Previous colloquia

Complex organic molecules (COMs) are characteristic of the chemical complexification of the star forming gas, yet we still have a poor understanding about the chemical evolution of the collapsing gas. The ALMA-IMF Large program targets 15 of the most prominent Galactic protoclusters over various evolutionary stages. Beyond the rich core population uncovered by ALMA-IMF, we identified a sample of ~70 hot core candidates using methyl formate lines. I will discuss our main results about the statistics of these chemically active sites obtained from ALMA-IMF. Our findings suggest that the most massive cores are all associated with methyl formate emission, demonstrating that all massive cores undergo a chemically active phase. Our hot core candidates exhibit emission in a variety of COMs underlying the complex chemistry associated with sites where hot cores emerge. Furthermore, I will introduce the recently accepted NASCENT-Stars large program that offers a more complete view on the molecular composition of the star forming gas using the NOEMA interferometer. I will put in context these results with our understanding of the global molecular diversity of hot cores and hot corino like objects, and discuss the origin of COMs.
(Cologne, Host: Peter Schilke)

The first deep images with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have transformed our view of the Universe. With its unparalleled imaging and spectroscopic capabilities, JWST finally provides deep restframe optical observations to z=10 — a huge leap from the current z=3. Additionally, JWST immediately extended our cosmic horizon into uncharted territory, with galaxy candidates now identified out to z~14-16, only ~250-300 Myr after the Big Bang. We are thus at the brink of finding the first galaxies that ended the cosmic Dark Ages and started the reionization of the Universe. In this talk, I will show how far we have come in understanding early galaxy build-up over the last years. I will start with the state of knowledge from three decades of Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescope datasets before JWST, and will then present an overview of our current understanding of early galaxies based on early results from the first year of JWST observations.
(Bonn, Host: Cristiano Porciani)

Astronomical observations of molecules are buoyed by laboratory astrophysics investigations of a variety of processes. Observations of the interstellar medium need spectral line positions to find molecules, rates of reaction to explain to feed chemical models, and collisional (de)excitation rates to predict the abundance of molecules under the peculiar conditions of space. Laboratory astrophysics measurements or predictions can provide all this information using a wide variety of techniques. Given the strong link between rotational spectroscopy and astrochemistry through several microwave, millimeter, and sub-millimeter telescopes, the role of rotational spectroscopy can be expanded beyond its traditional role of providing spectral line positions in laboratory measurements. I will discuss new experiments that push rotational spectroscopy into the detection of products of reaction and validation of collisional (de)excitation rates all in support of astrochemistry.
(Cologne, Host: Stephan Schlemmer)

A couple of decades ago it has been realized that energy injections from stars and super massive black holes (SMBHs) are essential processes to model galaxies that resemble observed ones. Modern large-volume cosmological simulations of galaxies, such as Illustris, EAGLE, HorizonAGN and others, are now capable of producing more or less realistic galaxies, especially in relation to their stellar components. However, feedback mechanisms are known to leave more direct imprints on the properties of the gas, rather than on the stars. And so, in turn, the cosmic gas is expected to provide more stringent constraints on such feedback processes. In fact, current and future observations are providing progressively more inputs on the thermodynamical, ionization, chemical, magnetic, and kinematical properties of the gaseous atmospheres in and around galaxies. In this talk, I will give an overview on the ever more quantitative and plausible evidences of the role that SMBH feedback has in shaping the gaseous haloes from Milky Way-like galaxies to the most massive galaxy clusters in the Univers. I will do so starting from the outcome of the IllustrisTNG simulations in combination with current and future observational data, e.g. with SDSS, HST, eROSITA and XRISM, and I will introduce a new ambitious project: TNG-Cluster. I will hence discuss and showcase e.g. eROSITA-like bubbles, azimuthal-dependent properties of the circum-galactic medium, jellyfish galaxies, radio relics, turbulence and X-ray surface brightness fluctuations in the intra-cluster medium.
(Cologne, Host: Dominik Riechers)