Satellites and Tidal Streams, an ING–IAC Joint Conference

On May 26–30, 2003 ING, jointly with the IAC, organized the third major astronomical conference on La Palma, with the title “Satellites and Tidal Streams”. As with previous conferences, generous financial support was provided by the Excmo. Cabildo Insular de La Palma and the Patronato de Turismo. The venue was the pleasant seaside resort of Los Cancajos, a few kilometers south of the main town of Santa Cruz de La Palma.

Current cosmological models predict that galaxies form through the merging of smaller substructures. Satellites and tidal streams might then represent the visible remains of the building blocks of giant galaxies. They therefore provide important information on the merging history and galaxy formation in the Universe. In this conference the observational evidence for substructures, their internal structure and their dynamical evolution and disruption within the tidal field of the host galaxy was discussed and confronted with theoretical cosmological predictions of hierarchical merging and galaxy formation. With some 90 participants, including ‘old hands’ as well as a healthy contingent of young astronomers, the conference underlined the vibrant developments in this field and was a great success!.¤

Conference poster. [ JPEG | TIFF ]