The Special Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) of the Russian Academy of
Sciences (RAS) with support from RAS and provisional support from the
Russian Foundation for Basic Research organizes the conference
entitled "Nearby Dwarf Galaxies".
The goals of the conference are three-fold: a) to promote discussions
between astronomers who observe dwarf galaxies in different wavelength
regimes. b) to promote closer contacts between observers and
theoreticians or modellers working in the field, and c) to provide an
opportunity for young SAO astronomers to have direct contacts with
current and potential collaborators so they have the occasion to
discuss recent results and make mutual plans for the coming years.
The conference SOC members:
Ch. Balkowski (France),
J. Chengalur (India),
E. Grebel (Germany),
Y. Izotov (Ukraine),
I. Karachentsev (Russia, Chair),
A. Klypin (USA),
A. Kniazev (South Africa),
B. Koribalski (Australia),
S. Pustilnik (Russia),
B. Tully (USA).
The meeting LOC members:
E. Filippova (SAO),
D. Makarov (SAO, Chair),
L. Makarova (SAO),
L. Martynova (SAO)á
M. Sharina (SAO),
A. Tikhonov (SPbU).
A preliminary scientific program will cover the following main themes and related topics:
I. Morphological diversity of dwarfs: dIrs, dSphs, dEs, LSBDs,
BCDs, UCDs, their abundance and habitats.
Distance measurement tools: TRGB and SBF vs. others.
Census of dwarfs within the Local Group and the `Local Volume'.
Dwarf galaxies in groups, filaments and voids.
Associations of dwarfs. Dark dwarf galaxy candidates.
Do we need a better morphological classification for dwarfs?
II. HI content and gas kinematics of dIr and BCD galaxies.
Blind HI surveys: HIPASS, ALFALFA, EBHIS, etc.
Resolved HI studies with VLA, ATCA, GMRT, WSRT.
The faint end of the HI mass function.
Future facilities: ALMA, SKA Pathfinders, ATA, etc.
Dark Matter (DM) distribution on smallest scales. Cusps vs. cores.
Extremely DM populated dwarfs.
III. Star formation and evolution in various dwarf types.
H-alpha surveys of dwarfs in the northern and southern sky.
UV (GALEX) and IR (Spitzer) surveys of nearby dwarfs.
Molecular gas in dIrs and BCDs.
Star formation histories of resolved dwarf galaxies.
SFR and chemical evolution: a competition between internal and
external factors.
IV. Dwarf galaxy cosmology: dwarf galaxies as building blocks.
Very metal-poor dwarfs and young/primordial galaxy population.
Local Volume as a laboratory for DM and Dark Energy: crucial
observations. Basic scaling relations: FP or FLine?
Dwarf galaxies as tracers of the Local Hubble flow.
A common mass scale for dwarf satellites. N-body simulations
and "missing" dwarfs.
The conference will take place in the settlement Nizhnij Arkhyz,
Zelenchuk District of Karachai-Circassian Republic, in the southern
part of Russia, where the SAO headquarters, services and living
quarters of the SAO staff are situated. The settlement hosts about six
hundred inhabitants, mainly SAO employees and their families.
Due to the limited capacity of the SAO hotel situated in Nizhnij
Arkhyz, the number of participants from outside of the SAO is limited
to about 50. The meeting will take place during 5 working days,
September 14-18, 2009. The proposed main day of arrival is Sep. 13,
2009 (Sunday), and the day of departure is Sep. 19, 2009 (Saturday).
During the meeting, meals for participants will be organized in the
SAO `canteen'. The total price for breakfast, lunch and dinner will be
around 15-20 Euro per day. The conference banquet will cost around 50 Euro.
The SAO hotel mainly provides rooms for 2 persons, with prices of
around 15-20 Euro at the current exchange rate per person per night.
Very few rooms will be available as single, with prices of about 25-30
Euro per person per night.
Registration deadline is May 25, 2009.
Abstract deadline is August 15, 2009.
The conference fee of 100 Euro will cover coffee breaks, a reception party, and conference material.
Please, send the registration form to organizing committee:
Registration form:
Name
Surname
Institute
Postal address
Phone/fax
e-mail
Title of proposed talk/poster
Comments
Venue and weather.
------------------
Nizhnij Arkhyz is situated in a valley on the bank of the mountain
river Bol'shoj Zelenchuk (right-hand side) at the altitude of ~1250 m,
near the road (left-hand side of the river) to the well-known mountain
resort Arkhyz (25 km upstream). Its natural environment - picturesque
forest slopes, beautiful mountain rivers and clear mountain air,
support a creative atmosphere for scientific meetings. Over recent
years the location has become quite popular and been the site of
several astronomical and other meetings every year. The resort Arkhyz
is an outlying area involved in the future "Sochi-2014" Winter Olympic
Games.
The program of the meeting will include 1 full-day or 2 half-days for
outdoor activities. These will be devoted to excursions to the SAO
main facilities - the 6-m optical telescope BTA (15 km from Nizhnij
Arkhyz, at the altitude of 2100 m above sea level) and the radio
telescope RATAN-600 (20 km downstream from Nizhnij Arkhyz, near the
district center Zelenchukskaya) and to the ancient capital of the
Alania state (7-12 centuries), and/or to the mountain resort Arkhyz.
Next-door to Nizhnij Arkhyz there is a famous place saved as a
historical reserve. The site was the capital of the ancient Alania
state, developed in the middle of the tenth century in alliance with
the Byzantine Empire. Several churches from the X-th century, the
first on the territory of the Russian Federation, are kept and
restored in this natural museum.
The weather in the middle of September usually is quite warm in
daytime (around +20 C) and chilly at night (+5-+10 C). More concrete
forecast for the nearest 5-6 days can be found at the web-page
http://www.sao.ru
The transportation to the venue.
--------------------------------
There is a normal quality auto-road connection from the main nearest
transport nodes: a/p Mineralnye Vody (English translation "Mineral
Waters") (~200 km) and railway station Nevinnomyssk (~130 km). SAO
will provide buses and/or vans to meet the conference participants in
both places and to return them after the meeting to these places. For
foreign participants arriving to the airport Mineralnye Vody through
Moscow, we will organize help in Moscow for the transfer between the
international airport and the domestic airport for the flight to
Mineralnye Vody.
Cultural program
-----------------
The LOC suggests possible sightseeing tour options after the meeting
(19-20.09.2008). The first one is for those participants who wish to
visit the famous mineral water and climatic resort Kislovodsk (English
translation "Sour Waters") (~250 km from SAO, and ~40 km from the
Mineralnye Vody airport, altitude ~600-800 m above the sea level).
Another option is to visit the famous picturesque mountain-ski resort
Dombay (~140 km from SAO, at altitudes of ~1500 m above the sea level)
with well equipped cable lines, climbing along the slopes to the tops
of surrounding mountains (up to altitudes of 3200 m), from where one
can see the fascinating panorama of the Main Caucasian Chain, with
many outstanding snowy peaks.
These tours can be organized if at least groups of 5 persons are interested.
Visa information
----------------
The foreign citizens need the Russian visa to reach the conference.
Please, provide us with the following information to prepare the
invitations (It could take about 2 months to receive the visa, so,
please, send us the data at least in June):
1) Scanned significant pages (pages, which contain photo and personal data) of passport as .jpg or .gif
2) Affiliation (Organization name and its postal address)
3) Your position
4) Dates of your visit to Russia
5) Itinerary (for example, Moscow - Mineralnye Vody - Nizhnij Arkhyz)
6) Home address
7) Name of city, where you will get the visa, i.e. city, where the nearest to you Consulate of the Russian Federation is located
Please do not hesitate to contact the organizing committee
