the younger generation of scientists the expertise acquired during the preparation phases of the Gaia mission, and during all phases of the Hipparcos mission. Students and young researchers are particularly welcome
• to organise the next phase of scientific preparation of the mission, in particular the data reduction which constitutes a major challenge with a petabyte of interconnected data which has to be treated in a global and iterative manner, and to prepare for the scientific exploitation of the data.

Practical information for all participants to the Symposium

1) Registration on Sunday 3 October (afternoon)
Material for the symposium (bags, badges, maps, lunch tickets, invitation to social dinner, book of abstract etc.) may be collected on Sunday 3 October, from 14:00 to 19:00, at the Observatoire de Paris, in Bâtiment Perrault (the main building with the white dome), in Salle du Conseil which is located at the ground floor. (This material can also be collected on Monday 4 October during the pause in the morning session at the Symposium.)

Please note: The entrance is located at 77 Avenue Denfert-Rochereau (Paris 14ème, metro Port Royal or Denfert-Rochereau). There is a bell to call the guard. A list of participants will be given to him and he will ask your name. The "Salle du Conseil" is about 300 m from the entrance, at the same level, left side of Batiment Perrault.

2) From Paris to the Amphitheatre of Meudon Observatory
- From the main railway station "Montparnasse" to "Bellevue": take the omnibus train, direction Sèvres or Sèvres R.G. (Rive Gauche). There is one train every 15 min and the journey takes 12 min. Bellevue is the 4th station, after Vanves-Malakoff, Clamart and Meudon.

- From the SNCF railway station "Bellevue" to the amphitheatre of Meudon Observatory: buses will wait for participants in front of the station, at the times given below. (If you miss the train, there will be no bus!).

Monday 4, Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 October:
departure from gare Montparnasse: 8h 39. Arrival Bellevue 8h 51.

Thursday 7 October:
departure from gare Montparnasse: 9h 09. Arrival Bellevue 9h 21.

- In the evening, after the sessions, a bus will bring participants to the Bellevue train station.

3) Transportation tickets
Mixed tickets, metro + bus + RER + train (RATP + SNCF) are available in Paris, in any metro (RATP) or railway (SNCF) station. We recommend you buy this kind of ticket. Two of them are very convenient: "Mobilis" (daily ticket) or "Paris Visite" (Tickets for 1, 2 3 or 5 days). Meudon is in the suburbs (zone 3), which means that you must buy tickets for zones 1 to 3.

More information (in English) can be found at http://www.transport-idf.com, or http://www.ratp.fr/.

4) Social dinner
The social dinner will take place on a "bateau mouche", on Wednesday 6 October, from 8 pm to 1 am. Participants are expected to embark promptly at 19h30. Invitation and information about how to get there are given with the symposium material. The bateau mouche is called "Bel Ami" and belongs to the Society Bleu Seine.

Important: Please inform the LOC (yves.viala@obspm.fr) in any of the following cases:
· you will not participate in the social dinner
· you want a vegetarian meal
· you are allergic to a particular product.

5) Computing facilities and connection to the network
A room with a few PC and MacIntosh computers (with DHCP servers) will be available to participants. It will also be possible to connect your personal computer to the network, equipped with a DHCP server. The room is located very near (100 m) to the amphitheatre (building 18), in building 15 (Computing Centre: SIO, see map on Symposium website or at the Meudon website ) and will be open from 9 am to 6 pm.

6) Posters
The total number of posters is 99! Depending on the number of supports that will be available there will be one or two poster sessions and/or one or two rooms where they will be displayed. Labelling of posters will follow the order of the book of abstracts. Poster size: typically A0, i.e. 84 x 120 cm, portrait format.

7) Invited and Contributed Talks
To avoid loss of time between talks, all speakers will have to install their presentations in advance on a computer devoted to the symposium. Please put your name on the file containing your talk and use an extension corresponding to the software used to create it (for example: viala.ppt, viala.pdf, etc). If you use more exotic software, or have special requirements, please inform the LOC!

If your presentation is ready before the start of the Symposium, please send it as an attached document to yves.viala@obspm.fr. This is the preferred option!

If the document is too large (more than 5-10 Mb), it is preferable to put it on the anonymous FTP site of the Paris Observatory.

Connect to: ftp.obspm.fr, user: anonymous, passwd: your electronic address.
Put your file on /incoming/gaia and inform the LOC (name of file, type of file…) by sending a mail to yves.viala@obspm.fr.

More information on using the anonymous ftp (in French) at: http://www.obspm.fr/~websio/fichiersHTML/Fiches/base/ftpanonyme.html).

You can also provide us with a copy of your talk on a CD Rom or USB memory stick, in advance of the session in which you are invited to talk.
Even if you have sent your talk in advance, please keep an electronic copy of your talk and bring it with you.

8) Proceedings
Instructions for the processing are available from the web site of the Symposium, along with the LaTeX template. Page allocation: 8 pages for an oral contribution, 4 pages for a poster. Deadline for receipt of papers is 12 November 2004.

Combined with astrophysical information for each star, provided by on-board multi-colour photometry and spectroscopic measurements, these data will have the precision and depth necessary to clarify the origin and history of our Galaxy from a quantitative census and multi-parameter characterisation of the stellar populations. Additional products include detection and characterisation of tens of thousands of extra-solar planetary systems, a comprehensive survey of some 100,000 to 1 million minor bodies in our Solar System (including near-Earth objects), observation of galaxies in the nearby Universe and of some 500 000 quasars, and stringent new tests of general relativity and cosmology.

Gaia has been selected as a Cornerstone of the ESA Science Programme in October 2000, and confirmed as a flagship of the new ESA Science Programme “Cosmic Vision 2020” in May 2002. From that date, in-depth studies have been progressing in many of the scientific areas of relevance to the system design, as well as the definition of the radial velocity spectrometer and in the development of a prototype data analysis system. In parallel, technical studies have been initiated, aiming to reach, by the end of 2004, full confidence in the feasibility of the Gaia project, and detailed understanding and control of all critical technologies required to build and operate the mission, and analyse its data.

October 2004 is a timely opportunity to fully review the progress that will have been made, following the completion of these multifaceted studies. The goal of the meeting is to present the design chosen for the Gaia mission and its performances, to update the science case, and to organise the next stages for the scientific preparation of the mission.

The Symposium will begin at 09:30 on Monday 4 October and is scheduled to close on Thursday 7 October at 16:00. Please check the programme for details of opening and closing times for the daily sessions.

The Scientific Organising Committee has selected the invited and oral contributions to be presented. They are listed below. The list of all contributions (invited, oral and poster) can be found here. A list of abstracts, organised per session, is available here.

Chair: Karri Muinonen

Chair: James Binney

Chair: Carla Cacciari

Chair: Poul Erik Nissen

Chair: Catherine Césarsky

Scientific Organising Committee
Honorary Chair: Adriaan Blaauw
Catherine Turon (Chair), Michael Perryman (Co-Chair)

Frédéric Arenou,   Coryn Bailer-Jones,   Ulrich Bastian,   Erik Høg,   Andrew Holland,
Carme Jordi,   David Katz,   Mario Lattanzi,   Floor van Leeuwen,
Lennart Lindegren,    Xavier Luri,   François Mignard

Local Organising Committee
Yves Viala (Chair)
Olga Martins,    Annick Oger,    Françoise Crifo,
Alain Doressoundiram,    Daniel Hestroffer,    Annie Spielfieldel

Web & Proceedings
Karen O'Flaherty

Registration

All Symposium participants must register using the registration tools below. Early registration (at a reduced rate) is open until 31 May 2004. Participants registering after this date must pay the full fee. Latest date for registration was 15 September 2004. The registration list for the Symposium is now full.

Please note: You are strongly advised to book your accomodation as soon as possible. The dates for the Gaia Symposium coincide with the "Salon de l'Automobile" exhibition in Paris - one of the most important events in Paris this year which is expected to attract a lot of visitors. There is a strong risk that most hotels in Paris will be quickly booked up for this period.

Note for those in receipt of a grant from the SOC: For young researchers and students who have received a grant from the Scientific Organising Committee to attend the Symposium, the accomodation will be arranged by the Local Organising Committee.

Hotels recommended by the LOC

Hereafter is a list of hotels which have agreed with the Local Organizing Committee to offer some accomodation at reduced costs. To receive the reduced rates, you must indicate "Colloque Gaia 2004" in your booking form. You can book by phone, fax, e-mail and, in most cases, through the web. A number of rooms (an estimate is given in parenthesis beside the hotel name) are pre-reserved for the Gaia Symposium, but only during the next few weeks.
These hotels are situated in convenient places for getting to the Symposium (city districts south of Paris near both Gare Montparnasse and Observatoire de Paris, southwest suburbs of Paris such as Meudon, Sèvres…).
As far as possible, this list will be continuously updated.

Hotel CAMPANILE MAINE MONTPARNASSE (**) (25 rooms reserved)
146, Avenue du Maine - 75014 PARIS. (Metro : Alésia or Mouton-Duvernet)
Rooms: Single: 69 Euros; Double: 75 Euros. Breakfast: 6.80 Euros
Phone: 33 (0)1 53 74 60 00 – Fax: 33 (0)1 40 47 01 49
e-mail: campanile.mainemontparnasse@wanadoo.fr
website: Campanile hotel group [http://www.campanile.fr]
Note: 700 meters from Montparnasse Station. Quartier Montparnasse. Close to Quartier Latin, Luxembourg, Saint Germain des Pres.

Hotel AROTEL (**) (25 rooms reserved)
74, Boulevard Edgar Quinet - 75014 PARIS. (Metro : Edgar Quinet)
Rooms: Single: 74 Euros; Double: 83 Euros. Breakfast: 6 Euros
Phone: 33 (0)1 43 35 46 66 – Fax: 33 (0)1 42 79 03 64
e-mail: reserv@arotel.com
website: Hotel website [http://www.arotel.com]
Note: 500 meters from Montparnasse Station. Quartier Montparnasse. Close to Quartier Latin, Luxembourg, Saint Germain des Pres.

Hotel IBIS MEUDON-LA-FORET (**) (20 rooms reserved)
7, route du Colonel Moraine – 92360 MEUDON-LA-FORET
Rooms : (1-2 persons) 78 Euros. Breakfast: 6 Euros
Phone: 33 (0)1 45 37 09 09 – Fax: 33 (0)1 40 94 00 19
e-mail: h0948@accor-hotels.com
website: Ibis hotel group [http://www.ibishotel.com]
Note: The nearest hotel from observatoire de Meudon (2 km). In a small town (evening activities reduced!). Access to Paris by bus 179 up to Pont-de Sèvres where there is the metro station: Pont de Sèvres (terminus of line 9).

Hotel IBIS ALESIA (**) (10 rooms reserved)
49, Rue des Plantes - 75014 PARIS. (Metro : Alésia)
Rooms : (1-2 persons): 81 Euros. Breakfast : 6 Euros
Phone: 33 (0)1 53 90 40 00 – Fax: 33 (0)1 53 90 40 15
e-mail: h0959@accor-hotels.com
website: Ibis hotel group [http://www.ibishotel.com]
Note: 1500 meters from Montparnasse Station. Quartier Alesia/Montparnasse. Close to Quartier Latin, Luxembourg, Saint Germain des Pres.

Hotel DAGUERRE (**) (15 rooms reserved)
94, Rue Daguerre - 75014 PARIS. (Metro: Gaieté or Denfert-Rochereau)
Rooms : (1-2 persons): 83 Euros, including breakfast
Phone: 33 (0)1 43 22 43 54 – Fax: 33 (0)1 43 20 66 84
e-mail: hoteldaguerre@wanadoo.fr
Note: 500 meters from Montparnasse Station. Quartier Denfert-Rochereau/Montparnasse. Close to Quartier Latin, Luxembourg, Saint Germain des Pres.

Hotel LE PARNASSE (**) (40 rooms reserved)
79, Avenue du Maine - 75014 PARIS. (Metro: Gaieté or Montparnasse-Bienvenue)
Rooms: Single: 87 Euros; Double: 107 Euros, including breakfast
Phone: 33 (0)1 43 20 13 93 – Fax: 33 (0)1 43 20 95 60
e-mail: leparnasse@dial.oleane.com
Note: 200 meters from Montparnasse Station. Quartier Montparnasse. Close to Quartier Latin, Luxembourg, Saint Germain des Pres.

Hotel ARCADIE (***) (7 rooms reserved)
71, Avenue du Maine - 75014 PARIS. (Metro: Gaieté or Montparnasse-Bienvenue)
Rooms: (1-2 persons): 103 Euros, including breakfast
Phone: 33 (0)1 43 20 91 11 – Fax: 33 (0)1 42 79 87 15
e-mail: hotel.arcadie@wanadoo.fr (you can also send an e-mail from their website)
website: Hotel website [http://www.123france.com/123/fr/hotel.php?id_hot=812]
Note: 200 meters from Montparnasse Station. Quartier Montparnasse. Close to Quartier Latin, Luxembourg, Saint Germain des Pres.

Hotel NOVOTEL SEVRES (***) (40 rooms reserved)
11-13 Grande Rue - 92310 Sèvres.
Rooms: Single or double 180 Euros, including breakfast. Reduced cost at 130 Euros for the night October 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 (week-ends before and after the symposium)
Phone: 33 (0)1 46 23 20 96 – Fax: 33 (0)1 46 23 02 32
e-mail: h1979@accor-hotels.com
website: Hotel website [http://fr.federal-hotel.com/hotel_novotel-paris-pont-de-sevres-sevres_3129.htm]
Note: Located in Sèvres, near the Seine. Access to Paris from metro station: Pont de Sèvres. Hotel located about 3 km from Observatoire de Meudon. Complete this form to reserve a room.

Other websites for booking hotels in Paris

If you prefer other places in Paris, below is a list of some other websites where you can make hotel reservations. (This list is incomplete.)

0800Paris-Hotels: http://www.0800paris-hotels.co.uk/ (in English) or http://www.0800paris-hotels.com/index_fr.asp (en français)

A1 Discount Paris Hotels: http://paris.fr.a1-discount-hotels.com/

Hotels-Paris.fr: http://www.hotels-paris.fr/en/ (in English) or http://www.hotels-paris.fr/fr/ (en français)

Hotels-Europe.ws: http://paris.hotels-europe.ws/

All City Hotel.net: http://www.allhotelsparis.net/

ParisBy.com: http://www.parisby.com/

123France.com: http://www.123france.com/

Kelkoo voyages: http://voyages.kelkoo.fr/b/a/c_170701_hotel.html (en français)

RatesToGo: http://www.RatesToGo.com/default.asp?country=France (in English) or http://www.ratestogo.com/default.asp?country=France&lc=FR (en français)

The proceedings of the Gaia Symposium "The Three Dimensional Universe with Gaia" will be published by the European Space Agency in early 2005 as part of its Special Publications series (this proceedings will be SP-576). All papers must be prepared using the LaTeX templates provided (see below for files and instructions). All components for the papers (i.e. the tex file, all figures, and a pdf version of the paper) must be submitted to Gaia_Symposium_2004 at rssd.esa.int.

The deadline for submission of final papers is 12 November 2004. Papers received after this deadline will not be included in the printed proceedings.

Instructions for authors are contained in the file Gaia2004_instructions.pdf. In addition to practical details such as page limits and submission details, the instructions also describe how to use the LaTeX class file (Gaia2004.cls), and how to prepare the paper. If, having read the instructions, you still have questions about preparing your paper, please contact Gaia_Symposium_2004 at rssd.esa.int and put 'Gaia 2004 proceedings' in the subject line.