Moscow is the capital of Russia. An 860 year-old city, it is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center in Russia, with a population of around 13 million. Moscow is located at 55o45'of northern latitude and 37o37' to the east of the Greenwich's meridian, in the centre of the East-European plain in the zone of mixed forests. Moscow is in UTC+4 time zone. The city is served by an extensive transit network, which includes four international airports, nine railroad terminals, and one of the deepest underground metro systems in the world, the Moscow Metro. It is recognized as one of the city's landmarks due to the rich and varied architecture of its 185 stations.
Moscow has a large concentration of educational and scientific institutions. The leading educational institution is Moscow State University established in 1755. More than 40 000 students study at the university. More than 6 000 professors and lecturers, and about 5 000 researchers work for the faculties and research institutes. Basic scientific research is largely concentrated at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In Moscow, there are about one hundred major museums. Of them, Moscow Kremlin, the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the State Tretyakov Gallery and the Andrei Rubliov museum are especially notable.
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VENUE OF THE CONFERENCE

The meeting will take place at the Sternberg Astronomical Institute (SAI) of Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University.

Official Address:
Universitetskyi av. 13
Moscow 119991, Russia

The registration desk for on-site registration will work on Sunday 2nd June from 15:00 till 18:00 o'clock and on Monday 3rd June from 9:00 till 19:00 o'clock.

The map of MSU campus is available at http://astars2013.inasan.ru/map/msu.html

1. Arrival

The most practical way to get to Moscow from the airports are aeroexpress trains (http://www.aeroexpress.ru/en/). They are comfortable, clean, and safe. We do not recommend to take a taxi from the airport to the city. Traffic jams are quite possible in the second half of a day, especially on Sunday, so your trip to the city may take up to two hours. Besides, taxies from airports are rather expensive (approx 30-40 Euro). In any case, never take a non-licensed taxi. There are also minibuses ('marshrutka' in Russian) which run regularly between the airports and the nearest metro stations. Their stop is close to the exit doors of the airport.

If you arrive in Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO, http://www.svo.aero/en/), you may use aeroexpress train that goes to Belorussky Railway Station in Moscow. There are signs indicating the direction to the aeroexpress station in many places of the airport. The ride takes 35 minutes. A ticket for the train should be purchased in front of the entrance to the Sheremetyevo railway station. The price is Rbl. 320 (about 8 Euro). Keep the ticket till your arrival in Moscow, you will need it to exit the station.

The schedule of departures of aeroexpress trains from the Sheremetyevo airport is:

05:00, 06:30, 07:00, 08:00, 08:30, 09:30, 10:00, 10:30, 12:30, 13:00, 13:30, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 16:30, 17:00, 18:00, 18:30, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00, 22:00, 22:30, 23:30

Participants arriving in Domodedovo International Airport (DME, http://www.domodedovo.ru/en/) should take aeroexpress to Paveletsky Railway Station in Moscow. Note that international arrivals are in the left wing of the airport building, and the railway station is in the right wing. There are signs indicating the direction to the station in many places of the airport. The price is Rbl. 320 (about 8 Euro). The ride takes about 45 minutes. Keep the ticket till your arrival to Moscow, you will need it to exit the station.

The train schedule is:

7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 13:00, 13:30, 14:00, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00, 18:30, 19:00, 19:30, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:30, 22:00, 22:30, 23:00, 24:00

In the (least likely) case of your arrival to Vnukovo International Airport (VKO, http://www.vnukovo.ru/eng/index.wbp), take the aeroexpress to the Kievsky Railway Station. The price is Rbl. 320 (about 8 Euro), it takes about 35 minutes to get to Moscow. The trains start every hour from 7:00 am to 1:00 am (except 13:00).

2. Money.

One Euro is equal to approximately 40 rubles and one US Dollar to approximately 30 rubles (March 2013). Currency exchange at the airport can have an unfavorable rate, so we do not recommend to exchange large amounts of money there. In Moscow, there are banks and exchange offices at all railway stations and in the streets. The most practical way to get cash in rubles is the use of ATM. We recommend to use only ATM located in either bank offices or other public places such as supermarkets and subway stations. The nearest ATMs are located in the main building of Moscow State University on the first floor and in the shopping centers near the subway station "University".

Credit cards are usually accepted in hotels and large supermarkets.

3. Public transport.

Description of the Moscow public transport you can find at
http://www.expat.ru/s_transport.php
http://moscow.ru/en/guide/trip_planning/inner_transport/transport/

Attention: ticket price is subject to change.
See http://www.mos.ru/en/authority/activity/transport/index.php?id_14=24199

4. Roaming for users of foreign cell phones.

The cell phone standards in Russia are GSM 900/180 and UMTS 2100. It is the same as in most countries of Europe but differs from the US standard. If you are going to use your cell phone in Russia, please check if your cell phone supports the GSM 900/1800 or UMTS 2100 standard.

If your cell phone provider has an agreement with at least one of the Russia's main providers (MTS, Beeline, Megafone), you will be able to use your phone in Russia. Note that the rates can be rather high (see roaming tariffs of your provider), and even incoming calls can be taxed. However SMSs are cheap. If your phone is not SIM-locked, you may buy a Russian SIM card at the numerous cell phone stores (MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Euroset, Svyaznoy, Ion, AltTelecom, et al); this can be a money-saving solution for local calls. Note that you will need a passport to buy a SIM card.

For roaming information from Russian providers MTS and Beeline, see English-language web pages
http://www.vis.mtsgsm.com/welcome/
http://mobile.beeline.ru/msk/roaming/guests.wbp
http://english.moscow.megafon.ru/

5. How to reach the Sternberg Institute and the hotel of the Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University.

Detailed description is available at the page http://astars2013.inasan.ru/map/