The GEOS meeting was held on May 28 and 29, 2005 at the Observatoire Midi Pyrénées (OMP), located on the campus of the Université Paul Sabatier, near Toulouse. This meeting followed the usual format of GEOS annual scientific gatherings and brought together members of the group and collaborators to review ongoing activities, discuss observational programmes and define future orientations.
The meeting began on Saturday, May 28, in the late morning and continued throughout the day, with sessions resuming on Sunday morning and concluding in the early afternoon. Scientific discussions covered both observational results and methodological aspects, with particular emphasis on RR Lyrae stars and coordinated observational efforts.
A significant part of the discussions concerned CCD and robotic observations carried out within the framework of the TAROT–GEOS collaboration. During the meeting, Ennio Poretti proposed that the RR Lyrae stars V 920 Aql and V 921 Aql (magnitudes 13–14) be observed with the TAROT telescope in order to prepare potential spacebased observations with the COROT satellite. Followup observations of these two stars were subsequently obtained in June and July 2005.
As a result of these discussions and observations, a request was made to include the “TAROT–GEOS RR Lyrae team” among the collaborators of a COROT programme proposal devoted to RR Lyrae stars. This proposal, coordinated by Mirienne Chadid (Observatoire de Nice) and involving several international collaborators, was submitted on July 5, 2005.
Future perspectives for GEOS activities were also addressed during the Toulouse meeting. In particular, Francesco Fumagalli proposed the Calina Observatory at Carona (Ticino, Switzerland) as a possible venue for a future GEOS meeting, as a site for photometric observing missions, and as a potential location for hosting a GEOS telescope. This proposal led to a site visit in August 2005 by several GEOS members, confirming the feasibility of such projects.
The meeting concluded with a synthesis of the discussions and the confirmation of ongoing efforts to strengthen professional–amateur collaborations, particularly in the field of RR Lyrae studies, through coordinated groundbased and spacebased observational programmes.