The objective of the General Session is to accommodate abstracts from a program group that do not align with the themes of any existing sessions within the same program group. Please note that all submitted abstracts may be reallocated to a different session at the discretion of the respective session chairs.

The needs and practice of science communication have shifted dramatically in the past ~decade, mainly due to the increased use of social media communication channels, accompanied with somewhat diminishing role of traditional sci-comm media approaches, and recently also generative AI. The COVID19 pandemic exposed a lot of weaknesses of current science communication, especially not addressing a wider “polluted information system”, helping people navigate it to reach reliable evidence-based information and engaging in participatory rather than only top-down communication.

While the same issues are less pressing from the point of view of planetary science, they are relevant for the community as well, since discoveries in the Earth’s history and climate, exoplanet science, astrobiology and other fields can end up heavily distorted in the current information ecosystem. Increased engagement with planetary science is important not only for its own sake and because of the passion for science that we share, but also for practical reasons such as raising the next generation of scientists, teaching the scientific method and inquiry, promoting overall critical thinking and helping people understand issues such as climate change and its impacts.

Rather than parceling the central question of science communication for the 21st century into individual topics such as sci-comm on social media, role of books in current sci-comm, AI art in sci-comm, risks and benefits of AI in sci-comm, citizen science involvement for sci-comm, limiting misinformation (especially in high-interest areas for the public, such as astrobiology or exoplanets) etc., we decided to invite you to share your activities, insights, experience and perspectives connecting to the underlying key question of how to use all these approaches in synergy, effectively share scientific discoveries and increase public interest and participation in science in the coming years.

Not limited to any rules, interrogating us about our own nature, providing emotional and intellectual insights, impacting the masses and challenging the status quo, Art is the universal language of the people.
On the other hand, defined by clear rules and laws, invariable across time and space, described by ideas, concepts and mathematics more than words, Science is the universal language of our world and universe.
This session will explore the intersectionality of Art and (planetary) Science from both directions.

Artists are invited to display their science-inspired or science-driven projects and art pieces, and explain their creative process: why did they choose a specific approach, a specific media, or a specific way to represent a concept.
Scientists are invited to present data visualisation or sonification techniques - projects where art has been generated directly by the science and its components, either by design or by a happy accident.
Science communicators and educators are invited to showcase how they use art to impact various publics, and to inspire the next generation of scientists.

From painting to sculpture, from infographics and video content to generative AI, from video games to music, from photo to comics, all arts and media are welcome to this session.

If logistically possible, this session will be complimented by a temporary in-person art exhibition in Finlandia Hall, where contributors to the session will be able to expose their art.

The benefits of diversity and inclusiveness in the scientific community are incontrovertible. Following the success of previous years, this session aims to foster debate within the planetary sciences community about the reasons behind the under-representation of different groups (gender, cultural, ethnic origin, national, and ableism) and best practices to make the research environment more inclusive identifying and addressing barriers to equality.

We invite abstracts focusing on under-representation (gender, cultural, ethnic origin, national, and ableism) supported by statistics and data; outreach and education activities to reach broad and diverse audiences, best practices to support inclusiveness; and case studies on mentoring and bias-concerned activities.

Amateur astronomy has evolved dramatically over recent years. A motivated amateur, with his/her backyard instrument and available software is nowadays capable of getting high-resolution planetary images in different wavelengths (better than many professional observatories could achieve 20 years ago). Topics well covered by amateur astronomers include: high-resolution imaging of solar system planets, high-precision photometry of stellar occultations by minor objects and giant planets' atmospheres, satellites' mutual phenomena and high-precision photometry of exoplanet transits. Additionally amateurs use dedicated all-sky cameras or radio-antennae to provide continuous meteor-detection coverage of the sky near their location and they start to contribute to spectroscopic studies of solar system objects.

Hundreds of regular observers are sharing their work providing very valuable data to professional astronomers. This is very valuable at a time when professional astronomers face increasing competition accessing observational resources. Additionally, networks of amateur observers can react at very short notice when triggered by a new event occurring on a solar system object requiring observations, or can contribute to a global observation campaign along with professional telescopes.

Moreover, some experienced amateur astronomers use advanced methods for analysing their data meeting the requirements of professional researchers, thereby facilitating regular and close collaboration with professionals. Often this leads to publication of results in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Examples include planetary meteorology of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune or Venus; meteoroid or bolide impacts on Jupiter; asteroid studies, cometary or exoplanet research.

Space missions also sollicitate amateur astronomers support. For example, to understand the atmospheric dynamics of the planet at the time of Juno flybys, NASA collaborates with amateur astronomers observing the Giant Planet. It showcases an exciting opportunity for amateurs to provide an unique dataset that is used to plan the high-resolution observations from JunoCam and that advances our knowledge of the Giant planet Jupiter. Contribution of amateurs range from their own images to Junocam images processing and support on selecting by vote the feature to be observed during the flybys. Other probes like Ariel or Lucy sollicitate amateur astronomers observation to support exoplanets and small bodies science.

This session will showcase results from amateur astronomers, working either by themselves or in collaboration with members of the professional community. In addition, members from both communities will be invited to share their experiences of pro-am partnerships and offer suggestions on how these should evolve in the future.

The integration of specialized techniques and methodologies from diverse disciplines has become increasingly common in planetary science research in recent years, paralleling the global trend of cross-disciplinary collaboration across scientific fields. Recent high-profile recognitions of interdisciplinary research contributions (e.g. Nobel Prize in Physics and Chemistry) have further fueled the utilization of external expertise across all subfields of planetary science.

Current publications on cross-disciplinary adaptations typically follow two approaches: principal investigators acquiring the necessary expertise themselves, or establishing partnerships with specialists from other fields to supplement the required knowledge. However, engaging with rapidly evolving disciplines, where innovations emerge frequently, presents significant overhead for interdisciplinary researchers. This cross-disciplinary trend is expected to intensify with the growing complexity of planetary science questions.

This session aims to explore various forms of engagement between planetary scientists and experts from other disciplines such as data science, chemistry, biology, geology, engineering, physics, social sciences, and other complementary domains. We invite contributions addressing:
- Knowledge transfer strategies across discipline boundaries
- Resource allocation and management in interdisciplinary projects
- Communication protocols and best practices for bridging disciplinary terminology gaps
- Lessons learned from both successful and challenging experiences
- Initiatives facilitating cross-disciplinary engagement

Knowledge creation is a collaborative process including synergies between various disciplines and stakeholders alongside the academic sphere. As the scientific questions we aim to tackle become more complex, the need for interdisciplinary partnerships across different fields increases. In this endeavor, open science acts as a bridge, connecting fields and enabling diverse communities—from professionals to amateurs, and from students to industry innovators to actively participate and contribute in scientific efforts. But establishing practices and policies that foster co-creation and engagement require strategic planning. What novel strategies and protocols are currently being developed to improve accessibility and openness in science? How can these efforts lead to a more comprehensive and collaborative interdisciplinary research environment? Building on the momentum of previous years, this session will showcase successful ongoing open science projects and lessons learned. We will also explore potential future endeavors to expand public engagement and promote interdisciplinarity in planetary science.

More than ten thousand tons of extraterrestrial objects, ranging in size from a few microns to a few meters in diameter, enter Earth’s atmosphere annually. A small fraction of these objects yields free samples of extraterrestrial matter—meteorites—for laboratory study. The majority of these objects burn up or ablate completely in the Earth’s atmosphere, appearing as visible meteors in the night sky. By recording meteor activity and modeling the process of ablation, we can directly measure the flux of small planetary impactors. This provides ground truth for estimating present cratering rates and planetary surface ages.

The rapid advancement of observational and modeling techniques has elevated meteor science to one of the primary avenues for investigating the nature and origin of interplanetary matter and its parent bodies. This session aims to serve as a platform for presenting fundamental results and innovative concepts in this field, while also informing the broader planetary science community about the interdisciplinary impact of ongoing and future research efforts.