Conference

On the Origin (and Evolution) of Baryonic Galaxy Halos 

March 13^th – 17^th, 2017 

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Scientific Rationale:

This meeting will focus on the baryonic content of galaxy halos -- their properties, origin and evolution with cosmic time. 

The halos of our own Milky Way galaxy and close neighbour M31 have been studied in some detail. Deep, wide and detailed observations of galaxy halos beyond the Local Group are becoming more ubiquitous. Simulations, that incorporate realistic baryonic physics in a cosmological context have also made significant progress in recent years in modelling galaxy halos. These simulations predict outer halo regions that differ strongly in their formation processes and properties from the well-studied inner regions of galaxies. Halos have long dynamical times and as such preserve the unique signatures of galaxy assembly.  This meeting bring together observers and simulators of the baryonic halos of galaxies, focusing on extragalactic halos.

Topics of focus include: 

* the origin and evolution of baryonic halos

* how to define the stellar halo of an elliptical galaxy

* the stellar components of galaxy halos: metallicity, age, kinematics, density

* substructures in galaxy halos

* in-situ vs ex-situ formed stars 

* halo tracers, such as resolved stars, globular clusters, planetary nebulae, satellite galaxies and diffuse gas