IAUS 403: The Hidden Beauty of the Galactic Outskirts

Start date
October 6, 2025

End date
October 10, 2025

Place
Córdoba, Spain

Contact
David Martinez-Delgado

Event website
https://www.iausymposium403.com/

Coordinating Division
Division H Interstellar Matter and Local Universe,
Division J Galaxies and Cosmology

Abstract
The Golden Age for low surface brightness Universe studies has begun. Data from the many ongoing and future ground-based surveys like DESI, LSST, and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and space missions like Euclid or ARRAKIHS, will open the door to discoveries on the history of formation and evolution of galaxies and, most probably, to constrain the nature of Dark Matter. These data allow researchers to test models of galaxy formation that remained theoretical for many years. Studying the formation of galaxies through the analysis of faint structures in local galaxies' outskirts can shed some light on the process of galaxy assembly and on the nature of the matter that rules the gravitational collapse of early Universe structures, the dark matter. This symposium will bring together experts on galaxy formation and evolution to identify current challenges in this research field, report recent results and discoveries, and define future science avenues. The main objective is to enrich the current ongoing discussions on the interpretation of the new data, to detect synergies among research groups, and to trigger the forging of new international collaborations.