----------------------------------------------------------------------- THE MILKY WAY AND THE LOCAL GROUP - NOW AND IN THE GAIA ERA Dates: August 31 - September 4, 2009 Venue: University of Heidelberg, Germany URL: www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/meetings/milkyway2009/ E-mail: milkyway09@ari.uni-heidelberg.de Abstract submission and registration are now open. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. SCIENTIFIC RATIONALE Our Milky Way, M31, and the other galaxies of the Local Group allow us to study galaxy properties and evolutionary processes at a level of detail that is not accessible in more distant galaxies. This makes these nearby galaxies an indispensable laboratory for, e.g., testing cosmological scenarios, for conducting galactic archaeology, or for investigating currently ongoing processes such as star formation in unprecedented detail. Tremendous progress has been made in these areas over the past few years. By observationally constraining the number, times, and masses of past merger events we can directly test the paradigm of galaxy formation. The number of known galaxies in the Local Group has essentially been doubled during the past decade. Detailed studies of the chemical abundances and element ratios in the various Milky Way components and in nearby galaxies are revealing how early star formation and chemical enrichment progressed. The kinematics of the various substructures and satellites tell us about the dynamical evolution and mass distribution, including dark matter content. Several large surveys concentrating on the exploration of the Milky Way and its surroundings are currently being carried out, including the SDSS, RAVE, UKIDSS, and Pan-STARRS. Additional ground-based initiatives are being developed, e.g., VISTA, LAMOST, SSS, and LSST. High-resolution, multi-wavelength imaging from space has led to considerable progress in stellar age dating, in deriving star formation histories, mass functions, and dust and gas properties (e.g., through the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes, AKARI, or GALEX). New instruments and missions are being planned or awaiting implementation (e.g., WISE, Herschel/Planck, Nano-JASMINE, or SIM). These observational advances are accompanied by significant progress in N-body, SPH, and chemodynamical modeling of galaxy formation and evolution. The European Space Agency and the European astronomical community are preparing the cornerstone space mission Gaia that will commence in 2012. This astrometric satellite will provide high-precision phase-space information for about one billion stars in our Galaxy and its surroundings, along with the physical parameters and the chemical composition of many of these stars. Heidelberg astronomers are leading the German part of the preparation of this mission. Gaia will turn the coming decade into a golden age for Galactic astronomy and will revolutionize our understanding of the origin, evolution, structure, and dynamics of the Milky Way as a whole and of its components. Our conference focuses on the substantial recent advances in our understanding of the evolution of the Milky Way and of the Local Group, both from the theoretical and observational point of view as well as in terms of new facilities and surveys. Special emphasis will be placed on the prospects of the forthcoming Gaia mission. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. VENUE The University of Heidelberg hosts the largest center for astronomy of all German universities. This center, the "Zentrum fuer Astronomie der Universitaet Heidelberg" (ZAH), consists of three institutes focusing on many different aspects of Galactic astronomy, dynamics, star formation, galaxy evolution, and cosmology, topics that are central to our conference. Heidelberg also leads the German efforts in the preparation of the Gaia satellite mission. Heidelberg is a beautiful city in a valley at the Neckar river. It is famous for its well-preserved old town with many historical buildings, for its castle, for its "Philosophers' Walk" and for its university, which is one of the oldest in Europe. The conference dinner will be on Wednesday following a guided tour of the picturesque castle of Heidelberg. Our conference will take place on the natural sciences campus of the University in the Neuenheim district, easily reachable by public transport. We will have a building with two large lecture halls at our disposal, along with ample space for posters. Free wireless internet will be provided throughout the conference. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. CONFERENCE FORMAT, TALKS, and POSTERS The conference will last five days starting on Monday morning and ending on Friday after lunch. We will have plenary and parallel sessions. The typical duration of the talks will be 20 and 30 minutes, respectively. We expect to be able to accommodate up to 120 talks. There is also plenty of space for poster presentations. The number of participants in this conference is not limited. We are not planning to have proceedings, but electronic versions of the talks and posters will be made available on the web. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. ABSTRACTS AND REGISTRATION If you are interested in giving a talk, please submit your abstract to Ms. Karin Seibel (seibel@ari.uni-heidelberg.de) *by May 1, 2009*. using the LaTeX template available from the conference web site. The SOC will decide which talks to accept before the end of May. Registration and hotel reservations are handled by UniTT Conference Management via the conference web pages. The early registration fee is 250 Euros (150 Euros for students). Lunch will be provided for free during the conference. The early registration deadline is June 01, 2009. For more information, please see www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/meetings/milkyway2009/ ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. IMPORTANT DATES May 01, 2009: Abstract submission deadline for talks. June 01, 2009: Early registration deadline. June 30, 2009: Abstract submission deadline for posters. July 19, 2009: Hotel booking deadline. August 23, 2009: Late registration deadline. August 29, 2009: Informal dinner in the old town of Heidelberg. August 30, 2009: Beginning of the conference. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Coryn Bailer-Jones (MPIA, Germany) Ulrich Bastian (ZAH, Germany; co-chair) Norbert Christlieb (ZAH, Germany) John S. Gallagher (U. Wisconsin, USA) Eva K. Grebel (ZAH, Germany; co-chair) Francois Mignard (OCA, France) Timo Prusti (ESA, Netherlands) R. Michael Rich (UCLA, USA) Volker Springel (MPA, Germany) Matthias Steinmetz (AIP, Germany) Guido Thimm (ZAH, Germany) chairs the Local Organizing Committee. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Please circulate this message to interested colleagues of yours. We apologize if you receive this notice more than once. If you do not wish to receive further announcements regarding this conference, please send e-mail to milkyway09@ari.uni-heidelberg.de. Also, any questions regarding scientific aspects of the conference can be sent to milkyway09@ari.uni-heidelberg.de.