Bücher der Reihe ESO Astrophysics Symposia

This volume documents recent developments that have advanced our understanding of the heating and cooling mechanisms in galaxies and galaxy clusters. An additional section covers new research findings on feedback and self-regulatory mechanisms during cosmic structure formation in general and in galaxy formation in particular.

Then come four chapters reviewing the globular cluster system of early-type, late-type and dwarf galaxies, as well as of groups of galaxies. Finally a chapter reviews the kinematics of galaxies derived from globular cluster systems and another their role in the context of galaxy formation and evolution studies.

Supermassive black holes are now believed to play an important role in the evolution of the Universe. Suitable for the astrophysical community, this book also reviews theoretical and observational results on the formation and growth of the first black holes in the Universe and their role in the formation and evolution of galaxies.

In October 2003, over 170 astronomers from 15 countries met for a 4-day workshop to illustrate and discuss major observational projects and ongoing theoretical efforts to model galaxy formation and evolution. This volume contains the proceedings of this meeting and is therefore an overview of the state of research in this rapidly evolving field.

Then come four chapters reviewing the globular cluster system of early-type, late-type and dwarf galaxies, as well as of groups of galaxies. Finally a chapter reviews the kinematics of galaxies derived from globular cluster systems and another their role in the context of galaxy formation and evolution studies.

The book is the first thorough overview of the first important steps to develop a worldwide virtual observatory so that, in the future, it could be easier to "dial-up" a part of the sky than wait many months to access a telescope.

Many important observational clues about our understanding of how stars and planets form in the interior of molecular clouds have been amassed using recent technological developments. It presents theoretical and a host of observational results and many papers show the plans for future observations.

The book reviews the present status of understanding the nature of the most luminous objects in the Universe, connected with supermassive black holes and supermassive stars, clusters of galaxies and ultraluminous galaxies, sources of gamma-ray bursts and relativistic jets.

The book is the first thorough overview of the first important steps to develop a worldwide virtual observatory so that, in the future, it could be easier to "dial-up" a part of the sky than wait many months to access a telescope.

Since the use of high-precision/resolution spectroscopy is closely connected to the ability to collect a large number of photons, the scientific domains using this technique benefit tremendously from the use of 8-meter class telescopes and will fully exploit the tremendous gain provided by future Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs).

Many important observational clues about our understanding of how stars and planets form in the interior of molecular clouds have been amassed using recent technological developments. ESO's Very Large Telescope promises to be a major step forward in the investigation of stellar nurseries and infant stars. This volume collects papers from the leaders in this very timely field of astrophysical research. It presents theoretical and a host of observational results and many papers show the plans for future observations.

Many important observational clues about our understanding of how stars and planets form in the interior of molecular clouds have been amassed using recent technological developments. It presents theoretical and a host of observational results and many papers show the plans for future observations.

Recently, improved observational capabilities have allowed the study of fainter and fainter extra-galactic planetary nebulae in galaxies well beyond the Milky Way. A wide range of topics is covered, from stellar and nebular astrophysics to galactic dynamics and galaxy clusters, making this a reference of broad astrophysical interest.

The controversial question of whether the majority of the narrow absorption lines observed in QSO spectra represent cosmological intervening systems or ejecta from the QSO themselves is settled. QSO absorption line spectroscopy, initially a mere technique, has matured into an essential extragalactic research tool for understanding the content of the Universe at redshifts between 0 and 4, and beyond. The only previous important meeting devoted to "e;QSO Absorption Lines"e; was held in May 1987 at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. Since that time, nearly a decade ago, research has been ex- tremely active in this now well-established field of astrophysics. Theoretical stud- ies and simulations have taken advantage of the constant progress in computer technology, and during these last few years, the observational results have bene- fited largely from the new facillities offered by the Hubble Space Telescope in the UV wavelength range and the Keck Telescope for high-resolution spectroscopy.

From June 7-9, 1995, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the Max Plank Institut fiir Astrophysik (MPA) jointly held the Workshop on Spiral Galaxies in the Near-IR. This meeting took place at the ESO headquarters in Garching bei Miinchen, Germany. The weather waschanging, with the biergarten closed, but that did not stop 85 people from allover the world from attending the meeting. The three days were intensive, with talks and coffee and posters from 9 am to 6 pm, and very productive indeed for everyone. The topics covered the stellar populations of the Milky Way and other more distant spirals, the role of dust, the dynamics of spiral galaxies, and the nuclear activity seen at near-IR wavelengths. This volume presents the original contributions from the participants, including several papers that review the state-of-the-art knowledge in these various subjects. The editors would like to thank first and foremost Christina Stoffer, for she took care of everything. The meeting would not have been so successful without her expertise and efficiency. We are deeply indebted to the directors of MPA and ESO Science, Simon White and Jacqueline Bergeron, for their support and encouragement. We would also like to thank the other members of the scientific organizing committee: R. Genzel, K. Freeman, A. Moorwood, S. White, M. Rieke and E. Athannasoula, for their advice with the organization of the program. We also thank G. Rieke, R. Genzel, L. Athannasoula, A. Renzini and R.

It has always been ESO's aim to operate the VLT in an interferometric mode (VLTI) which allows the coherent combination of stellar light beams col- lected by the four 8-m telescopes and by several smaller auxiliary telescopes. In December 1993, in response to financial difficulties, the ESO Council de- cided to postpone implement at ion of the VLTI, Coude trains and associated adaptive optics for all the UTs but included provisions for continuing tech- nological and development programmes devoted to the aim of reintroducing these capabilities at the earliest possible date. The desirability of carrying out the full VLTI programme as originally envisaged at the earliest possible moment has not, however, diminished, es- pecially in view of VLTI's exceptional capabilities and resulting potential for new and exciting discoveries. In recent years, interferometric projects have begun to playa central role in ground-based high-resolution astronomy, and numerous instruments have been completed or are in the process of construc- tion. Several large-aperture interferometers will probably co me on-line near the turn of the century. The impending presence of these new instruments represents an important incentive both for clarifying the scientific cases for various VLTI implementation plans and for ensuring VLTI's competitiveness in the international context over the next 1O~20 years.

The next major step in millimetre astronomy, and one of the highest-priority items in radio astronomy today, is a large millimetre array with a collecting area 2 of up to 10 000 m . A project of this scale will almost certainly require inter- national collaboration, at least within Europe, and possibly with other major partners elsewhere. In order to establish a focal point for this project within Europe, a study has been undertaken by the Institut de Radio Astronomie Mil- Ii met rique (IRAM), the European Southern Observatory (ESO), The Onsala Space Observatory (OSO), and The Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy (NFRA). In the context of this project, a workshop attended by some 100 participants was held at ESO Garching on December 11-13, 1995 to discuss the scientific advances such an array will make possible. Throughout the three days of the workshop the strong enthusiasm for the concept of a large millimetre array in the southern hemisphere (the Large South- ern Array, or LSA) was obvious, and it became clear that such a facility would have a profound impact on almost all areas of observational astrophysics. It was particularly clear that, since their main science drivers (cosmology, and the origins of galaxies, stars and planets) are the same, and their angular resolutions and sensitivities similar, the LSA and the VLT would strongly complement each other.

"e;Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology"e; have developed into important and fruitful research areas with a hitherto unprecented public interest. The year 2005, which marked the 100th anniversary of the 'annus mirabilis', that year in which Albert Einstein published three of his most important scientific papers, was the perfect opportunity to review and to present the current scientific understanding of relativistic topics including cosmological models, cosmology related measurements, the large scale properties of the Universe, dark matter and dark energy, the theory of gravity, black holes, theory and measurements, active galactic nuclei, clusters of galaxies, jets. Each of these subjects is addressed and the book represents a useful reference tool both for the expert and the new-comer in these fields.

The ESO workshop "e;Multiple Stars across the H-R Diagram"e; was held in Garching on 12-15, July 2005. The topics included observations of multiple stars from ground and space, dynamical and stellar evolution in multiple systems, e?ects of the environment on multiplicity, formation and early e- lution of multiple stars, and special components of multiple stars (chemically peculiar stars, blue stragglers, brown dwarfs, etc.). Stars show a marked tendency to be in systems of di?erent multiplicity, 7 ranging from simple binaries and triples to globular clusters with N?10 . Modern observations give a frequency of binary and multiple stars in the Galactic ?eld of up to 70%, and between 5% and 20% of these systems are at least triple. There is evidence that the degree of multiplicity increases with primary mass. Many known multiple systems are too wide to have s- ni?cant physical interaction between their components. However, tidal and N-body dynamical interactions are important even in relatively wide s- tems and probably lead to the shrinkage of inner orbits. This sets the stage for spectacular evolutionary processes such as Roche-lobe over?ow, me- ers, supernovae, formation of special components, etc. Only recently did we realize that some of these processes require at least three stars. Theformationofmultiplesystemsremainsadi?cultandchallengingpart of astrophysics, although it has been addressed at the Workshop only brie?y.

High-accuracy Doppler shift measurements and high-precision spectroscopy are primary techniques in the search for exo-planets.Further extremely interesting applications include the analysis of QSO absorption lines to determine the variability of physical constants and the analysis of the isotopic ratios of absorption lines both in stars and in QSOs, and the determination of stellar oscillations through radial velocity measurements. Since the use of high-precision/resolution spectroscopy is closely connected to the ability to collect a large number of photons, the scientific domains using this technique benefit tremendously from the use of 8-meter class telescopes and will fully exploit the tremendous gain provided by future Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs). IR high-resolution spectroscopy should soon approach the same accuracy regime achieved in the optical range.This volume comprehensively covers the astrophysical and technical aspects of high-precision spectroscopy with an outlook to future developments, and represents a useful reference work for researchers in those fields.

In the context of the NASA Deep Impact space mission, comet 9P/Tempel1 has been at the focus of an unprecedented worldwide long-term multi-wavelength observation campaign. The comet was also studied throughout its perihelion passage by various sources including the Deep Impact mission itself, the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer, Rosetta, XMM and all major ground-based observatories in a wavelength band from cm-wave radio astronomy to x-rays. This book includes the proceedings of a meeting that brought together an audience of theoreticians and observers - across the electromagnetic spectrum and from different sites and projects - to make full use of the massive ground-based observing data set. The coherent presentation of all data sets illustrates and examines the various observational constraints on modelling the cometary nucleus, cometary gas, cometary plasma, cometary dust, and the comet's surface and its activity.

At close inspection every galaxy appears to have its own individuality.A galaxy can be warped, lop-sided, doubly-nucleated, boxy or disky, ... in its own specific, peculiar way. Hence, for a complete description, galaxy taxonomy may ask for finer and finer classification schemes. However, for some applications it may be more fruitful to let details aside and focus on some global properties of galaxies. One is then seeking to measure just a few quantities for each galaxy, a minimum set of globalobservables that yet captures some essential aspect of these objects. One very successful example of this approach is offered by the scaling rela- tions of galaxies, the subject of the international workshop held at ESO head- quarters in Garching on November 19-21, 1996. Discovered in the late 1970's, the Tully-Fisher relation for the spirals and the Faber-Jackson relation, or its more recent version the Fundamental Plane, for ellipticals have now become flourishing fields of astronomical research in their own right, as well as being widely used tools for a broad range of astronomical investigations. The work- shop was designed to address three key issues on galaxy scaling relations, i.e., their Origins, Evolution, and Applications in astronomy. The Origins of galaxy scaling relations still escape our full understanding.

For every galaxy in the field or in clusters, there are about three galaxies in groups. The Milky Way itself resides in a group, and groups can be found at high redshift. The current generation of 10-m class telescopes and space facilities allows the observation of the members of nearby groups with exquisite detail, and their properties can be correlated with the global properties of their host group. Groups in the local Universe offer us the chance to study galaxies in environments characterized by strong interactions. In the cosmological context, groups trace large-scale structures better than clusters, and the evolution of groups and clusters appears to be related. All these aspects of research on groups of galaxies are summarized in this book written by scientists working in various fields.