Yunnan University sponsors astronomy symposium

The Multiband Pancyclic Temporal Research Symposium on the Milky Way and Neighboring Galaxies, sponsored by Yunnan University, was held from August 3 to 7 in Lijiang city, Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The symposium focused on scientific research and cooperation between the Mephisto Survey Telescope developed by Yunnan University and high-power astronomical satellites such as EP and SVOM.

More than 70 experts, scholars, and graduate students participated in the event. Some attendees were from observatories, including the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others were from universities like Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Australian National University, and Yunnan University.

Academician Gu Yidong, chief director of the Chinese Survey Telescope Space Station and chief designer of the Application System for China's Manned Space Program, attended the symposium. He praised Mephisto's rapid construction and operation in just a few years and looked forward to closer collaboration among Mephisto, EP, and SVOM.

Experts delivered more than 40 reports addressing key scientific issues – the structure and assembly history of the Milky Way and neighboring galaxies, multiband detection and subsequent monitoring of various transient sources in the universe, and the Hubble constant crisis.