vatly newsletterv n a e t w l s y n o 27. april 2018 vatly newsletter nearly ten years ago, we...

VN AE TW LS Y No 27. April 2018

VATLY NEWSLETTER

Nearly ten years ago, we started the Newsletter with a quotation of a few words from the resolutions of the7th Plenum of the Vietnamese Communist Party, hoping that they would become more than words. It isinteresting to recall them today: “...In the present conjuncture, young Vietnamese have to face manydifficulties... Before year 2020 we must build a Vietnamese youth... proud of their country... masteringperfectly the last advances in science and technology... It has become necessary to develop the Vietnamesecontingent of intellectuals both qualitatively and quantitatively and to raise their level of knowledge andeducation to that of developed countries... we must do our utmost for them to enjoy improved material andcultural working conditions, we must warrant for them material benefits matching their talents”.

Nong Duc Manh, July 17th 2008

We wish our friends a very happy and successful New Year of the Dog!

CONTENT

This twenty-seventh issue of the VATLYNEWSLETTER opens with the traditional NEWSFROM THE LABORATORY, followed by BESTWISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR that Pierre andDiep presented to the Tia Sang editorial team andcomments ON NEW ASTRONOMYINSTRUMENTS that they make in the context ofthe recent completion of the Nha Trang and HoaLac Observatories. Next, Diep comments onCOLLABORATING WITH USTH and Phuongon A RECENT VISIT OF ANNE DUTREY ANDEDWIGE CHAPILLON. Then come a series ofreports on meetings and conferences: SEAANMEETINGS IN CHIANG MAI ANDMANDALAY (Diep), EAO MEETING INSEOUL (Diep), ASTRONOMY SCHOOL INCHIANG MAI (Thai), EAYAM MEETING INJAPAN (Hoai) and H&H2017 MEETING INMANDALAY (Loc). Last, Tuan Anh and Hoairecorded AN INTERVIEW FROM NGHIEMVU KHAI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF VUSTA,the Viet Nam Union of Science and TechnologyAssociations. The issue closes with the traditionalPHOTO ALBUM.

NEWS FROM THE LABORATORY

Under this heading we review briefly the progress ofthe work of the team and the main events in its life.

The past six months have seen progress on ouranalyses of stellar physics observations with twonew publications in RAA, one on protostar GGTau with our Bordeaux collaborators and Phuongas first author, and one on AGB star EP Aqr withour Paris/Grenoble collaborators and Nhung asfirst author. Moreover, Hoai has been working ona radiative transfer description of the EP Aqr dataand Pierre and Nhung on a general paper on thede-projection of radio observations of axi-symmetric expanding circumstellar envelopes ofevolved stars, both papers currently nearingcompletion. Phuong and Diep have progressedwith the work on protostars in collaboration withthe Bordeaux team, which Phuong joined after Têtfor her four month yearly stay in the framework ofthe joint supervision agreement for her PhDdegree. Tuan Anh has been making essentialcontributions to the reduction and merging of EPAqr ALMA data, which turned out to be moredifficult than expected. We are still looking forpossible collaborations on high redshift galaxies,which would make it possible for us to accessobservations other than archival; Pierre has beencontacting Pierre Cox and colleagues of him inthis context. Thai is actively learning astrophysicsand gives us periodic presentations aimed atmonitoring her progress.

Thao came back with us after Têt, at theend of her maternity leave, and will be busy

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working on the Hoa Lac telescope together with anewcomer in the group, Pham Vu Loc. Loc justgot a master in material sciences from HanoiUniversity of Science and Technology and is along-date amateur astronomer, with a stronginterest in the history of astronomy in Asia. Heand Diep take care of the astronomy section of amonthly magazine, Pi Magazine, which Ngo BaoChau has been founding. Phan Thanh Phuc, whospent some time with us with the idea to work onthe Hoa Lac telescope, finally decided to join aprivate Korean company, with a much moregenerous salary than what VNSC can offer…

The walls of our office have been enrichedwith two recent additions: pictures of the threeLIGO Nobel laureates, adding to the collection,and a big poster of Bac Ho, dressed as Uncle Sam,and urging young Viet Kieu scientists to comeback to the country and work with us onpromoting Vietnamese science.

We took part in the usual lot of meetingsand conferences in South East Asia: in November,Hoai and Phuong attended the East Asian YoungAstronomers (EAYA) meeting in Japan whereHoai presented the work on evolved stars andPhuong the work on GG Tau. Diep attended the9th South East Asia Astronomer Network(SEAAN) in Mandalay, together with Loc whogave a presentation on Vietnamese calendar

history to the audience of an IAU History andHeritage meeting. Diep took part in a meeting of aSEAAN working group in Chiang Mai (Thailand)with the mission to amend the organisation’scharter; he also attended the James Clerk MaxwellTelescope (JCMT) users meeting in Seoul, wherewe are now welcome to submit proposals.

The whole team will be in Quy Nhon inJuly to attend and help with the organization ofthe conference on “Cosmic cycle of dust and gasin the Galaxy: from old to young stars”, whichAnne and Diep are organizing. The conferencewill be preceded by a two day workshop for seniorstudents and young postdocs and followed by atraining session in Nha Trang at the end of themonth.

Anne lecturing at VNSC

In November, young Vietnamese PhDstudents from USTH currently working in Francetook the initiative of convening what they called a“Vietnam astronomy meeting” which wasfollowed by Skype by their young colleaguesacross the world and to which Phuong and Dieptook part.

In January, VNSC welcomed a largeJapanese delegation, who presented a proposal forVietnam’s Long Term Master Plan for EarthObservation using Satellites. We all attended. Theidea was to recommend and propose to theVietnamese Government a long term road map ofremote sensing system for Viet Nam up to 2040.We heard very interesting presentations but it isnot clear what the follow-up will be.

In November, Pierre Lesaffre stayed withus for ten days during which, together with Diep,he gave lectures to Master 2 USTH students.

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In December, Anne Dutrey, fromBordeaux, and Edwige Chapillon, from theInstitut de radioastronomie millimétrique inGrenoble (IRAM), spent some time with us in theframework of our collaboration. Edwige gave aseminar on the NOrthern Extended MillimeterArray (NOEMA, the upgraded Plateau de BureInterferometer) and Anne gave a lecture onALMA observations of protostellar discs. Like lastyear, Anne has been submitting a grant applicationto the French Embassy in Hanoi in the hope toobtain some financial support for exchangesbetween Hanoi and Bordeaux in the framework ofthe very fruitful collaboration that we aremaintaining and, like last year, we just learnedthat it has not been retained. It is verydisappointing.

Prof. Lucio Picirillo with the trainees in Hoa Lac

In February Hoang Chi Thiem, who spentseveral years in Canada and is currently workingin KASI, spent a few days with us and gavelectures on dust alignment and magnetic fields ininterstellar matter.

Alain Maestrini gave lectures to Master 1USTH students on antennas andtelecommunications; Diep joined him to take careof an 8 hour practice course using the small 2.6 mradio telescope. We had a nice lunch with Alain,his wife and their young daughter Anne-Vy in arestaurant near the West Lake.

Both optical telescopes in Nha Trang andHoa Lac are now installed. Diep went to NhaTrang in October, together with Loc, to train theVietnam team preparing for the 11th InternationalOlympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics; theyhave been awarded two silver medals and twohonourable mentions. In January a training session

was organised by Lucio Picirillo in Hanoi andHoa Lac, for both telescope and planetarium, wereport about it elsewhere in the letter. Lucio alsopresented ideas of his on a new radio telescopeproject, which Diep and Pierre comment onbelow.

The team had opportunities to attendseminars from USTH students and lecturers andreports from the last contingent of VNSC studentshaving made a master in Japan and havingreturned home.

Hoai and the jury members after the Vietnamesedefence of her PhD thesis

On October 28th, Hoai had finally thechance to present the Vietnamese official defenceof her PhD thesis, which she did superbly. Thewhole team also attended the presentations of NgoHai Tan’s PhD thesis on the nuclear physics ofneutron stars. Diep and Nhung were members ofthe jury. Tan’s supervisor, Dao Tien Khoa, whogave an excellent seminar at the Institute ofNuclear Science and Technology on this subject,is keeping this research alive and Tan will nowjoin the Institute of Physics where she will be ableto continue working in the same field.

In the series of VNSC seminars, on theoccasion of Women’s day, a lady biologist gave aspeech that was followed by a round tablediscussion on the role of women in science towhich Diep took part.

At the end of September, we enjoyed thevisit of Professor Sun Kun Oh from Seoul, whomPierre knows from the Erice Seminars onPlanetary Emergencies. He is a particle physicist,member of the Alice collaboration on LHC,professor at Konkuk University, and member ofthe Bureau of the Global Science Forum.

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A young lady, Thu Hang, contacted usbecause she was planning to shoot a movie usingscience in general and astronomy in particular as asource of metaphors for more philosophicalissues. We enjoyed discussion with her, but shehas now changed her mind and is planning to jointhe Vietnamese University of Fine Arts thisSummer. Another young lady, Thuy-Han, living inBavaria, was introduced to us by Ngo Bao Chauwho invited Diep and Pierre for a dinner with herin December; her interest was also to hear from usin connection with a movie that she is shooting.

Sun Kun Oh and Pierre, with Bac Ho in thebackground.

Teacher’s day was the opportunity forPierre to welcome the visit of old friends, such asThieu and Dong, and to receive news from Hiep,who is now completing his PhD work in Australiaon hidden gas in the Galaxy (i.e. gas that is notreadily detected from HI and CO emissions), andfrom The, who has given birth to a beautiful boy,Phan Quang Bao, on Vietnam Independence Day.

Bac Pierre has kept actively writingarticles for Tia Sang. He and Diep were invited bythe editorial staff for a Têt get-together partywhere they gave a short speech on freedom ofexpression; we copy it elsewhere in the letter.They also had a chance to meet the Deputy-Minister of the Ministry of Science andTechnology (MOST), Professor Pham Cong Tac,whom they delivered a similar message. As usualon such occasions, the message was very wellreceived, but probably forgotten as soon as theyhad left the room… Bac Pierre also attended aconference given by the Institute of Mathematicsin the honour of Hoang Tuy’s 90th birthday. Hehad been invited to join the Advisory Board of the

Vietnam Young Academy, which is dominated byViet Kieu membership. After having met thepresident of VAST, he understood that there wouldbe no support from the country to encourage anincreased domestic membership and he preferredto decline the invitation. He wrote an article in TiaSang on this issue. In February, he went to CERNwhere he gave the opening speech on the occasionof the Alumni day.

On November 11th, the very same date asTuan Anh’s own birthday, Tuan Anh’s wife gavebirth to a strong boy, Pham Thanh Tung, bringingthe contingent of the young VATLY generation tofive members. Welcome to the gang!

Celebrating Pierre's 80th birthday at his house onFebruary 17th

BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR

Each Têt is the occasion for Tia Sang to invitethose who contribute to its redaction for a get-together party during which the guests are invitedto say a few words. Bac Pierre went there withDiep and we copy below what he said, whichDiep translated in Vietnamese.

Têt is the time to express our wishes for the NewYear. My dearest wish this year is to see the nationprogress on the way to free expression and freespeech. I know a young Vietnamese scientist,doing research in Viet Nam, who recentlysubmitted an article on Vietnamese fundamentalscientific research to a magazine specialized inscience and technology (it was not Tia Sang). Itwas an excellent article, well documented,intelligently organized and identifying clearlypoints that deserve some effort to achieve

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improvement. The article was rejected. The reasongiven was that it was painting too black a pictureof Vietnamese science. It is not by painting realityin pink that we shall progress. It is by having thecourage to face the truth and the determination tobring light into the dark. The censor who preventsthe young generation to identify openly the flawsand weaknesses that need to be fixed for the nationto progress is an enemy of the country. On thecontrary, who has the courage to face the truthand the determination to progress is its friend.Gagging the young generation is castrating thenation intellectually. Inventing taboos and hidingthe truth is counter-productive. Viet Nam can beproud of its past and present history and hasnothing to hide. We all make mistakes some time;rather than hiding them, we need to learn fromthem. Wisdom is for the old age, enthusiasm is forthe young age, we need both. There will be noprogress in the country toward more humandignity if we keep preventing the younggeneration to speak out. We should not only stopdoing so but even more, encourage them to speakup. The nation has to face outstandingly difficultchallenges in a constantly changing world. Tosucceed, it needs to open its eyes and to open itsmind. In 2017, Viet Nam ranked 175 in the WorldPress Freedom Index of Reporters withoutBorders, just in front of China, Syria,Turkmenistan, Eritrea and North Korea. Mydearest wish this year is to see Viet Nam jump outof this rear guard and restore freedom for theyoung generation to identify clearly what theyneed to fight for in order to make the countryprogress on the way to intellectual and moralrigour and on the way to human dignity. I knowthat we can count on Tia Sang to help with such amove and, at the same time as I thank its staff forwelcoming us and making us feel at home amongthem, I wish them to find the strength to do so.

ON NEW ASTRONOMY INSTRUMENTS

The completion of the observatories in Nha Trangand Hoa Lac, with telescopes and planetariums,is now putting pressure on VNSC to make the bestpossible and efficient use of the instruments. Wehad on this occasion very fruitful discussions withthe Manchester professor responsible for theirinstallation, Lucio Piccirillo, sharing with himwhat could be done if adequate support were

given to astrophysics in the country.Unfortunately, in the present Vietnamesesituation, we are forced to limit our ambitions tomore modest goals, as Diep and Pierre arecommenting below.

Recently, VNSC completed the construction oftwo observatories in Nha Trang and Hoa Lac (30km from Hanoi to the west). Each observatoryincludes a 0.5 metre diameter Ritchey-Chrétienoptical telescope and a planetarium of 50 seats inNha Trang and 100 seats in Hoa Lac. In Hoa Lac,where the future headquarter of VNSC will belocated in a few years, a space museum will bebuilt that should open in 2020. The primarypurpose of these instruments is to foster interestfor astronomy and space sciences in thepopulation, in particular for training schoolchildren and university students in these fields. Itis planned that VNSC will start in June already towelcome students for training and visiting the HoaLac observatory.

Practising with the newly installed telescope in HoaLac during the training session

From January 19th to 22nd, Professor LucioPiccirillo, from the Jodrell Bank Centre forAstrophysics at University of Manchester, who isresponsible for the design and construction of NhaTrang and Hoa Lac observatories, organized atraining session on the newly installed Hoa Lactelescope and planetarium for the VNSC staff. AllDAP members, a colleague from Nha Trang, andsome other staff from the technology divisionattended. A first training session had taken placein Nha Trang in summer 2017 when Nha Trang

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Observatory had been technically completed. Onthat occasion Lucio Piccirillo had given athorough discussion of the hardware and softwareof relevance to the planetarium and telescope. Inthis second training session, he briefly reviewedwhat he had presented in Nha Trang: blockdiagram and optical characteristics of thetelescope, dome, CCD, spectrograph, and theirset-ups, turn on/off procedure, operation of thedome (open/close and rotate) and telescope,telescope and CCD’s control software. In the HoaLac training session more time could be dedicatedto photometry and spectroscopy and thegeneration of planetarium scripts. The discussionwas open between trainees and Lucio Piccirillo. Inaddition to providing basic information asmentioned before, considerations on how toenhance the instrument were also presented:colour photography filters, planetarytelescope/camera, autoguide using fast CCD.Regarding the operation of the planetarium, topicson turn on/off, run control software VUPLA, andcalibration were covered; general ideas wereoffered on how to tailor scripts for variousaudiences: small children (4-8), children (8-12),teenagers (13-17), adults (18+), special scripts forVIPs (politicians and non-experts). The traineeshad time for observations in one of the nightsduring the period and they also had time to workwith the spectrograph.

Currently, besides the focus on building atraining programme using the facility in Hoa Lac,three of us (Thao, Loc and Dung) are preparingfor a research programme using the telescope.They started making observations to gainfamiliarity and experience. They aim at being ableto assess what can be realistically achieved giventhe constraints of weather conditions and lightpollution. Some first measurements could possiblybe of variable stars, both photometry andspectroscopy. A good candidate is Algol, which isin the Hanoi sky. Other observations could be ofplanets, in particular Jupiter, and measurement ofits rotation velocity from the Doppler tilt of themolecular lines; observation of planetary nebulae,in particular NGC 6853 and measurement of theirspectra, would also be possible.

Before, coming back to Vietnam for thesecond training session, Lucio Piccirillo had paidtwo visits to VNSC to propose the acquisition of a

12 m radio telescope operated at centimetrewavelengths, which would be installed in or nearDa Lat. He underlined the main assets of such aninstrument: an optimal science to cost ratio, anexcellent training value and an important sciencepotential. We agreed with him on all points andrecognized that the acquisition of such aninstrument would be an important asset in thedevelopment of astrophysics research in thecountry; as scientists, we fully shared his views.However, as clearly stated in our earlier reportsissued in April and June 2015, the priority today isunfortunately not to acquire new instruments butto build up a community having the ability tomaintain, operate and exploit such instruments. Ina healthy science community, users are asking forinstruments, not instruments asking for users. Thepriority today in the country is to invest in brains,not in instruments.

Operating the Hoa Lac telescope during the trainingsession

This is essentially what our 2015 reportswere saying. They were proposing a number ofactions which, we thought, could help withbuilding a skilled Vietnamese astrophysicscommunity. The main recommendations were: i)support to DAP for training abroad (mostly inAsia), including schools, conferences and shortvisits to astrophysics research teams; ii) support toVNSC to foster new talents in modern electronics,with emphasis on millimetre wavelengths; iii)support to two or three foreign astrophysicists totravel to Ha Noi once a year and take part in themeeting of an advisory committee to be created;iv) support to fund and coordinate a network ofhalf a dozen or so small radio telescopes used to

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train students all over the country. We had thenargued that, if properly implemented, theserecommendations would help preparing theground for planning the construction of a nationalradio telescope.

Left to right: Diep, Vinh (a lecturer at HNUE) andPierre Lessaffre during a night observing session

Two and a half years later, our views notonly have not changed but we feel stronger aboutthem. A recent attempt Diep made for Vietnamesedoctoral schools to include astrophysics in theirsyllabus was turned down; the task of exploitingin Nha Trang and Hoa Lac optical telescopesequipped with high quality spectrographs,planetariums and a museum underline thedifficulty to bring together competent teamshaving the ability to exploit them, a real challengefor VNSC, which must be successfully overcome;we shall do our utmost to help with the task, butthe difficulty should not be underestimated inview of the bad record of the country in thisrespect; we must recognize that most of ourrecommendations, although very standard in othercountries (we had the support of several high levelforeign scientists whom we had consulted whenwriting the reports) could not be implemented, thecurrent culture prevailing in Vietnamese scienceand education failing to make them acceptable.

The current DAP staff is small and wehave difficulty in recruiting brilliant youngstudents because of the very low salary given toscientists compared with business, management,marketing, banking and other fashionableprofessions. Yet, we are doing top class researchin astrophysics, at international level, and publisha lot in the best journals in the field; we are wellrecognized by our colleagues abroad; we

understand very well the science and have clearideas about what is best for us to work on; indeed,our hands are full with our current work on stellarphysics and high redshift galaxies, our problem isnot missing ideas; it is not missing instrumentseither since we are working on observations madeby the best radio instruments in the world,operated at millimetre and sub-millimetrewavelengths, in particular the ALMA array, sixty-six antennas at 5’000 metres altitude in Chile.

The project that was presented by LucioPiccirillo implies, for being properly exploited, ateam of three or so PhD scientists. These peopleare not available on the market, it would takesomething like five years to build up a teamhaving the ability to run and exploit such anantenna. Accordingly, it would be irresponsiblefor us to commit ourselves to such a project.

Yet, as repeatedly emphasized by ourdirector, we must look positively at the future andbe determined to progress in spite of thedifficulties that we are meeting. So do we. In thepresent case, our attitude is therefore far fromrejecting the proposal but instead, as was stated inour earlier reports, to identify the best actions thatcould help with paving the way toward its futureimplementation. However, for the time being, wecannot consider seriously the acquisition of a newinstrument.

COLLABORATING WITH USTH

We are maintaining strong and friendly relationswith USTH; Diep reports and comments on ourcollaboration.

The University of Science and Technology ofHanoi (USTH), also known as the Vietnam-FranceUniversity, is one of the four so-called world classuniversities in Vietnam. The other three are withGermany, the United States and Japan. Since thebeginning of USTH, even before it formallystarted on the occasion of the Ha Noi Millenniumin 2010, we were already among its fellow-travellers, helping it to take off as much as wecould using our modest experience withdeveloping science in Vietnam, giving lecturesand taking care of lab work (in both astrophysicsand particle physics); in particular, Pierre was amember of the first advisory committee.

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Currently, four of us, Tuan Anh, Nhung, Thao andI are giving lectures at USTH to bachelor andmaster students; we welcome students forinternship with us at VNSC and we contribute tothe supervision of master and PhD theses. Rightnow, at the end of March, one of us, Nhung, is inParis to attend a PhD thesis defence by one of theUSTH PhD students. Nhung is co-supervisor ofthe thesis. We contribute to lab-work together withUSTH lecturers using our former cosmic raydetectors at the Institute of Nuclear Science andTechnology, our small radio telescope and the 40cm diameter optical telescope of the HanoiUniversity of Education.

We mostly interact with USTH through theactivities of the Department of Space andAeronautics (DSA) of which Yannick and PhamAnh Tuan are directors and in the running ofwhich our friend Ngo Duc Thanh, with whom wemaintain excellent relations and who is alsoDeputy Rector of USTH, plays a major role. DSAis facing difficulties with recruiting a large enoughnumber of students and does not have full timelecturers/researchers. However, their students arevery active and lively. They maintain a cycle ofseminars with speakers usually chosen among thelecturers who come from France for a few days,up to two weeks, to lecture. We attend most of theseminars and the USTH DAS students attendseminars organised by us. USTH PhD studentswho are making their PhD abroad, mostly inFrench laboratories, keep close contact with theuniversity and also among themselves. Theyorganised the first meeting of young Vietnameseand overseas Vietnamese astronomers which tookplace in Paris; most of them were PhD students, afew others were master students and youngpostdocs. Phuong and I attended the meeting fromHa Noi via Skype. Phuong gave a presentation ofher work on the proto-star system GG Tau and Ispoke about our research at DAP. During themeeting, the participants presented their work anddiscussed possible future collaboration. They allexpressed a desire to build a strong network ofyoung Vietnamese astronomers. Many of theUSTH PhD students expressed the wish tocollaborate with DAP members after finishingtheir PhD and coming back to Vietnam. Weexpressed formally the wish to strengthen ourcollaboration with USTH, in particular by being

accepted in the doctoral programme as co-supervisors of PhD theses in a co-supervision(cotutelle) agreement framework, but our offer didnot receive a friendly welcome yet. We shallnevertheless keep pushing the idea with the DASdirectors with the aim of establishing a moreformal collaboration between USTH and theDepartment of AstroPhysics of VNSC.

A RECENT VISIT OF ANNE DUTREY ANDEDWIGE CHAPILLON

Anne Dutrey, from Bordeaux, and EdwigeChapillon, from Grenoble, spent a week with usbefore Christmas. Phuong reports.

Welcoming Anne and Edwige at a dinner in arestaurant serving specialities from Hue’s gastrnomy

In December, Anne Dutrey (Laboratoried’Astrophysique de Bordeaux), co-supervisor ofmy thesis, and Edwige Chapillon (Institut deRadio Astronomie Millimétrique in Grenoble)spent a week with us in the framework of thecollaboration between Hanoi and Bordeaux. Annegave a lecture on the physics of proto-stellar discsand ALMA observations of such objects. Edwigegave a seminar on the NOrthern ExtendedMillimeter Array (NOEMA), the upgraded Plateaude Bure Interferometer. Lecture and seminar wereattended not only by the DAP members but alsoby some undergraduate and master students fromUSTH and some young colleagues from VNSC.

The main purpose of the visit was to worktogether on ALMA observations of GG Tauemissions from 12CO(3-2), 13CO(3-2), C18O(3-2),CS(7-6) and on IRAM interferometer observationsof CS(3-2). The high angular resolution

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observations of optically thin CO isotopeemissions, 13CO(3-2) and C18O(3-2) display aradial dependence of the intensity that showscomplex features that cannot be modelled by asimple power law, as commonly assumed forproto-planetary discs. We use DiskFit, a radiativetransfer code developed by the Bordeaux team, tomodel the GG Tau ring. With different COisotopes, we are able to determine the CO surfacedensity as well as the disc’s kinematictemperature. We are also able to identify differentmolecular layers in the disc. C18O(3-2) and CS(7-6) emissions reveal the very high density of thering. We are now completing the analysis of thering data and start working on the cavity in thecentre of the disk. Using the modelled ringemission, we subtract its contribution and retainonly the emission inside the cavity. We hope to beable to identify clumps inside the cavity for whichwe could estimate the excitation conditions.

In front of Bich Dong (Green Pearl Grotto) in NinhBinh

NOEMA will double the number ofantennas of its predecessor from six to twelve.Construction of the array will continue, with theaddition of approximately one antenna each yearuntil 2019. The NOEMA receiver will reachhigher frequencies (4 bands: 72-116 GHz, 127-179 GHz, 200-276 GHz, 275 -373 GHz). Thecorrelator will also be upgraded from 4 GHzbandwidth (2 GHz in each side band) in singlepolarization to 32 GHz coverage – 2 polarizationsand 8 GHz in each side band. Currently, NOEMAhas nine antennas on track with new receivers andthe upgraded correlator. Last winter, we submitteda proposal with Edwige as PI to observe Sulphur-

bearing species in GG Tau. During the time Anneand Edwige were in Hanoi, we learned that theproposal had been accepted as a test for the newcorrelator. The new observations are of higherquality than the 2015 observations and weconfirmed the detection of a new species (H2S) inthe proto-planetary disc. We are working on thenew data set and will soon publish the results.

Anne and Edwige spent a weekend with usand we took them to the beautiful Tam Coc-BichDong region in Ninh Binh.

SEAAN MEETINGS IN CHIANG MAI ANDMANDALAY

Diep represented Viet Nam at a meeting of theSouth-East Asia Astronomy Network where thecharter of the organization was discussed. Hereports below.

The SEAAN Charter working group in front of theAstroPark's mirror coating chamber

Following the Ha Noi meeting of the South-EastAsia Astronomy Network (SEAAN), in December2016, about which I had reported earlier, I wasappointed member of a working group havingmission to improve the writing of the Network’scharter. As its name says, SEAAN is a networkgathering astronomers from the South-East Asiaregion, which includes eleven member countries(Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,Timor-Leste and Viet Nam). Though the numberof countries is small, the development ofastronomy in these countries is quite diverse. It israther advanced in some but nearly inexistent inothers.

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SEAAN was created in 2007 and sincethen it had been using a version of its charter thathad been adapted from another charter. Manyarticles needed to be updated to fit with the newdevelopments and conditions in the Network. Theworking group consisted of seven members andwas formed following the conclusion of theprevious SEAAN meeting that had taken place inHa Noi over a year ago.

The SEAAN Charter working group visiting a regionalobservatory located nearby Astropark

We had quite a lot of discussions and emailexchanges in preparation for the meeting, whichtook place in Chiang Mai’s AstroPark onSeptember 28th and 29th, 2017. AstroPark is thenewly built headquarter of the NationalAstronomical Research Institute of Thailand(NARIT). During the two days, we discussedimportant points that had been raised before andduring the earlier meeting, such as the terms androles of the Chair and Vice Chair (a new position),criteria for recruiting new members, proceduresfor forming working groups under SEAAN andfor appointing group leaders, publication ofproceedings of SEAAN meetings, guidelines forcreating a website and maintaining a memberdatabase. At the end of the two days, we hadreached consensus on all points and we were ableto write down the new version of the Charter,which has been ratified later on by all nationalrepresentatives present at the 9th SEAAN meetingin Mandalay (Myanmar).

The meeting at AstroPark was anopportunity to visit the installations of NARIT,starting with an impressive and modern mirrorpolishing and coating facility. NARIT operates a

2.4 metre optical telescope and they are able torecoat the mirror by themselves. They have beenproducing hundreds of 250 mm diameterDobsonian telescopes to be given to high schoolsall across Thailand and to some universities andschools in neighbouring countries, such asCambodia and Myanmar. They have alsoproduced half a dozen of 0.5 to 1 meter diametertelescopes to equip the so-called Thai regionalobservatories scattered around the countries. Wevisited mechanical workshops and radiolaboratories where they can build high precisionmechanical parts and assemble receivers, inpreparation for their project to build three 40 mradio telescopes as part of a very long baselineinterferometry network. NARIT is alsomaintaining a powerful high performancecomputing system, which attracts users frommany outside institutes and a library whereNARIT researchers can access most scientificjournals.

Diep attended the 9th SEAAN annual meeting inMandalay, Myanmar, and reports about it below.

From November 29th to 30th, I attended the 9th

SEAAN annual meeting at the University ofMandalay, in Myanmar. Like in some othercountries of the region, there is very littleastronomy teaching and research in Myanmar, justsome astronomy lectures being given in thedepartment of physics at the University ofMandalay. The meeting was an important eventfor the University. High level authorities of theMandalay state, such as the minister of education,attended the opening session. On this occasion,the IAU Office for Astronomy Development andthe National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(NAOJ) offered the University of Mandalayseveral optical telescopes with the aim ofpromoting astronomy in the country.

As usual, a morning was dedicated to thenetwork business meeting and three other sessionswere for the presentation of scientific reports.Country representatives presented national reportsat the business meeting; in addition, we adoptedthe new version of the Charter and elected the newchair and vice chair, respectively BoonrucksarSoonthornthum and Hakim Luthfi Malasan; wediscussed steps to be taken to develop astronomyresearch and education in the region and we

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agreed to organize training workshops and keepholding annual meetings.

From left to right: Diep, Sze-leung Cheung (chair ofIAU OAO) and Loc at the Mandalay SEAAN meeting

The science sessions were attended bymany lecturers of the University of Mandalay. Itwas the first time that an SEAAN meeting wasorganized in Myanmar, an opportunity to attractthe attention of local authorities and media toastronomy, a science which is part of the Burmesenational culture but is not developed as it shouldin the country.

EAO MEETING IN SEOUL

The East Asian Observatory held their annualusers meeting at Seoul National University. Diepwas invited and reports below.

During the first half of 2017, Viet Nam joined theEast Asian Observatory (EAO) as a partner underobserver status. The MoU was signed betweenEAO and Vietnam National University in Ho ChiMinh City. This had been possible thanks to thestrong push of the EAO directorate, and inparticular of its chair, Professor Paul Ho. EAO is ajoint observatory which was formed by EACOA(East Asian Core Observatories Association) forthe purpose of pursuing joint projects inastronomy within the East Asian region. Byjoining EAO, Vietnamese astronomers can havefull access to all EAO facilities. Currently, EAO is

operating the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope(JCMT), a submillimetre-wavelength telescope atMauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. From January30th to February 2nd, 2018, EAO organised its thirdannual users meeting at Seoul National University.Thanks to the financial support from the NationalAstronomical Observatory of Japan, I could attendthe workshop. One day before the workshop, weheard presentations of the large programmes,currently using 50% of the available JCMTscience time. The other 50% are spent on smallerprojects led by Principal Investigators (PI). Weheard presentations of the current activities of theObservatory, future prospects, large programmesand scientific reports. Then the JCMT workshopgave a chance to the telescope’s users, inparticular the new ones, to learn from experts howto use the tools and methods of JCMT datareduction and analysis. Together with Dung, Ijoined the Large Programme on B-fields In Star-forming Region Observations (BISTRO). The aimis to map the polarization in the densest parts ofthe Gould Belt star-forming regions in order toaddress currently open questions on starformation, such as the role played by magneticfields and turbulence in star formation. I enjoyedvery much the friendly environment within theBISTRO group. They welcomed the participationof Viet Nam and allocated data from a region ofthe sky, Auriga-California, for us to work on.

ASTRONOMY SCHOOL IN CHIANG MAI

Thai attended a Winter school in Chiang Mai lastJanuary. She reports below.

I attended a school in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from15th to 19th January 2018. The theme of the schoolwas “Astrophysical Masers and Molecular Linesin Astronomy” with the aim of exploring thepotential of the new Thai National RadioTelescope in this domain. On this occasion, fifteenscientists from several prestigious Institutes andUniversities of the region, such as KASI , NAOJ,NARIT, ASTRON and the University of Sydney,had been invited to give lectures.

There were 28 participants attending theschool, 3 from Indonesia, 3 from Japan, 2 fromPhilippines, 19 from Thailand and I was alonecoming from Viet Nam. Among them were two

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PhD students, from Thailand and from Japan, theothers being mostly graduate students.

The school lasted five days and focused onMasers and Molecular Lines related topics. Wealso spent a morning on the site of the ThaiNational Radio Telescope (TNRT) in Huai HongKhrai Royal Development Study Centre where the40-m TNRT is scheduled to be fully operational inearly 2020. Near the end of the school, all studentswere divided into six groups, each group beinggiven the task to study a short scientific paperunder close supervision of the lecturers and topresent a summary of it. I joined a group of five,each from a different country, and we worked on apaper on rotating proto-stellar objects and the jetlaunching mechanism, under supervision of DrKee-Tae Kim from KASI, South Korea.

Thai, two schoolmates, and lecturers at the NARIT-SOKENDAI Winter School 2018 in Chiang Mai

The school was beneficial to me. It gaveme a lot of basic knowledge in astronomy which,as a young graduate student, I was missing. Ifound most topics addressed in the school quiteinteresting, in particular Molecular Lines in RadioAstronomy and Galactic Structure & MaserAstrometry.

EAYAM MEETING IN JAPAN

At the end of last year, Hoai and Phuongpresented their work at the EAYAM meeting inJapan; Hoai reports below.

The East Asian Young Astronomers Meeting(EAYAM) is organized by EACOA members,ASIAA, KASI, NAOC and NAOJ, to promoteinteraction and collaboration between young

astronomers in East Asia. It was first organized inTaiwan in 2003 and then in Japan (2006), China(2008), Korea (2011) and Taiwan (2015). Lastyear, it took place in Ishigaki Island, Japan. Theywelcomed about 70 participants mostly fromTaiwan, Korea, China and Japan and several fromother countries. All participants were expected togive either an oral or a poster presentation.

Phuong and Hoai in front of the 105 cm opticaltelescope of Ishigakijima Atronomical Observatory.

Usually, participants at the meeting getsupport for travel and living from their homeinstitute. In our case, lacking such support, thanksto NAOJ with the help of Prof. Kaz Sekiguchi,Phuong and I could attend the meeting. Phuongpresented her work on GG Tau and I on evolvedstars. We had a very good time in the beautifulisland, Ishigaki, meeting many youngastronomers, sharing with them experience ineducation and research, learning about thedifferent research conditions in different countries.We also had a chance to visit a station of the

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VLBI array aimed at the exploration of the 3-Dstructure of the Milky Way Galaxy based on high-precision astrometry of Galactic maser sources,the VERA Ishigakijima station, and the 105 cmoptical telescope of the Ishigakijima AtronomicalObservatory.

H&H20127 MEETING in MANDALAY

Loc attended a meeting in Mandalay of a workinggroup on the history of astronomy in South EastAsia; he reports below.

In November 2017, just before the SEAANmeeting about which Diep reports elsewhere inthe Newsletter, a meeting of the working group onSEAAN History & Heritage (H&H 2017) tookplace in Mandalay (Myanmar). I was the onlyVietnamese attending the meeting, which focusedon “exploring the history of SE Asian astronomy”and I gave a presentation on the history ofVietnamese astronomy. It was the second meetingof the working group, the first had taken pace inAo Nang, Thailand, in 2015.

“Burmese Zodiac.” At Amarapura, south of Mandalay,this 1847 fresco in the north-eastern entrance porch ofthe Kyauktawgyi Pagoda depicts a Burmeseastronomical chart showing constellations. PhotoMick Palarczyk.

The Meeting was organized by NARIT,largely by Professor Wayne Orchiston whounfortunately was refused an entrance visa toMyanmar and could not attend. He retired inJanuary and his presence was very much missed.Yet, the meeting ran smoothly and the proceedingswill be published by Springer (Orchiston, W., andVahia, M. (eds.), 2018. Exploring the History of

SE Asian Astronomy: A Review of CurrentProjects and Future Prospects and Possibilities).

My presentation focused on theVietnamese calendar, a broad topic but sparselystudied. The main existing research works arefrom Hoàng Xuân Hãn (between 1944 and 1982)and from Lê Thành Lân who worked alone on thesubject since 1986, for now thirty years. Hediscovered three old Vietnamese perpetualcalendars and his work covers the period from1544 until today; he gave evidence for occasionaldifferences between the Vietnamese and Chinesecalendars. His on-going research on other oldcalendars, using in particular ancient books ofhistory, aims at refining our knowledge, which isimportant for historians to properly convert thedates mentioned in old documents into Gregoriandates.

Loc (extreme right) and participants of the H&H2017Mandalay meeting

The history of the Vietnamese calendarcannot be separated from the history, through thewhole feudal period, of Vietnamese astronomy,meaning the history of the royal astronomyagency. After having formed an independent statein the 10th century, the successive Vietnamesedynasties kept maintaining an astronomy agencywith mission to calculate the calendar, forecastweather, and gain expertise in identifyingpropitious days (so-called hemerology). Theirwork in astronomy and meteorology was one ofthe main scientific activities of feudal Viet Nam,which did not otherwise pay much attention toscience. The history of these agencies, their staff,

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equipment and location has been studied anddescribed in a comprehensive way.

I very much enjoyed my visit in Myanmar,where I was for the first time, from the old royalcapital Mandalay, through the extraordinaryBagan, the sacred Kyaktiyo (Golden Rock), and tothe crowded Yangon. In Amarapura, nearMandalay, I visited the Kyauk Tau Gyi pagodawhere beautiful drawings of constellations andcelestial deities had been drawn nearly 300 yearsago. The choice of Mandalay as host of the H&Hmeeting was due to the existence of this pagoda. Iwanted to visit the planetarium in Yangon, a giftof Japan, but it was closed.

Burmese are very kind and devout people.They have their traditional calendar and peopleare named after the day when they were born.They also have their own astrological systempartly inherited from India. The legacy of Indianculture to South East Asia is indeed a major topicof interest and research for the H&H network.

AN INTERVIEW FROM NGHIEM VU KHAI, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF VUSTA

As we were disappointed by the relative passivityof some learned societies, in particular theVietnamese Astronomy Society and their apparentlack of interest in the success and progress of thecommunities that they are meant to represent, wedecided to find out about the organization fromwhich they depend, the Vietnamese Union ofScience and Technology Associations (VUSTA).VUSTA is a socio-political organization acting asa bridge between the Associations on the onehand, and the Party and the State on the other. Dr.Nghiem Vu Khai, Deputy Chair of VUSTA, formerdeputy minister of S&T, very kindly accepted toanswer questions from Tuan Anh and Hoai whorecorded the interview and report below. We aregrateful to Dr. Nghiem Vu Khai for havingexpressed himself very openly and the text below,while having been edited by him, reflects wellwhat he said.

VATLY: We have read the information availableon the web site of VUSTA. Could you tell us whathave been the most important accomplishments ofVUSTA recently, say during the past year.

Nghiem Vu Khai: In only a few days we shallcelebrate the 35th anniversary of VUSTA, whichwas founded on March 26th, 1983. It is a socio-political organization of the Vietnamese S&Tintellectuals, the biggest network of non-governmental S&T organizations in Vietnam, anation-wide and multi-disciplinary network of 79associations, 63 provincial branches and over 500affiliated S&T organizations. Its missions are:

1. Gathering and uniting Vietnameseintellectuals in S&T inside and outside thecountry, coordinating and guiding the operationsof member associations.

2. Acting as a bridge between memberassociations and the Party, the State and VietnamFatherland Front and other organizations toaddress common issues of relevance to VUSTAintellectuals.

3. Representing and protecting the legalrights and interests of its members, memberassociations, and Vietnamese intellectuals in S&T.

Dr. Nghiem Vu Khai, Deputy Chair of VUSTA

The main activities of VUSTA consist ofconsultancy, assessment, reviews and inspection.VUSTA gives advice and provides comments onproblems and risks potentially raised by newprojects, on regulations and guidelines and onlegal documents. For example, 15 years ago, whenit had been decided to build the Son Lahydropower plant, three options were beingconsidered, at different altitudes: high (265 m

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above sea level), medium (215 m) and low (in theform of several staircase dams). EVN (ElectricityViet Nam) wanted to produce more electricity andpleaded for the high option, offering nearly threetimes as much power than the medium one.However, there were important risks associatedwith this option, such as earthquakes, security andnational defence problems; an incident wouldhave had disastrous consequences for the RedRiver delta region. VUSTA played a major role inmaking the nation attentive to such risks, withscientists addressing the National Assembly andthe Central Committee of the Party, writing downrecommendations and organizing workshops. Themain argument was that one should pay attentionnot only to economy, but also to social andenvironmental impact. There were three importantfactors to be taken in consideration: electricityproduction, risks of flood and drought, andeconomy development in the north-westernregion. Their constraints and assets had to beharmoniously combined. In 2003, the NationalAssembly finally decided to choose the mediumoption.

A second example is bauxite mining in theHighlands, an event that had a very strong impacton public opinion in the country. I was a memberof the 12th National Assembly (2007-2011) at thattime and I saw how well VUSTA handled thematter. They analysed the environmental risks, inparticular the issue of the red mud wastes, andassessed the economic value of the project.Moreover, there were problems of transportation,of power supply, of technology being used in theexploitation of the mine. VUSTA expressed itsviews on the basis of a scientific assessment,accounting for economic benefits, protection ofthe environment and national security. We did notsupport unbalanced views but adopted anapproach that could be acceptable to stakeholders,including government agencies.

Recently, a bill ruling associations becamean issue of great concern to the society. This billdefines the rights and obligations of socialorganizations, state agencies and otherorganizations and individuals, a rather complexissue. When it was discussed in the NationalAssembly, VUSTA presented its views on anumber of articles. Fortunately, they were sharedand approved by a majority of members. The draft

bill is now being reviewed and supplemented inthe spirit of complying with the Constitution,respecting human rights and the rights of citizensand, at the same time, allowing for properimplementation by the State.

Concerning dissemination of S&Tknowledge, VUSTA has been playing animportant role in shaping the project ofVietnamese Digitalized Knowledge System.VUSTA evaluates information incorporated intothe system, as scientifically, objectively andaccurately as possible. The system covers a widerange of knowledge, from agriculture, health care,social sciences, ageing populations to natural andphysical sciences and sciences of the Earth and ofthe Universe. It is meant to be a kind of Wikipediabetter adapted to Vietnamese specific needs and toprovide a help desk with support for questions andanswers. In this context, allow me to recall thewords of Ho Chi Minh in May 1963 on theoccasion of the first meeting of the VietnameseAssociation for the Popularisation of Knowledge.Speaking about S&T, he said that science has itssource in manufacturing and production activitiesof the People and, in return, must serve the Peoplein contributing to the successful achievement ofsuch activities. Scientists are like silkworms, hesaid, they must produce fine silk to serve thesociety. Disseminating knowledge is indeed highon the list of VUSTA missions.

Annually, VUSTA honours and recognizesthe contribution of intellectuals in the countrythrough awards and prizes. VUSTA's awardshonour activities related to strengtheningintellectual unity, promoting creativity in societyand disseminating knowledge. In this way,VUSTA honours scientists with a long andexemplary scientific career, both at the nationaland provincial levels. VUSTA periodically awardsthose who have made excellent scientific andtechnological contributions to the country'sdevelopment with the VIFOTECH Prize.

VATLY: The learned societies with which we arefamiliar, the Vietnamese Astronomy Society(VAS) and the Vietnamese Physics Society (VPS),are not very active in comparison with similarsocieties in developed countries. Is the role ofVUSTA to encourage them to be more active? Forexample by taking initiatives such as the Young

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Minds Association created by the EuropeanPhysics societyhttp://www.epsyoungminds.org/about-us/to

Nghiem Vu Khai: VUSTA covers many memberassociations, societies and organizations. Some ofthem were established in response to needs of thesociety and are very well developed andrecognized, such as the Association ofAccountants and Auditors, the MedicalAssociation, etc. We also cover societies forwhich the needs of the society are not that high,this is why the government needs to support suchassociations. But these have to fight their ownway to operate efficiently, to have a vision of thefuture, to define objectives and strategies for theirdevelopment. Learned societies should gettogether to propose common projects aiming atimproving the development and progress offundamental and applied research.

However, VUSTA is well aware that thereare associations, which lack the skills andexperience necessary for raising funds for theiractivities. We try to help them with some trainingin the domains of funding, management andevaluation of scientific missions and projects. Wealso update at regular intervals the policies andregulations that govern scientific activities.

VATLY: Our French colleague Pierre Darriulat,who has been working with us in Hanoi for nearlytwenty years and has indeed created our researchteam asked to become a member of the VPS;however, it turned out to be impossible becauseVUSTA regulations prevent membership offoreign scientists. Can you comment?

Nghiem Vu Khai: I used to be a member of ascience association of Japan when I was a PhDstudent there, and I am still an honorary memberof several foreign associations and organizations. Istrongly support the idea that foreign people canbecome members of VUSTA associated societies,at least as associate or honorary members. Imentioned this point at the meeting of theStanding Committee of the National Assemblywhen discussing the bill on associations in 2015.Of course foreign scientists are welcome to joinresearch activities and participate in workshops orconferences organized by VUSTA. Concerning

the membership issue, I think that VUSTAregulations do not stipulate conditions ofmembership for foreigners. This does not meanthat such membership is absolutely excluded. Theissue should be studied in the framework of therelevant legislation.

VATLY: What is the position and policy ofVUSTA toward overseas Vietnameseintellectuals? How does VUSTA consider thatthey could contribute to the progress of scientificresearch in the country?

Nghiem Vu Khai: Overseas Vietnameseintellectuals have a very important role to play. Inaddition to contributing their knowledge, they alsohelp with fostering relations with scientists in theirhost country, thereby strengthening the linksbetween such countries and Viet Nam. Animportant mission of VUSTA is to bring togetherand unite intellectuals from both inside andoutside the country. I have discussed this issuewith some prestigious overseas Vietnamesescientists. They also have proposals for severalpolicy initiatives and have discussed mechanismsto mobilize the contributions to the developmentof Viet Nam of scientists in G7 and G20 countries.VUSTA has signed a cooperation agreement withthe State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese andhas jointly organized activities regarding thistopic. In the current year, 2018, we shall host aworkshop on how to make good use of overseasintellectuals, in cooperation with VietnameseEmbassies for what concerns the practicalimplementation.

VATLY: A few years ago Minister Nguyen Quansaid that “As long as we shall pay no attention tothe living conditions and wages of the actors ofscience and as long as we shall prove unable tochange our old methods of management, we shallfail to let science and technology take off.” Itsounded to us as a very pertinent remark. Can youcomment?

Nghiem Vu Khai: I share very much the views ofMinister Nguyen Quan. For scientists, the mostattractive thing is not money but, in this order, agood working environment, recognition andrespect, and sufficient wages. Salaries must be

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enough to cover their basic needs and those oftheir families. This is obviously not the case today.

VATLY: What is the most important factor forS&T development according to you?

Nghiem Vu Khai: The S&T policy of the countrymust be further reformed. For a long time, theGDP growth has not been S&T based. If we keepacting this way, Vietnam will be unable toovercome the middle income trap, and will fail toreach proper industrialization and modernization.

The government investment of 2% of the budgetinto S&T development is a good thing, but privateinvestments are very low. In developed countriessuch as Japan, USA, Korea, EU... the investmentfrom non-governmental sectors may be three tofour times what the government contributes. Inshort, we need to invest much more in S&T andinnovation but the private sector must contribute alarge part. Science is the driving force fordevelopment, the future of the society rests on itsprogress.

Distribution: Zamri Zainal Abidin, Elie Aslanides, Patrick Aurenche, Maarten Baes, Cristoforo Benvenuti,Jean Pierre Bibring, Pierre Billoir, Frederic Boone, Bui Duy Cam, Ludwik Celnikier, Catherine Cesarsky,Ngo Bao Chau, Pham Phuong Chi, Nguyen Duc Chien, Nguyen Mau Chung, Françoise Combes, AndreaContin, Alain Cordier, Pierre Cox, Manoel Dialinas, Luigi Di Lella, Do Tien Dung, Giap Van Duong, AnneDutrey, John Ellis, Pierre Encrenaz, Roger Eychenne, Jerome Friedmann, Daniel Froidevaux, YoshitakaFujita, Jose Gabriel Funes, Bertil Galland, Michèle Gerbaldi, Nguyen Van Giai, Sheldon Glashow, YannickGiraud-Héraud, Stéphane Guilloteau, Edward Guinan, Duong Ngoc Hai, Jacques Haïssinski, Chu Hao,Masahiko Hayashi, John Hearnshaw, Pham Duy Hien, Nguyen Trong Hien, Nguyen Van Hieu, EmmanuelHinglais, Paul Ho, Nguyen Dai Hung, Fadi Ibrahim, Antonio Insolia, Phrudth Jaroenjittichai, StavrosKatsanevas, Le Hong Khiem, Dao Tien Khoa, Marc Lachièze-Rey, Nguyen Quynh Lan, Pham Tran Le,Thibaut Le Bertre, Luc Le Calvez, Pierre Lena, Pierre Lesaffre, Di Li, Nguyen Van Lien, Alain Maestrini,Hakim L Malasan, Grammenos Mastrojeni, Grant Mathews, Michel Mayor, Young Chol Minh, Pham ThiThanh Nga, Phan Bao Ngoc, Sun Kun Oh, Wayne Orchiston, Etienne Parizot, Denis Perret-Gallix,Guillaume Patanchon, Minh Ha Pham Delègue, Tran Dinh Phong, Bui Tran Phuong, Vu Viet Phuong,Nguyen Quan, Nguyen Luong Quang, Philippe Quentin, Burton Richter, Nguyen Quang Rieu, Jean-MichelRieubland, Daniel Rouan, Carlo Rubbia, Kaz Sekiguchi, Rogel Mari Sese, Greg Snow, Do Hoang Son, PhanHong Son, Boonrucksar Soonthornthum, Michel Spiro, Jack Steinberger, Annick Suzor-Weiner, Tran MinhTam, Charling Tao, Nguyen Thien Tao, Gerard ’t Hooft, Dick Taylor, Ngo Duc Thanh, Tran Chi Thanh,Samuel C.C. Ting, Tran The Trung, Dinh Van Trung, Hiroshi Tsunemi, Cao Anh Tuan, Nguyen Van Tuan,Pham Anh Tuan, Hoang Tuy, Marcel Urban, Odon Vallet, Jean Tran Thanh Van, Suzy Vascotto, SylvieVauclair, Tini Veltman, Dang Van Viêt, Alan Watson, Joël Weisberg, Jan Martin Winters, Atsushi Yoshida,Antonino Zichichi.

Contact: [email protected] VATLY web site: https://vnsc.org.vn/dap

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– PHOTO ALBUM –

From left to right: Tuan Anh, Sun Kun Oh, Phuong,Pierre, Diep, Phuc and Thai

A thousand year old moving banyan tree. These treeshave many roots and move around slowly with time.

This one has moved by nearly 50 m around the nearbytemple in the last thousand years. From left to right:

Phuong, Thai, Anne, Edwige, Diep and Loc

Ngo Bao Chau, Pierre, Thuy-Han and Diep

Edwige and Anne taking a boattrip in Ninh Binh

From left to right: Thai, Phuong, Anne and Hoai ontop of the VNSC building

Professor Van and Diep at the Exoplanetary Scienceconference in Quy Nhon (2018)

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From right to left: Phuong, Hoai, and Madoka (Japan)

Diep's 37th birthday on February 23rd

The, a high school teacher, who made her bachelor andmaster thesis wth VATLY, gave birth to a strong boy on

Viet Nam’s Independence Day

EAYAM participants enjoying dinner together

Dr Hoang Chi Thiem lecturing on interstellar dust,dust polarisation and magnetic field at VNSC

Group photo of EAYAM 2017 in front of the IshigakiVERA station

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Phuong (second from right) and friends at the EAYAMmeeting in Kabira Bay on Ishigaki island

Phuong and Professor Woong Tae Kim at the EAYAMmeeting

From left to right: Nhung, Huyen (Alain Maestrini'swife), Anne-Vy in Tuan Anh’s arms, Loc and Diep at

the Sen Restaurant on the West Lake

Pham Thanh Tung, Tuan Anh's son

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After Hoai's thesis defense, from Hoai’s husband Son (left) to Diep’s wife Dung (right).

Group photo of the NARIT-SOKENDAI Winter School 2018. Thai is third from left

Group photo of the EAO/JCMT Users' Meeting 2018 in Seoul

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vatly newsletterv n a e t w l s y n o 27. april 2018 vatly newsletter nearly ten years ago, we...

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