<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><br></div><div><br>Begin forwarded message:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><b>From:</b> Pietro Schipani <<a href="mailto:pietro.schipani@oacn.inaf.it">pietro.schipani@oacn.inaf.it</a>><br><b>Date:</b> 17 December 2017 at 15:30:20 GMT+1<br><b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:ricercatori@ced.inaf.it">ricercatori@ced.inaf.it</a>, <a href="mailto:associati@ced.inaf.it">associati@ced.inaf.it</a><br><b>Subject:</b> <b>[Ricercatori] First Announcement: VST in the era of the large sky surveys – Naples 5-8 June 2018</b><br><br></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div>
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Dear Colleagues,<br>
<br>
this is the first announcement of the conference "VST in the era of
large sky surveys" that will be held in Naples (IT) on 5-8 June,
2018. We invite you to circulate it among your colleagues. <br>
Information for abstract submission and online registration will be
sent with next announcements.<br>
The conference website is:<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://indico.ict.inaf.it/e/VST2018">https://indico.ict.inaf.it/e/VST2018</a><br>
<br>
We look forward to seeing you in Naples<br>
<br>
Pietro Schipani<br>
on behalf of SOC and LOC<br>
<br>
-------------------------<br>
<br>
<font size="+1"><b>VST in the era of the large sky surveys</b></font><br>
5-8 June 2018 <br>
INAF – Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory, Napoli<br>
<br>
<b>Scientific Rationale</b><br>
Over the last decades, sky surveys performed with dedicated
telescopes have become the main tool to investigate the nearby and
far away universe. They have been providing new insights on the
structure of our own galaxy as well as of the extragalactic objects
at all scales, from giant galaxies to faint and compact stellar
systems. Deep surveys allow to trace the mass assembly of galaxy
clusters as well as to map the intra-cluster light components
(globular clusters, dwarf galaxies and diffuse light). They also
have opened the time domain leading to a new understanding of the
transient phenomena in the universe.<br>
Within this framework, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) has a central
role in surveying the universe in the optical wavelength range,
being the ESO work-horse in the visible surveys domain. The
telescope is an INAF (Italian National Institute for Astrophysics)
facility operated by ESO in the Paranal observatory (Chile). It is a
2.6-m optical survey telescope, equipped with the wide field camera
OmegaCAM, a 280 Megapixel mosaic of 32 scientific CCD chips covering
the wavelength range from 0.3 to 1.0 micron with a field of view of
one square degree and a pixel scale of 0.21 arcsec/pixel.<br>
There are three ongoing ESO public surveys with the VST: the
Kilo-Degree Survey (KIDS) to study dark matter halos and dark energy
with weak lensing, galaxy evolution and to search galaxy clusters
and high-redshift quasars; the ATLAS, with the primary science
driver of determining the dark energy equation of state; the VST
Photometric Halpha Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane (VPHAS+),
which combines Halpha and broad-band u, g, r and i imaging to
produce a catalogue of around 500 million objects, including greatly
enhanced samples of rare evolved massive stars, Be stars, Herbig and
T Tau stars, post-AGB stars, compact nebulae, white dwarfs and
interacting binaries. At the same time a consistent part of the VST
observing time is dedicated to several GTO projects, which are the
benchmark for studies in both galactic and extragalactic fields of
research.<br>
The proposed conference aims at gathering astronomers who have
worked with the VST data or wish to do it in future. It will be the
occasion to highlight the contribution that all the projects using
OmegaCam@VST are giving to several key science cases in the era of
the large sky surveys, and the synergies with ongoing and upcoming
ground based and space missions. It will also be the opportunity to
discuss the future of the VST in the 2020s. <br>
<b><br>
</b><b>Main Topics</b><br>
• Forward look for the scientific use of the VST<br>
• Synergies with other facilities and projects from ground and
space<br>
• Structure, formation and evolution of the Milky Way<br>
• Stellar populations, star formation history and evolution of
Local Group galaxies<br>
• The variable and transient universe<br>
• Multi-messenger astronomy<br>
• Structure and formation of large stellar haloes around galaxies
in local and far universe<br>
• Galaxies and cluster of galaxies in the last half of the
universe history<br>
• Strong and weak lensing<br>
• Constraints on the cosmological parameters<br>
<b><br>
</b><b>SOC</b><br>
P. Schipani (Chair, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte,
IT)<br>
M. Arnaboldi (European Southern Observatory)<br>
E. Brocato (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, IT)<br>
M. Capaccioli (University of Naples Federico II)<br>
E. Cappellaro (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, IT)<br>
J. Drew (University of Hertfordshire, UK)<br>
A. Fontana (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, IT)<br>
K. Kuijken (Leiden Observatory, NL)<br>
B. Leibundgut (European Southern Observatory)<br>
D. Minniti (Universidad Andres Bello, CL)<br>
T. Shanks (Durham University, UK)<br>
<br>
<b>LOC</b><br>
E. Iodice (Chair, INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte,
IT)<br>
R. Aiello (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, IT)<br>
M.T. Botticella (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, IT)<br>
R. Cozzolino (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, IT) <br>
D. De Cicco (University of Naples Federico II, IT) <br>
G. Esposito (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, IT)<br>
I. Moretti (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, IT)<br>
M. Paolillo (University of Naples Federico II, IT)<br>
M. Spavone (INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, IT)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dr. Pietro Schipani
INAF - Capodimonte Astronomical Observatory
Salita Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli (IT)
Phone: +39 081 5575555
</pre>
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