Parallel sessions

While studying galaxies at high redshift is important for our understanding of (early) galaxy formation, as is currently being unravelled by JWST, locally the Milky Way and surrounding galaxies provide a unique view of star and galaxy formation throughout cosmic history. The dynamical and chemical properties of local stars preserve precious information about the conditions in various environments over a Hubble time. Particularly the old stellar populations teach us about the early origins of galaxies, the first generations of stars and the build-up of galaxies, such as the Milky Way.

Significant progress has been made in the field of Galactic Archaeology in recent years thanks to e.g. the rich data from the Gaia mission, recent large spectroscopic surveys, dedicated targeted observations, simulations focused on Milky Way-type galaxies and dwarf galaxies, chemical evolution models, etc. –with many significant contributions from researchers based in the UK. In this session, we will bring together observers, theorists, and simulators in the community to discuss these recent achievements and future prospects in understanding the origins of the Milky Way and the Local Group, with a special focus on old stellar populations.

There are still many open questions in this area, such as: What are the differences in star formation between different early galactic environments? How can we differentiate between surviving and disrupted satellite populations? What does early Milky Way/galaxy formation look like? To address these questions, topics in this session include the chemistry and dynamics of Milky Way stars, specifically halo/metal-poor stars, the properties of stellar streams, globular clusters and (local) dwarf galaxies, and the role of modern large spectroscopic surveys in Galactic Archaeology — this is timely given WEAVE first light earlier this year, the preparations for 4MOST being in full progress, and DESI ongoing (with all these surveys containing many old, metal-poor stars).

We particularly encourage PhD students and early career researchers to partake and submit abstracts.