Main Colloquium
Dr. Clare Dobbs	ORATED

University of Exeter

The evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) is integral to the study of star formation and the interstellar medium (ISM). I will present numerical simulations of spiral galaxies where GMCs form via spiral shocks, self gravity or a combination of these processes. When the ISM is cold and clumpy, spiral shocks enable the agglomeration of small clumps into more massive GMCs. Spiral shocks also produce a velocity dispersion in the gas. At high surface densities, self gravity becomes much more important and GMC properties such as their mass spectrum and angular momentum reflect this. Simulations with magnetic fields indicate that magnetic fields impede, though do not prevent structure formation in the disc. Interestingly, the magnetic field in the simulations exhibits both ordered and random components, similar to observations. The random component is due to the velocity dispersion of the gas, induced by the spiral shock.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Patrick Hennebelle	ORATED

Ecole Normale Superieure et Observatoire de Paris

Star formation is one of the important challenge of the modern astrophysics. Amongst many questions, understanding the initial mass function of stars (IMF), that is the number of stars of a given mass, is tremendously important. Several theories have been proposed to explain the IMF without great success. More recently, numerical simulations of supersonic turbulence including self-gravity have obtained IMF which resemble the observed one. In the talk, I will present an analytical theory, inspired from the approach used in cosmology to predict the galaxy mass spectrum, which use the statistical properties of the supersonic turbulence inferred from numerical simulations. The theory predicts an IMF which seems to be in good agreement with the observations. Within the same formalism, I will show that the mass spectrum of the molecular clumps can also be predicted and linked to the powerspectrum of the density fluctuations. Finally, I will discuss the limit of this approach and stress important remaining questions.

	Main Colloquium
Maria Messineo	ORATED

Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands

In the last decade there has been a revolution in our knowledge on Galactic young stellar clusters. More than 1500 candidate clusters have been discovered from the 2MASS and Spitzer surveys, doubling the number of previously known stellar clusters in the Galactic Disk. This opens new insights on the structure of the Milky Way, and on its current star formation. However, interstellar extinction hampers the detection of clusters; their census is incomplete, and several issues concerning their spatial distribution remain open (e.g. the paucity of clusters in the central 3 kpc). Radial velocities provide distances, and therefore, the cluster spatial distribution. However, radial velocities are currently available for only 6clusters. Radio recombination lines of the associated HII region, as well as infrared spectroscopy, can yield velocities of the most inner and obscured clusters, while for moderately extinct clusters I-band spectroscopy is a promising tool. Young stellar clusters are also excellent laboratories for testing models of stellar evolution. Among cluster members, massive stars are identified (Wolf-Rayet stars, Ofpe/WN9, Blue, Red and Yellow supergiants). Estimates of their initial masses, ages, and distances can be obtained by studying the properties of the associated cluster. I will show examples of multi-wavelength analysis of candidate clusters (Infrared, Radio, and X-ray data). Photometric and spectroscopic studies are needed in order to confirm the existence of the cluster, to analyze their stellar content, and to identify massive stars.

	Special Colloquium
Prof. Dr. Reimar Lüst	ORATED

Former President of the Max Planck Society

Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Georg Mezger - Nestor der deutschen Radioastronomie - vollendete am 19.11.08 das 80. Lebensjahr. Das Direktoren-Kollegium des Max-Planck-Instituts für Radioastronomie möchte Sie aus diesem Anlass zu einer Feierstunde am 1. Dezember 2008, 15h00, in den groen Hörsaal des MPIfR einladen. Im Anschlu daran findet ein Umtrunk mit Imbi im Foyer statt. Die Laudatio wird Prof. Dr. Reimar Lüst, Alt-Präsident und Ehrensenator der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, halten.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Michael G. Burton	ORATED

University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

The Central Molecular Zone is a unique region in the inner few hundred parsecs of our Galaxy that is prominent in molecular line emission. Containing  10molecular content of the Galaxy, the gas is also hotter, denser and more turbulent than the giant molecular cloud environment elsewhere in the Galaxy. Perhaps most surprisingly given the location, the CMZ is also rich in organic molecules. We report on a survey now underway with the Mopra 22m millimetre-wave telescope in Australia to map this region in 18 different molecular lines simultaneously, in the 85-93 GHz spectral range. In doing so, we will discuss the current capabilities for conducting long-wave millimetre wave astronomy (i.e. in the 3, 7 and 12mm wavebands) in the southern hemisphere in the pre-ALMA era, including the prospects for galactic plane mapping surveys in multiple molecular species.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Sergei Popov	ORATED

Moscow University

I describe the present-day observational picture for young isolated neutron stars. In last several years a new paradigm emerged. Neutron stars can be born with very different properties, in particular, they can be very different from standard (Crab-like) radio pulsars. Now we know central compact objects in supernova remnants (CCOs), two types of magnetars (soft gamma-ray repeaters - SGRs; anomalous X-ray pulsars - AXPs), cooling radio silent neutron stars (aka “The Magnificent seven”), and Rotating radio transients (RRATs). I discuss possible evolutionary links between them and hypothesis to explain diversity of birth properties.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Manel Perucho	ORATED

MPIfR, Bonn; U. Valencia

I will review some aspects of my three years of research in the Max-Planck-Institut. These include modelling of extragalactic jets using numerical codes, stability theory and VLBI observations. In particular, I will report about a) results on evolution of components in the jet of the radio-galaxy 3C111 from the point of view of relativistic hydrodynamics, b) the observable effects of growing instabilities in jets as shown by detailed analysis of VLBI images of the jet in the quasar 0836+710, and c) I will present a new, fully parallelised, 3D relativistic hydrodynamics numerical code, along with the first results it has produced. These include the confirmation of the growth of resonant Kelvin-Helmholtz modes in sheared relativistic flows that can contribute to long term jet stabilization, as it was predicted from 2D simulations and KH stability theory.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Y.I. Izotov	ORATED

Main Astronomical Observatory, Kyiv, Ukraine

Blue compact dwarf (BCD) are low-mass, gas-rich and metal-poor galaxies with ongoing active star formation. These galaxies are the nearest ones where the extremely metal-deficient massive stars are present. Therefore, most metal-deficient BCDs are often considered as the best candidates to local young dwarf galaxies. These galaxies are also the best objects for the primordial helium abundance determination. I will discuss new results on the BCD properties obtained in recent studies and consequences from these studies for understanding physical conditions in high-redshift star-forming galaxies.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Gary Fuller	ORATED

University of Manchester, UK

The majority of low mass stars, and probably all massive stars, form in clusters. Observational constraints on the initial conditions for the formation of clusters are therefore required to develop a comprehensive view of the formation and early evolution of the bulk of stars in both our Galaxy and other galaxies. In this talk I will discuss two ongoing surveys probing the formation of clusters and the massive stars within them. The first survey is making use of mid-IR images from Spitzer to identify and study infrared dark clouds while the second is producing a Galaxy-wide catalogue of massive young stars. This is being done through a survey of the Galactic plane for the emission from Class II methanol masers. The status of these surveys will be described and some recent results from them presented.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Diego Altamirano	ORATED

Sterrenkundig Instituut Anton Pannekoek, Universiteit van Amsterdam

Accretion-powered millisecond X-ray pulsars (AMSPs) had been predicted in the early 1980s as the progenitors of millisecond radio pulsars. However it was not until 1998 that the first AMSP was discovered. Since then, a total of ten AMSPs have been found out of the >150 Low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) known up to date. Since the theoretical prediction of the existence of AMSPs was made, the main issue remained to explain the lack of pulsation in the persistent X-ray emission of the majority of LMXBs. In recent decades many theoretical efforts have been made to explain this, the main question remaining whether the pulsation is hidden from the observer or not produced at all. In this talk I will summarize the last 10 years of discoveries and present results on two sources that might help us to understand why not all LMXBs pulsate.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Hans-Rainer Klöckner	ORATED

Kapteyn Institute, Groningen & ASTRON, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands

I will present the current status of the SKA (Design Study) science simulations with the emphasis on the radio continuum and HI simulations. Such simulations are based on our current knowledge of the space densities of various galaxy types and will serve as a crucial tool to understand the sensitivities of future telescope designs. In combination, an overview on the GMRT will be given and experiments discussed to achieve (almost) SKA sensitivities. Based on the difficulties one encounters in calibrating GMRT observations I also will provide an overview on a fully automatic GMRT pipeline and will present preliminary results of GMRT observations between 320 MHz and 1200 MHz.

	Special Colloquium
Multiple Speakers: Check abstract for details	ORATED

9:45 Coffee 10:00 A. Zensus 10:20 T. Krichbaum: High resolution studies of AGN Session: “Surveys” (chair: A. Zensus) 10:50 K. Kellermann: The Deep Radio Sky: From WVV to the SKA 11:15 F. Mantovani: Polarization measurements of young radio sources, CSS 11:35 Y. Hagiwara: AGN maser (and some non-scientific stories) 11:55 P. Cox 12:15-13:30 Lunch Session: “Variability in Sgr A* and AGN” (chair: T. Krichbaum) 13:30 A. Eckart 13:50 G. Witzel 14:10 S. Wagner: IDV: from GHz to GeV 14:30 B. Peng: IDV - propagation effects across Germany and China 14:50 M. Aller: Circular Polarization Variability at Centimeter Band: the UMRAO program 15:10 H. Aller: Circular Polarization Variability in 3C 279: an unexploited probe of magnetic field structure in AGN jets 15:30-16:15 Coffee 16:20 R. Porcas 16:40 A. Alberdi: Radio Supernovae and Supernova Factories 17:00 P.L. Biermann 17:20 E. Angelakis: Secondary fluctuations in the CMB 17:40 C. Schalinski: Space Applications for the European Citizn - an Industry Perspective 18:00 - 20:00 Drinks & Canapes

	Special Colloquium
Andreas Quirrenbach	ORATED

14:00 A. Quirrenbach: From Arno’s Group into the Great Wide World 15:00-15:30 Coffee 15:30 K. Johnston: Astrophysical Studies with Arno 17:00 End

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Karl Schuster	ORATED

IRAM, Grenoble

TBA

	Special Colloquium
Prof. Farhad Yusef-Zadeh	ORATED

Northwestern University

Highlights of recent multi-wavelength observations of the massive black hole at the Galactic center, Sgr A*, will be presented. The variability and correlation of its flare emission in radio, sub-millimeter, near-IR and X-ray bands will be discussed. These data are providing a lot of insight on the nature of the flow very near the event horizon of a four million solar mass black hole. The time delay found in the light curves of flare emission is interpreted in terms of an expanding blob of synchrotron emitting hot plasma. Modeling of the light curves gives physical quantities that characterize the flare emission.

	Special Colloquium
Tobias Troost	ORATED

MPIfR, Bonn

The advent of large scale Galactic Plane surveys enables the unbiased identification of early stages in the formation of massive stars/clusters. APEX’s ATLASGAL submm survey in combination with Spitzer’s MIPSGAL FIR survey provides an excellent base of compact sources to model SEDs. In this thesis, a catalog of compact submm clumps was compiled and their submm and FIR flux densities extracted. Applying a color-color criterium on the dataset, three different classes are established. These classes show an evolution in the dust temperature derived from the SEDs as well as in the distance independent mass-luminosity relation, which qualifies the sources in the classes as early steps in an evolutionary sequence of high mass stars/clusters.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. P. Janardhan	ORATED

Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, India

There have been several instances in recent times when solar wind densities have dropped to abnormally low values, up to two orders of magnitude below average, for extended periods of up to 24 hours. Such low-density anomalies are accompanied by extremely weak solar wind flows observed at 1 AU. These rather rare phenomena are referred to as ”solar wind disappearance events”. One consequence is a dramatic expansion of the Earth’s magnetosphere and bow shock. In the case of the well-known disappearance event of 11 May 1999, the expanding bow shock, normally located at 10 Earth radii, reached an upstream distance of nearly 60 Earth radii, the lunar orbit. Using both ground-based radio (IPS = Interplanetary Scintillations) and space-based observations (SoHO, ACE, and WIND spacecraft), I discuss in this talk the progress made in our understanding of of these unique events on the Sun, in the interplanetary medium, and at Earth.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Thomas Puzia	ORATED

Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada

Globular Clusters are the best approximations to simple stellar populations known to exist. Compared to the complex stellar population mix of the diffuse (i.e. unresolved) light of their host galaxies, the integrated light of globular clusters can be reliably compared to population synthesis model predictions. Given that globular clusters exist in virtually every galaxy and form during major star formation episodes, they can be used as tracer populations of star formation and assembly histories of their host galaxies. In my talk, I will recapitulate evidence for the presence of multiple globular cluster sub-populations in the Local Group. Moving on to more massive systems, I will also present recent advance in modeling the chemical composition distributions of globular cluster systems in massive elliptical galaxies that appear to be consistent with the monolithic collapse formation scenario. The comparison of model predictions with spectroscopic observations reveals the presence of a new, super metal-rich globular cluster population that is likely to exist only in the most massive galaxies. Furthermore, there is strong evidence for multiple enrichment epochs/mechanisms of the ancient globular cluster sub-population, the formation of which likely predates the formation epoch of the vast majority of stars in elliptical galaxies. I will discuss these results, in particular in the context of hierarchical galaxy formation.

	Special Colloquium
Prof. Javier Alda	ORATED

Escuela de Optica, Madrid

Optical antennas denotes the joint effort of resonant metallic structures carefully tailored to build up currents and a transduction mechanism in the form of a micro-bolometer or a metal-oxide-metal junction. The transducer provides an electric signal proportional to the optical irrandiance impinging onto the device. They benefit from the small footprint and intrinsic selective properties of antennas and also from the high speed of the material and physical mechanism involved in the transductor. Our effort has been mainly devoted to the experimental demonstration of its use in the visible and near infrared. We have developed and applied several algorithms and techniques to obtain a faithful spatial response of the antenna elements. This talk is mainly devoted to the presentation of the antenna coupled detectors, their characteristic properties and performance, the techniques associated with the design, fabrication and testing, and how their responsivity and detectivity can be improved. Some new ideas and findings are also shown to properly frame the current development of these devices.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Paul Goudfrooij	ORATED

Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore

Recent deep imaging studies of ‘normal’ giant elliptical galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and large, ground-based telescopes have shown that these galaxies usually contain rich globular cluster (GC) systems with bimodal color distributions. Follow-up spectroscopy with 8-m class telescopes has revealed that this bimodality is mainly due to differences in metallicity. Interestingly, the mean colors of the ‘red’, metal-rich GCs are similar to those of the diffuse host galaxy light. Hence, the nature of these ‘red’ GCs is likely to hold important clues to the star formation history of their host galaxies. One environment known to produce metal-rich GCs and bimodal color distributions is that of vigorous starbursts induced by mergers of gas-rich galaxies. Massive young GCs have been commonly found in mergers and young merger remnants using HST images. Follow-up spectroscopy has confirmed the ages (and in three cases even the high masses) of these young clusters predicted from their colors and luminosities. Their metallicities tend to be near solar, as expected for clusters formed out of enriched gas in spiral disks. A natural interpretation of these data is that the metal-rich GCs in ’normal’, old giant ellipticals formed in gas-rich mergers at z >= 1, and that the formation process of giant ellipticals with significant populations of metal-rich GCs was similar to that in galaxy mergers observed today. In this talk, I will present insights into the viability of this scenario as probed by recent deep HST/ACS imagery of established intermediate-age (1-5 Gyr old) early-type merger remnants. Such galaxies are still identifiable as merger remnants through their morphological fine structure, yet they are old enough to ensure that substantial dynamical evolution of the globular clusters has already occurred, which can be probed by the luminosity function of the GCs.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Ivan Camara Mayorga	ORATED

MPIfR

This work reports on the development of the photomixing technology and its immediate application to realize a tunable coherent source in the terahertz (THz) frequency range with an unprecedented bandwidth. An extensive experimental study of low-temperature-grown gallium arsenide (LTGaAs) and ion-implanted GaAs as photomixing materials is performed in order to determine the optimal material parameters and fabrication conditions. Defect Engineering allows to create photoconducting materials with outstanding properties for THz signal generation. The type and concentration of semiconductor defects has a critical importance in the performance of the material used for photomixing. In LT-GaAs, defects are highly dependent on the arsenic beam equivalent pressure (BEP), growth and anneal temperature. Unfortunately, the growth temperature at which an LTGaAs sample shows optimal properties lacks very often of fabrication reproducibility. In contrast to LT-GaAs, the defects created in ion-implanted GaAs can be tailored by varying the implantation dose and energy. In order to achieve a given concentration of defects, Monte Carlo simulations were performed to determine optimal implantation conditions. The precise control over implantation dose and energy allows to overcome the reproducibility limitations of LT-GaAs. Photomixers were fabricated patterning Ti/Au interdigitated electrodes by electron beam lithography on the feed point of different planar antenna designs resonant dipoles and broadband logarithmic spirals). Electromagnetic simulations of the radiating structures are shown. In addition, semiconductor simulations were performed, revealing the build-up of space charge regions next to the electrodes. The problematic of space charge formation is analyzed and discussed. Experiments with optimized photomixers demonstrate successfully pumping of astronomical heterodyne receivers at 450 GHz with a superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixer and at 750 GHz with a hot-electron-bolometer (HEB) mixer. The double sideband (DSB) noise temperature of the astronomical receiver pumped by a photomixer and by a solid state local oscillator (both measured at an intermediate frequency band of 2 to 4 GHz) were identical (Treceiver = 170 K). In addition to the photomixing results, the issue of frequency stabilization of free-running lasers is covered. Experiments were performed using an optical comb generator as a relative frequency reference. Under the frequency lock condition, the beat signal fulfilled the linewidth requirements for the photomixing system to be used as a local oscillator for heterodyne receivers in radio astronomy.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Nami Sakai	ORATED

Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Recently, we have found a variety in chemical composition of low-mass star forming regions. Although the hot-core like chemistry producing complex organic molecules such as HCOOCH3 and C2H5CN has widely been recognized in low-mass star forming regions (e.g. IRAS16293-2422, NGC1333IRAS4A/4B), we have discovered a different case which shows extremely rich carbon-chain molecules such as CnHm and HCnN. That is L1527 in Taurus, whose characteristic features are summarized as follows; (i) High excitation lines of various carbon-chain molecules are strongly detected, indicating that carbon-chains exist in the warm and dense part. (ii) Small mapping observations show that carbon-chain molecules are exist in the gas infalling to the protostar. (iii) Long carbon-chain molecules (C5H, C6H, C6H2, HC9N etc.), negative ions (C4H-, C6H-), HCO2+ are also found. In L1527, various carbon-chain molecules would be regenerated in the vicinity of the protostar in L1527, triggered by the evaporation of the CH4 ice due to star formation activities. This is new carbon-chain chemistry (Warm Carbon-Chain Chemistry : WCCC) in contrast to the conventional and classical one which has long been applied to cold starless cores. The variation of chemical compositions found in this study would originate from some differences in star formation processes, and its detailed understanding will provide us with a new insight into ’variation’ of star formation.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Joerg Fischera	ORATED

Mt Stromlo Observatory, Australia

TBA

	Special Colloquium
Marion Wienen	ORATED

MPIfR, Bonn

The initial conditions of molecular clumps in which massive stars form are still poorly known in contrast to considerable advances which have been made in the understanding of early stages of low-mass star formation. In particular, progress has to be made in the investigation of the phases before ultracompact HII regions have formed and the newly formed massive (proto) stars emerge in the infrared. These phases are best searched for and detected by (sub)millimeter dust continuum and high-density molecular tracers. Especially ammonia is a good estimator for the temperature and kinematics of cold and dense molecular clumps. Using the Effelsberg 100-m telescope, the ammonia line emission was therefore investigated towards three new dust-selected samples of massive molecular clumps: clumps from the unbiased dust continuum survey of the Cygnus X molecular cloud complex, clumps embedded in Infrared Dark Clouds and newly detected clumps in ATLASGAL, the first unbiased submillimeter survey of the Galactic Plane. The results of this so far largest ammonia sample of massive star forming clumps will be presented and the derived physical parameters discussed.

	Special Colloquium
Caterina Impellizzeri	ORATED

MPIfR, Bonn

One of the fundamental concepts in the unified scheme of AGN is that both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies harbour supermassive nuclear engines blocked from direct view by an optically and geometrically thick molecular torus. Searches for absorption lines of common molecules like CO and OH towards the nuclear region of nearby Seyferts have however mostly yielded non-detections. Before concluding that tori are not molecular, radiative excitation effects, which suppress the opacity in the lowest transitions, must be investigated. To explore these effects, I conducted a survey searching for excited OH from a sample of 31 Seyfert 2 galaxies. I will present the results of Effelsberg observations of the excited states of OH at 6035 MHz and at 4750 MHz, yielding new detections in five sources. I will also present spectral line VLBI observations of OH at 13.4 GHz, which detected excited OH towards the cores of Cygnus A and NGC 1052, confirming the presence of a molecular torus in these sources. A subsample of the 31 Seyfert 2 galaxies was also observed at 6.7 GHz, yielding the first extragalactic detection of methanol. Finally, I will present the exciting new discovery of a water maser at redshift 2.64, which is the most distant source where water has ever been found.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Rene Plume	ORATED

University of Calgary, Canada

The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea is one of the most powerful submillimetre radio telescopes in the world. The recent addition of new state-of-the-art instruments (SCUBA-2: the first 10k pixel camera in the submm and HARP: a 16 element heterodyne receiver at 345 GHz) promises improved sensitivity and vastly increased mapping speed over the previous generation of instruments. In response to the scientific potential of these new instruments, the international astronomical community created an ambitious programme of seven independent surveys to study our Galaxy and Universe in the submillimetre (450 – 850 microns). Collectively known as the JCMT Legacy Surveys (JLS), they are designed to understand the formation and evolution of the planets, stars and galaxies in the Universe. Of the seven, four will perform surveys within the Milky Way, one will survey the local universe, another will perform a deep cosmological survey, and the last will map the whole submillimetre sky viewable from Mauna Kea. In this talk I will describe the overall objectives of each of the surveys, their current progress, and expectations for their completion.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Sergio Molinari	ORATED

Institute of Physics of Interplanetary Space, Roma

Massive star formation has recently attracted more and more interest. Part of the motivation is that the earliest stages of the process are yet poorly known; however, massive stars form in clustered environments where most of the solar-type stars in the Galaxy are also born, so that they play an important role in shaping the properties of most the stellar population in the Milky Way. A multi-wavelength approach from the near infrared to radio allows to assemble a contextualised low/high mass integrated view which has interesting potential in stimulating the advance of our understanding of massive star formation, its initial conditions and history.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Philipp Kronberg	ORATED

University of Toronto, Canada

My talk includes an overview of observational methods and results used to probe intergalactic magnetic fields on all scales. These range from galaxy halos to the largest accessible intergalactic scales. They show that magnetic fields are present in significant strength in galaxy systems over all cosmological epochs observed so far. I also present some quantitative and physical calculations that help understand what intergalactic fields and plasma conditions we might expect to see in the Universe, at different cosmological epochs.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. José C. Guirado	ORATED

Universitat de València, Spain

The radio stars ABDorA and ABDorB are the main components of the ABDoradus system. Both stars are double (ABDorA/ABDorC and ABDorBa/ABDorBb) and usual targets of astrometric instruments at optical (HST), infrared (VLT), and radio VLBI) wavelengths. From a combination of all astrometric data available we have obtained precise bounds to the dynamical mass of both binaries in ABDoradus. The determination of the mass of ABDorC is of particular relevance, since this object constitutes one of the few calibration points used to test theoretical evolutionary models of low-mass young stars. We will report on follow-up interferometric observations that help to determine with extraordinary precision the dynamical mass of the four components of the system.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Eric Keto	ORATED

CfA, Cambridge, USA

Several alternative theories have been proposed to explain how massive stars are able to form despite significant outward forces from radiation pressure and ionized gas that might reverse star-forming accretion flows. Nonetheless all the molecular line and recombination line observations that we and others have collected over many years point to a conventional picture in which a massive star develops at the center of a scaled-up but otherwise standard, star-forming accretion flow. The intense radiation of an OB star does indeed affect the accretion flow by paritally ionizing the inner region around the star and by ultimately limiting the maximum stellar mass. I will show how simple analytic models can be used to interpret the observations and also understand the theoretical puzzles that motivated alternative theories of massive star formation.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Leonardo Testi	ORATED

ESO, Garching

Circumstellar disks form during the early stages of star formation. They play a key role in the formation process of the central star and in the development of planetary systems. In this talk I will review our current understanding of the structure, properties and evolution of circumstellar disks. The study of circumstellar disks holds the promise to obtain insights on the earliest stages of the planets formation process. I will critically review what we have achieved so far and how we can progress in the coming years.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Hendrik Linz	ORATED

MPIA Heidelberg

Our knowledge about the first stages of massive star and cluster formation is still limited. Several studies are underway to trace related objects by means of (sub-)mm continuum surveys in the vicinity of more evolved objects. On the other hand, recent mid-infrared satellite surveys of the Galactic plane have revealed a plethora of infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), suggested by initial studies to be a good hunting ground for very early stages of (high-mass) star formation. I will present the first results of our program to study the properties of a new sample of IRDCs in the southern hemisphere where ALMA will play a major role in the intermediate future. To investigate the dust content in the IRDCs we cross-correlated 1.2 mm continuum data from SIMBA@SEST with mid-infrared Spitzer/GLIMPSE images. We extracted masses and column densities, which are important quantities in the characterization of the initial conditions of massive star formation. The results for the column densities will be discussed with regard to recent predictions from theoretical high-mass star formation models. In particular, we employ the extinction map technique to derive masses and column densities from the mid-infrared data that provide a much better spatial resolution (2-3arcsec) compared to (sub-)mm single-dish data (15-24arcsec) and allow such parameter estimations in a temperature-independent fashion. I will discuss pro’s and con’s of both techniques.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Inti Pelupessy	ORATED

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

Recent observational work seems to suggest that the { m H_2} content of a given patch of the ISM is mainly determined by the local pressure. Because of the close relation between star formation and the presence of molecular cloud complexes this could have important implications for our understanding of the evolution of the ISM of galaxies. In this talk, I will critically review this relation from a theoretical viewpoint. A model for the molecular gas phase suitable for use in galaxy simulations will be presented. I will present results and discuss the lessons learned from this model about the nature of the emperically found correlations between ISM properties and { m H_2} content.

	Special Colloquium
Alexander Kreplin	ORATED

MPIfR Bonn

The interferometry instrument AMBER of ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) in Chile provides spectrally dispersed Michelson interferograms in the infrared. Therefore, AMBER allows us to study the innermost circumstellar environment of young and evolved stars with both high angular and high spectral resolution. V921 Sco is a high-mass B[e] star whose evolutionary state is still a matter of debate. With the AMBER Instrument the innermost region of the circumstellar environment of V921 Sco has been resolved. These observations suggest the existence of a circumstellar disk with a Gaussian FWHM size of 4 mas. The comparison of the measured size to the predicted dust sublimation radius reveals that the resolved structure is more compact than expected, which might be explained with a hot gaseous inner disk.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Martin Asplund	ORATED

MPA Garching

Lithium is one of the most important elements in astronomy and cosmology, far disproportional to its tiny cosmic abundance. The observed Li abundances in stars can thus shed light on Big Bang nucleosynthesis, stellar structure and evolution, cosmic ray physics and galaxy formation and evolution. I will present evidence that there is not only one, but in fact two, cosmological Li problems: that the observed 7Li abundances in halo stars are too low compared with standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the 6Li abundances too high compared with expectations from Galactic cosmic ray production. I will discuss possible solutions to the Li problems ranging from the mundane to the exotic and speculative. One example of the latter being invoking the existence of supersymmetric particles with the right properties.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. David Wilner	ORATED

CfA, Cambridge, USA

The circumstellar disks that naturally arise from the star formation process are the sites where planets are born. Millimeter astronomy plays a key role in probing these disks by providing observational access to the cool dust and gas that comprise the bulk of the mass, with no contrast problem from starlight. I will describe recent observations, in particular from the Submillimeter Array on Mauna Kea, that resolve disk structure and reveal physical conditions in disks appropriate to the formation of Solar Systems like our own. These observations are also showing the effects of evolutionary processes in these disks, including the growth of dust grains, and the presence of inner disk holes likely due to the dynamical influence of giant planets in formation. I will touch on the incredible advances in this field expected with the advent of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, now under construction in Chile.

	Special Colloquium
Prof. Dan Werthimer	ORATED

UC Berkeley, USA

I’ll review seven Berkeley SETI programs at IR, visible and radio wavelengths, concentrating on newer experiments, Astropulse and multibeam SETI at Arecibo. I’ll also discuss our research and collaboration for rapid development of petaop/sec radio array instrumentation. The recent announcement by Lorimer et al of the detection of an extremely powerful dispersed radio pulse originating at cosmological distance has renewed interest in study of short duration radio transients. These microsecond or millisecond radio pulses could come from exploding primordial black holes, compact-object mergers, cosmic-string cusp sparks, or perhaps from extraterrestrial civilizations. My colleagues and I are carrying out two searches in hopes of finding and characterizing these uS to mS time scale dispersed radio pulses: the Allen Telescope Array’s “Fly’s Eye” experiment observes a 100 square degree field by pointing each antenna in a different direction; by contrast, the Astropulse sky survey at Arecibo is extremely sensitive but has 1/3,000 of the instantaneous sky coverage. Astropulse’s multibeam data is transferred via the internet to the computers of millions of volunteers. These computers perform a coherent de-dispersion analysis faster than the fastest available supercomputers and allow us to resolve pulses as short as 400 nS.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Vernesa Smolcic	ORATED

Caltech, Pasadena, USA

The use of radio observations for the study of the cosmic evolution of galaxies has the major advantage of bypassing dust-extinction biases. Radio emission from extragalactic sources at 1.4 GHz (20cm) is dominated by the radiation from active-galactic nuclei (AGN) and star-forming (SF) galaxies, hence a reliable SF/AGN identification is the main prerequisite for such studies. We developed a robust method to separate SF from AGN galaxies in the faint radio population. This enabled a detailed study of the cosmic evolution of these two populations of galaxies out to z=1.3, for the first time based on radio observations. We find that the most intensely star forming galaxies (equivalent to ULIRGs) evolve slower than previously suggested (based on MIR data), and that SF galaxies evolve much more rapidly than low-power radio AGN. I will discuss the implication of these radio-based results for our understanding of galaxy formation.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Edwige Chapillon	ORATED

Observatoire de Bordeaux

It is nowadays admitted that the planetary formation takes place in the protoplanetary disks of gas and dust surrounding young stars. Nevertheless the overall properties of these disks are not yet well constrained by current observations. Moreover the transition between class II object (where the protoplanetary disk is made of gas and dust) and class III object (where the debris disk contain mainly dust) is poorly knwown. To study this transition phase between Class II and Class III, we observed the disks around two intermediate PMS stars (HAe) CQ Tau and MWC 758 in dust and CO line emission with the IRAM array. These two stars are relatively old and have small disks of low masses. We analysed these observations with a simple power law parametrization method. The two disks share some common properties, in particular the mean CO abundance is low despite disk temperatures above the CO condensation temperature. Several hypothesis can explain the apparent CO depletion (gas-to-dust ratio modification, photodissociation, trapping on grains...). To test them we modelise the chemistry using the PDR Meudon code. After presenting the method for the observation analysis and the use of the PDR code in the peculiar case of our disks I will discusse the different hypothesis to explain the observed CO depletion.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Jürgen Gauss	ORATED

Universität Mainz

Rotational spectroscopy is not only essential for the identification of molecules in the interstellar space but also important for the detection of new molecules in the laboratory and for a detailed characterization of their geometric and electronic structure. A theoretical treatment of the relevant spectroscopic parameters, i.e., rotational constants, centrifugaldistortion constants, quadrupole-coupling constants, etc., is possible using quantum chemistry which deals with the electronic structure of molecules. In my talk I will briefly review the theoretical background for the quantum-chemical calculations that are required to assist experimental investigation in the field of rotational spectroscopy. The emphasis will be on the adequate treatment of electron-correlation effects in order to achieve high accuracy, the calculation of spectroscopic properties using analytic-derivative techniques, and the treatment of vibrational effects on the parameters of interest. A number of examples will be presented to illustrate the successful interplay of theory and experiment in the area of rotational spectroscopy. Among others, those include the detection of oxadisulfane (HSOH) using rotational spectroscopy, the rotational spectra of bromofluoromethane, and the determination of the equilibrium structures of cis- and trans-1-chloro-2-fluoroethylene.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Patrick Carolan	ORATED

National University of Ireland, Galway

The earliest stages of Star Formation involve a complex interplay between many competing processes. Freeze-out, desorption, infall and outflow all serve to shape the cloud structure and each process reveals itself with a distinct chemical signature. We have characterised the chemical and dynamical structure of three low mass protostellar clouds, L483, B335 and I04166, using a 3-D molecular line R.T. (Radiative Transfer) code to model line emission observed with the JCMT (James Clerk Maxwell Telescope). Multi-line observations indicate significant desorption can occur in the presence of an outflow, freeze-out is characterised and the velocity structure of the protostellar clouds (infall and outflow) is interpreted from a comparison of the observed and modelled line emission profiles. We can apply the above analysis to High Mass protostellar clouds that are in the initial stages of collapse. High resolution spectra is difficult to obtain because of the distance involved making it difficult to determine if the the clumpy collapse scenario thought to be responsible for High Mass Star Formation is taking place. Our high mass protostellar cloud is IRAS 18354-0649S. Line emission profiles indicate a complex density structure, rotation and signatures of an outflow. The complex density structure may be a result of interacting clumps and the outflow signatures from 12CO line emission profiles would suggest the object is not quiescent. Spitzer 3.5’ŠÌm emission may indicate emission caused by an outflow or energy escaping from a deeply embedded source.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. James M. Anderson	ORATED

Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe

Programme: A. Zensus: Introduction R. Beck: Science with LOFAR J. Anderson: Future technology and LOFAR W. Reich: The Effelsberg LOFAR station General discussion

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Alexander Ipatov	ORATED

Institute for Applied Astronomy, St. Petersburg

TBA

	Special Colloquium
Anupreeta More	ORATED

MPIfR, Bonn

Wide separation gravitational lens systems are good candidates to probe the matter (luminous+dark) distribution in massive halos. Investigation of two wide separation lens systems is carried out. MG 2016+112 is a quadruply imaged lens system with a pair of merging partial images in the radio. The merging images are found to violate the expected mirror symmetry. This indicates an astrometric anomaly which could only be of gravitational origin and could arise due to substructure in the environment or line-of-sight of the lens galaxy. New high resolution multi-frequency VLBI radio observations at 1.7, 5 and 8.4 GHz are carried out for MG 2016+112 to test previous mass models. The results from the new data are inconsistent with predictions of previous mass models. New mass models which quantitatively attribute the astrometric anomaly to a dwarf galaxy known at the redshift of the lensing galaxy, are presented. The level of substructure in MG 2016+112 is high compared to that suggested by CDM simulations of the sub-halo population. B2108+213, the widest separation lens system found in CLASS shows two lensed images and a third component in the radio whose identity was ambiguous. The lens galaxy G1 with a companion galaxy G2 belongs to a galaxy group. The new constraints from the high resolution VLBI observations are used to test various mass models. A profile steeper than isothermal is found to best fit the image positions and flux-density ratios. This might be due to interaction between G1 and G2 as suggested by numerical simulations. The third radio component is confirmed as the AGN of the massive lens galaxy G1 which is further supported by the extended emission from the radio lobes detected in the new MERLIN 1.4 GHz imaging.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. David Wiltshire	ORATED

Canterbury University, Christchurch, New Zealand

Dark energy has been described as the biggest problem in cosmology. In new work, I suggest that we have been looking at the problem in the wrong fashion. Dark energy is not the internal energy of a mysterious fluid, but a misidentification of those aspects of cosmological gravitational energy which by virtue of the equivalence principle cannot be localised: gradients in the energy associated with the varying curvature of space, and the varying kinetic energy of the expansion of space. These are important aspects of gravitational physics in a universe, which at the present epoch is very inhomogeneous, dominated by voids. The mystery of dark energy is explained purely in Einstein’s theory, through a deeper understanding of those parts of general relativity, which Einstein himself recognised as being difficult: the understanding of gravitational energy, given that space itself is dynamical and may contain energy and momentum.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Christian Fendt	ORATED

MPIA Heidelberg

Recent results of MHD simulations of jet formation will be presented. I will consider three different model setups. In the first approach the role of the disk magnetic flux profile and disk mass loss profile is investigated concerning the jet collimation degree. Our results suggest (and quantify) that in general outflows launched from a very concentrated region close to the inner disk radius tend to be un-collimated. In the second approach, jet formation is numerically investigated from a magnetic field configuration consisting of a stellar dipole plus a disk field. The central dipole is found to de-collimate the disk wind considerably. Briefly, I will also discuss the extension of the previous simulations into the relativistic regime - applicable to AGN and microquasars.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Marian W. Pospieszalski	ORATED

NRAO Charlottesville

Improvements in the noise temperature of field-effect transistors (FET’s) and, later, heterostructure field-effect transistors (HFET’s) over the last several decades have been quite dramatic. In 1970, a noise temperature of 120 K was reported at 1 GHz and physical temperature of 77 K; in 2003, noise temperatures of 2, 8 and at 35 K were reported at 4, 30 and 100 GHz, respectively, for physical temperatures of 14 to 20 K. In the first part of the talk the developments in this field are briefly traced and an attempt is made to identify important milestones. Examples of experimental results obtained with different generations of FET’s (HFET’s) are compared with the model predications. The current state of the art in cryogenic low noise InP HFET amplifiers is presented and some gaps in our understanding of experimental results are emphasized. Random gain fluctuations of these amplifiers important for applications in broadband continuum radiometers for radio astronomy are also shortly discussed. In the second part the question whether rapidly advancing technologies of microwave heterostucture bipolar transistors (HBT’s) and CMOS can in the future offer alternatives to the extremely low noise performance of InP HFET’s is addressed. For that purpose noise models of unipolar and bipolar transistors are reviewed with emphasis on their common noise properties. Simple close-form approximate expressions for the noise parameters are given and comparison is made of calculated results with the available experimental data.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Doug Johnstone	ORATED

Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada

The nearby Perseus and Ophiuchus molecular clouds are exceptional laboratories for testing the earliest phases of star formation. Careful consideration of the multi-wavelength surveys of these clouds (in particular 2Mass, Spitzer c2d, and COMPLETE) allows us to measure the column density distributions of the bulk cloud, the location and kinematics of the dense stellar-massed cores, and the distribution of the protostars. As such we can now provide strong constraints for theoretical models or simulations wishing to explain the manner in which stars form within a cloud. Highlights of our results are (1) most of the mass of the cloud is at low column density, (2) dense cores form only in high column density regions, (3) the mass distribution of the dense cores is similar to the IMF, (4) dense cores are mostly thermally supported, (5) dense cores contain only a few percent of the cloud mass, (6) the more concentrated cores are most likely to contain embedded protostars, and (7) the dense cores are not randomly located within the the molecular cloud, suggesting possible triggering mechanisms for their creation. In this talk, I will discuss each of these important results and place them in context with theoretical models and simulations of star formation.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Craig Walker	ORATED

NRAO Socorro

M87 provides the best opportunity to observe a jet close to the region in which it is launched. Structures in that region are expected to scale with the gravitational radius of the black hole and M87 has the largest angular-size black hole of objects with bright jets. We are making a movie of the base of the jet with a resolution of about 60 Schwartzschild radii using the VLBA at 43 GHz. Observations were made every three weeks throughout 2007 and every 5 days for 14 epochs in early 2008. A preliminary movie, based on the first 11 epochs, shows rapid structural changes and motions of about 2c, in contrast to previous results on larger scalse showing subluminal motions. In the movie, the jet looks something like a smoke plume. The VLBA is undergoing a significant sensitivity upgrade. The hardware is being developed and deployed to utilize the entire IF bandwidth of 500 MHz in each polarization. The recorded bit rate, with 2 bits per sample, will be 4 Gbps. The three major elements of the upgrade are a Digital Back End (DBE), the Mark5C recording system, and the DiFX software correlator. Prototypes of the DBE and the Mark5C systems should be available in the next couple of months and the software correlator is already under test. The bandwidth upgrade will provide a sensitivity increase of more than a factor of 5 compared to observations at the current sustainable bit rate of 128 Mbps. An additional element of the upgrade is to replace the low noise amplifiers in the 22 GHz receivers with more modern amplifiers based on the technology used in the WMAP receivers. That upgrade, which was funded by the MPIfR, was finished in January 2008 and has increased the sensitivity by about 30% in the 1cm band.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Frederic Courbin	ORATED

Lausanne

COSMOGRAIL is a long term program to measure the time delays in most known gravitationally lensed quasar. The goal is double: 1- to measure the Hubble parameter Ho, independent of any standard candle and of the CMB priors, and 2- to map the visible and dark mass in lens galaxies. I will review recent progress in the field of quasar lensing, the first results of COSMOGRAIL and I will describe the advantages and drawbacks of the method in the current observational context (HST, ELT, AO etc..).

	Special Colloquium
Prof. Chengmin Zhang	ORATED

National Astronomical Observatories, Beijing, China

The formation of spin frequency and magnetic field in millisecond pulsars (MSP) is related to the binary accreting phase when the matter accreted from the companion accelerates the spin and decays the field strength. The MSP magnetic field will arrive at a bottom value of about 10**8 Gauss when the neutron star magnetosphere radius is compressed onto the stellar surface, while its spin frequency will arrive at a maximum spin frequency of about 1000 Hz. The condition for the jet formation will be discussed. Similar spin and magnetic field values for radio pulsars and accretion-powered X-ray millisecond pulsars support the scenario that the evolution of spin and magnetic field of MSP happens during the binary phase.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Alan Marscher	ORATED

Boston University

Exploring the deepest regions inside blazar jets is challenging because of the small angular scales, opacity at radio wavelengths, and the difficulty in interpreting optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray light curves. We have been developing a method that combines mm-wave VLBI imaging and polarimetry, optical polarimetry, and correlation of light curves across the electromagnetic spectrum, to determine where the higher-frequency emission occurs with respect to the VLBI core. I will report on recent progress, including a highly revealing multiwaveband study of BL Lac in late 2005, and prospects for the near future when GLAST is producing well-sampled gamma-ray light curves.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Isabelle Grenier	ORATED

AIM Laboratory, CEA Saclay

A new page of the history of gamma-ray astronomy will open in May 2008 with the launch of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) by NASA. The principal instrument, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), has been designed to operate in the 20 MeV to 300 GeV energy band with at least 30 times the sensitivity of its predecessor, EGRET. It will locate sources to positional accuracies of 0.5 to 6 arc minutes instead of the current half a degree error boxes. Owing to its extremely large field of view (20% of the sky) and slewing strategy, LAT will monitor the whole sky every 3 hours to follow source variability from minutes to years for a minimum of five years. It will discover thousands of sources and sample the populations of nature’s high energy accelerators much better than the few extreme examples that have been studied so far. Tens of gamma-ray pulsars across the Galaxy are expected as well as tens of extended wind nebulae from isolated pulsars and neutron stars in binary systems, several thousand gamma-ray blazars. We expect to constrain the optical-UV extragalactic background light related to star formation history and to probe the acceleration mechanisms of CRs in supernova schocks as well as their propagation through different galaxies. The spacecraft will also count on board with a lower-energy Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). I will review these exciting perspectives.

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Hans Böhringer	ORATED

MPE, Garching

The observational constraints of the cosmological model that fits our Universe is reviewed and the prerequesites for these constraints are discussed. Particular emphasis is given to the cosmological tests using the galaxy cluster population. Besides current results, future prospects with an X-ray survey with eROSITA are pointed out.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Naomi Ota	ORATED

MPE (Garching) & ISAS (Tokyo)

TBA

	Main Colloquium
Prof. Thierry Courvoisier	ORATED

University of Geneva

Several projects are operating in the high energy astrophysics domain, be they on the ground (HESS and MAGIC in the TeV domain for example) or in space (INTEGRAL, XMM-Newton, Chandra, Swift...). These projects lead to a number new and sometimes quite unexpected results. A selection of these results will be presented with an emphasis on the INTEGRAL observations and on some results of particular relevance for radio astronomy.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Jennifer Hatchell	ORATED

School of Physics, University of Exeter, UK

In our SCUBA survey of Perseus, we find the prestellar and protostellar core mass functions (CMFs) are different: the fraction of protostellar cores increases towards higher masses and the most massive cores are all protostellar. Of the possible selection biases, only confusion contributes a valid explanation for this difference. Alternatively, we consider how the timescales for core evolution affect their appearance on the CMF, as the detected masses wax and wane during the prestellar and protostellar phases. We show that the observed CMFs are consistent with faster evolution and a shorter lifetime for higher-mass prestellar cores, or with cores which continue to accumulate mass during the Class 0 stage.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Tom Landecker	ORATED

Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Canada

A survey of polarized emission at 1.4 GHz from the Galactic plane has recently been completed. Combination of data from the DRAO Synthesis Telescope, the Effelsberg 100-m Telescope and the DRAO 26-m Telescope gives full sampling of polarized emission from the largest structures down to the resolution limit, of the order of 1 arcminute. With 17 million independent data points, this is the largest survey ever made of extended polarized emission. In this talk I will describe the techniques developed for acquiring and processing wide-field polarimetric data and for combining single-antenna and aperture-synthesis datasets. I will present preliminary interpretations of some of the many details seen in the images. I will conclude the talk with some thoughts about future directions in polarization studies of the interstellar medium of the Milky Way.

	Special Colloquium
Maik Wolleben	ORATED

MPIfR

A new FPGA-based wide-band polarimeter has been developed at DRAO to be used on the DRAO 26-m Telescope. The polarimeter is capable of sampling two input channels with a sampling frequency of 1 GHz and 8 bit resolution. It is currently being used for the new DRAO-MPI Rotation Measure Survey, which covers the northern sky in the frequency range 1300 to 1800 MHz. I will discuss its implementation, capabilities, and limitations, as well as the objective for the new rotation measure survey.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Katharina Schreyer	ORATED

AIU, Jena

AFGL 490 is a well known example of the class of isolated young B2-B3 stars. It is still deeply embedded in a dense cloud core. This object is surrounded by a clumpy massive gas disk (at least 1 M_odot) visualized by mapped PdBI C^{17}O emission. In terms of more recent VLA observations, the nature of the centered 25000 AU large dense gas bar, previously interpretated as circumstellar disk, is resolved. This feature represents the dense rims of the wide-angle high-velocity outflow conii. The combination of modelling results and NIR images leads to the assumption that the embedded disk is geometrically thick even very close to the central star. This implies new aspects for furture modelling of matter accretion to more massive stars and to the nature of the foot points of wide-angle high-velocity outflows.

	Main Colloquium
Dragana Ilic	ORATED

University of Belgrade, Serbia

One of the prominent features of Active Galactic Nuclei are the broad emission lines coming from a region in the vicinity of a massive black hole (the broad-line region, BLR). The geometry of the BLR is still a matter of discussion, but the observed shapes of the broad line imply that the BLR is very complex. One possible explanation for this complexity is that part of the broad-line emission can be generated in an outflow ionized by the continuum emission from the relativistic jet. We will discuss here the properties of the BLR, particularly its structure, and whether they could be connected with the radio jet emission. Moreover, a discussion about the broad line profiles of radio galaxies Mrk 668 and NGC 4151 which can be explained with an outflow will be given.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Alexis Finoguenov	ORATED

MPE Garching

Using the results of two on-going projects, LoCuSS and COSMOS, I will review the attempts to calibrate the scaling relations for groups and clusters of galaxies using the weak lensing measurements of mass.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Christian Brinch	ORATED

Leiden Observatory

In the process of low-mass star formation, the angular momentum of the parental core is responsible for the formation and growth of a proto-planetary disk. As the cloud begins to collapse under its own gravity, material is spun up due to conservation of angular momentum and the velocity field changes from being dominated by radial (inward) motions to rotation. In this talk, a method to characterize the evolutionary stage of Young Stellar Objects, based on the composition of its velocity field is presented. The method relies on a combination of hydrodynamical simulations, molecular excitation calculations and spectral line observations, and the goal is to be able to place YSOs in an evolutionary context from simple and readily available observations. The method has already been applied to a single YSO, L1489 IRS, and results from this study is also presented. Using high angular resolution observations from the Submillimeter Array, we are able to reveal a complex and unexpected disk+envelope structure of L1489 IRS.

	Special Colloquium
Prof. Luigi Guzzo	ORATED

INAF, Mailand

TBA

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Huub Rottgering	ORATED

Leiden Observatory, Leiden University

During this colloquium we will discuss two important ways of using radio sources as tracers of large scale structure in the universe. First, in the nearby Universe we have extensively studied a large sample of radio sources in the XMM-LSS survey region, that has complete optical, IR and X-ray data. The main result is that we find striking evidence for a clear dichotomy among AGN: On the one hand there are AGN in the cold gas or quasar accretion mode. These are in relatively less massive galaxies, do have infrared (torus) emission and lie predominantly in the field. On the other hand, the hot accretion mode AGN are found in massive galaxies, do not show evidence for infrared (torus) emission, and are located in dense environments. This is all consistent with the most distant powerful radio sources being located in the progenitors of nearby clusters - protoclusters. In the second part of the talk, the results on our study of proto clusters centered at distant powerful radio sources (2

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Areg Mickaelian	ORATED

Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, Armenia

Astrophysical Virtual Observatories (VOs) have been created to establish an environment for efficient research using the huge amount of data obtained from ground-based and space telescopes, including the astronomical plate archives, modern databases, and online data coming from multiwavelength observations. A comparative analysis of multiwavelength data from all space and time domains leads to better understanding of the nature of cosmic objects and phenomena. The Armenian Virtual Observatory (ArVO) is a part of the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA) and has been created on the technical developments and science projects based on the Digitized First Byurakan Survey (DFBS), the largest existing spectroscopic database. This database contains low-dispersion spectroscopic data for 20,000,000 objects at high galactic latitudes and is a source for search and studies of new QSOs and other AGN, white dwarfs, cataclysmic variables, late M-type and carbon stars, as well as for automatic optical identification of X-ray, IR, and radio sources.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Rainer Spurzem	ORATED

ARI, Heidelberg

We study the dynamical evolution of dense star clusters (globular clusters and galactic nuclei with single and binary supermassive black holes). Rotation accelerates the collisional dynamics of the system, and if Post-Newtonian relativistic forces between black holes are included, SMBH coalescence and gravitational wave emission is triggered without any stalling problem for the last parsec after galaxy mergers. The treatment of relativistic corrections to Newtonian gravity is reviewed and we discuss gravitational wave emission in pulsar timing and LISA bands, In the second part of the talk our new computational instruments are presented. New powerful supercomputers have been built using graphical processing units (GPU) for general purpose computing. China has just obtained the top rank in the list of the fastest supercomputers in the world with a GPU based system, and holds further ranks in the top 20 (all with GPU clusters). The research of Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Astronnomical Observatory with such GPU clusters will be reviewed, present and future applications in computer simulation and data processing discussed. GPU and other ’green’ supercomputing hardware is one stepping stone on the path to reach Exascale supercomputing.

	Special Colloquium
Sebastian F. Hönig	ORATED

MPIfR Bonn

Recently, with the advent of IR interferometry, it was possible to resolve dust tori in the nearest Seyfert galaxies for the first time. These observations provide strong evidence that the dust in the torus is arranged in clouds – which needs new kind of models for interpretation. I present a 3D radiative transfer model of clumpy AGN dust tori. Photometric and interferometric IR observations of the prototypical Seyfert 2 AGN in NGC 1068 were modeled simultaneously. In addtion, the model was used for sample studies of other types of AGN, including dust-obscured QSOs. It was possible to show that number statistics of type 1 and type 2 AGN in the QSO regime has to be corrected for host-galactic absorption by means of detailed modeling of the IR SED and its dust features. Moreover, the consequences of clumpiness on the torus structure at different AGN luminosities has been investigated and a physical mechanism for the ’receding torus’ paradigm is proposed.

	Special Colloquium
Dr. Nuria Marcelino	ORATED

IEM, Madrid

Cold, dark clouds have become an important laboratory for astrochemistry. This is because they are starless and their physical conditions are simpler than those of gigant molecular clouds or hot cores associated to star formation. However, despite its relative simplicity, they show a rich and complex molecular inventory. Dark clouds are also of particular interest because they are the birthplaces of low-mass stars and planetary systems like ours. Then the chemical and physical properties of these regions and their chemical evolution would help us to understand the initial processes that lead to the formation of planets and life. Although several studies of dark cloud cores have been made observing definite molecular species, only spectral line surveys can provide a complete view of their physical properties, chemical complexity and kinematics. Furthermore, they can show up new and unexpected molecular species, which will provide complementary information to the study of pre-stellar cores. It is also important to establish a connection between the chemistry, the physical properties, and the evolutionary state of the cloud, in order to understand the chemical evolution in star forming regions.

	Special Colloquium
Fatemeh Tabatabaei	ORATED

MPIfR Bonn

A multi-wavelength study of radio and IR emission from the nearby galaxy M33 is presented. We focus on three main topics: 1) energy sources of IR emission and its correlation with radio continuum emission at different spatial scales, 2) separation of thermal and nonthermal components of the radio continuum emission without assuming a constant nonthermal spectral index, and 3) distribution of the linearly polarized emission and magnetic fields in M33. We found that the IR emission is powered predominantly by young O/B stars, specifically at 24mum and 70mum, however, an average radiation field also contributes to heating the cold dust (160mum) at scales larger than 0.8 kpc. The nonthermal radio-IR correlation is maximum at scales of giant star-forming regions, spiral arms and the central extended region of M33, 0.8-2 kpc, indicating regions with high-density cosmic rays and/or stronger magnetic fields. For the first time, we derived a map of the nonthermal spectral index in a galaxy by means of our developed thermal/nonthermal separation method, directly indicating energy loss of cosmic ray electrons when diffusing away from their origins in star-forming regions toward interarm regions and the outer parts of the galaxy. The large-scale magnetic field exhibits a well ordered spiral structure with almost the same orientation as that of the optical spiral arms. There is a north-south asymmetry in the received polarized emission that is frequency-dependent and most probably caused by Faraday depolarization effects. The average total and regular magnetic field strengths in M33 are about 6.4 muG and 2.5 muG, respectively.

	Main Colloquium
Dr. Viki Joergens	ORATED

MPIA Heidelberg

TBA