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Dear colleagues,Please find below the announcement of a conference we will held in Sicily in September (7-11) to commemorate Tomaso Belloni, who left us in 2023.Feel free to forward this message to whomever may be interested.Bests,Sara Motta* * * * *Announcement: The many tones of accretion – to the memory of Tomaso BelloniWe are pleased to announce the international conference:“The many tones of accretion – to the memory of Tomaso Belloni”,to be held in: Cefalù (Sicily, Italy), 7–11 September 2026.This meeting is dedicated to the memory of Tomaso Belloni, whose pioneering work on X-ray timing, spectral states, and variability in compact accreting systems has fundamentally shaped the field. The conference will bring together the high-energy astrophysics community to discuss recent advances in accretion physics, variability, and jet formation in X-ray binaries and related compact objects, while also looking ahead to future directions.Scientific topics include• Accretion onto compact objects: foundations and open problems• Black hole X-ray binaries: phenomenology and unification• Neutron star X-ray binaries: similarities and contrasts• Black holes vs neutron stars: what timing reveals• Spectral states, state transitions, and hysteresis in X-ray binaries• X-ray variability as a probe of accretion physics• Quasi-periodic oscillations: observations and interpretations• Low- and high-frequency QPOs, accretion geometry, and strong-gravity effects• Spectral–timing techniques, time lags, and energy-dependent variability• X-ray spectral modelling, reflection, iron lines, and relativistic effects• Jets in X-ray binaries, disk–corona coupling, and multiwavelength views• Radio/X-ray correlations and scaling from X-ray binaries to AGN• Observational challenges, new X-ray missions, and methodological advances• Legacy and future directions in X-ray timing studiesScientific Organising CommitteeDipankar Battacharya; Luigi Stella; Rob Fender; Erik Kuulkers; Jeroen Homan; Piergiorgio Casella; Melania Del Santo; Domitilla De Martino; Diego Altamirano; Michiel van der Klis; Ed van den Heuvel; Elena Pian; Gianluca Israel; Andrea Comastri; Andrea Sanna; Anna Wolter; Sandro Mereghetti; Silvano Molendi; Gianpiero Tagliaferri; Nick Kylafis; Teo Muñoz-Darías; Luciano Burderi; Tiziana Di Salvo; Sara Motta (co-chair); Mariano Mendez (co-chair).Further information, including registration and abstract submission, will be available soon at:We hope many of you will join us in Cefalù for a focused scientific meeting and to honour Tomaso Belloni’s lasting impact on our field.Best regards,Sara Motta and Mariano Méndez
