The Man with No Time

So a new job, in a familiar department, at a university I know well, and in a city I lived in for three years. I've been there a week, so what could be more sensible than taking a week off to go to a conference! Ah, the life of a researcher. In fairness, I hadn't been to a conference for quite some time. I missed out on the large meeting in Canada that many of my colleagues went to, so my last one had been NAM in St Andrews . So after traveling down to London last weekend for Proms in the Park , I stayed on to attend the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) 2013 at UCL. EPSC is a bit broader in scope than many of the conferences I go to, as it mostly focuses on Solar system planetary science, with a bit of exploration thrown in. Exoplanets are a relatively recent addition to the lineup, and for this year were mostly present in a dynamics/atmospheres capacity. The EPSC 2013 logo is rather spectacular. (Credit: isar.cnrs-orleans.fr)

This week has been a busy one for astronomy here in St Andrews. Not because of any goings on at work, but because there's been a big conference in town! Several hundred astronomers descended on our little corner of Fife for the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting (NAM). The 2013 edition (dubbed 'St NAMdrews' by some witty folk) finished off yesterday, and it's been an enjoyable week.

After my visit to the RLSS Speeds , the next stop on my whirlwind tour of the UK took me to London for a two day conference at the Royal Society. Titled "Characterising exoplanets: detection, formation, interiors, atmospheres and habitability", it promised to be an interesting look at some of the aspects of exoplanetary research that I'm not so in touch with or involved in. It was also the first conference that I'd attended since my visit to the SUPA Cormack Astronomy Meeting in November 2012. Ah, the Royal Society. Such a storied institution, and they've got impressive facilities too. (Credit: David Brown)