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!.
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