[MODEST] First announcement of the conference `Bridging scales: star clusters and their hosts from the Local to the high-z Universe' - Matera 1-5 September 2025 {External}

[Alison Sills]

Dear all,


We are happy to announce the international conference

*Bridging scales: star clusters and their host galaxies from the Local 
to the high-z Universe*

which will be held in *Matera (Italy) from the 1st to the 5th of 
September 2025.*
*
*
Website:**https://sites.google.com/inaf.it/bridging-scales-in-matera-2025/ 
<https://sites.google.com/inaf.it/bridging-scales-in-matera-2025/home>
Contacts: bridgingscales2025 at gmail.com


*Rationale*

Observations of the local and high-z Universe confirm that star 
formation is an inherently clumpy and clustered process and, as a 
consequence, the physical properties of star clusters are expected to be 
intimately linked with those of their hosts. In particular, the 
long-lived massive star clusters can be used to trace galaxy assembly 
and the gas properties at the time of their formation, and they may be 
one of the primary sources of reionization of the Universe.

This field is currently undergoing a revolutionizing phase. Large 
surveys carried out with ground and space based telescopes (such as 
Gaia, HST, Euclid, ALMA, ESO/VLT) have enabled unprecedented photometric 
and spectroscopic studies in the Local Universe and the JWST’s access to 
rest-frame optical wavelengths at z>3 along with the magnification power 
of gravitational lensing are opening a new era in the study of the 
star-forming modes well within the reionization epoch allowing us to 
directly probe star cluster formation and constrain 
unprecedented/unexpectedly dense stellar systems as possible sites of GC 
formation.

The formation and evolution of star clusters is definitely a 
multi-physics and multi-scale problem, involving star formation and 
feedback, galaxy formation and evolution, N-body dynamics, stellar and 
binary evolution. As a consequence, the broad range of interconnected 
issues concerning the study of star clusters and their host galaxies can 
be addressed only with an interdisciplinary approach.

In this exciting and rapidly changing context, we aim at bringing 
together observers and theorists from both the local and high-z Universe 
communities. The goal is to inspire discussions and exchange ideas about 
how to perform a transformative leap in the field, build a comprehensive 
picture of star cluster formation and evolution, explore the link 
between old massive, young star clusters and high-z proto-globular 
clusters, their connection to galaxy formation and their potential role 
in the reionization of the Universe. Focus will be given to how 
efficiently leverage available observations spanning different spatial, 
temporal and physical scales, along with those that will be soon on-line 
thanks to the several upcoming new giant facilities (such as E-ELT, Vera 
Rubin Telescope, Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, GMT), and the new 
generations of dynamical and cosmological hydro-dynamical simulations at 
spatial scales suitable to resolve stellar clusters.


The *key scientific topics* that will be covered at the conference are 
the following.

  * Local young clusters: insights on cluster formation and early evolution
  * Local globular clusters and globular cluster systems and their link
    with galaxy assembly and evolution
  * High-z observations of proto-clusters and dense stellar systems:
    their role in the early Universe
  * Cluster formation in the context of cosmological simulations
  * Next generation of observational facilities



*SOC*
Emanuele Dalessandro (INAF OAS; co-Chair)
Alison Sills (McMaster University; co-Chair)
Mario Cadelano (University of Bologna)
Michela Mapelli (Heidelberg University)
Florent Renaud (Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg)
Eros Vanzella (INAF OAS)
Enrico Vesperini (Indiana University)

-- 
Alison Sills
Professor, Physics & Astronomy
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listmgr.nrao.edu/pipermail/modest/attachments/20241115/58e0d863/attachment.html>