2025 Spring Symposium- Day 1- Session 4
The 2025 Spring Symposium: "Inter+Stellar: Harnessing The Intersection Between Stars and the Interstellar Medium"
ISM for Stars, Stars for ISM, and Both for All - Historically, stars and the ISM in the nearby Universe have often been studied individually. However, this past decade of research has shown that the most exciting advances in each field are powered by considering both stars and the ISM together. Gaia stellar extinction data are enabling detailed 3D maps of the ISM in the Solar neighborhood out to kiloparsec distances. The combination of high-resolution data from JWST, HST, SKA precursors, and ALMA, is unveiling how the multi-scale geometry of the ISM drives the stellar IMF, and how the energy injected from stellar populations mediates the evolution of the multi-phase ISM. Cutting-edge facilities have recently revealed young stellar objects directly orbiting Sgr A*, and unveiled the previously-inaccessible highly-attenuated stellar populations in the hearts of nearby starburst galaxies. High-resolution hydrodynamical simulations are now regularly modeling stars, gas, and dust together; whilst radiative transfer modeling is thriving thanks to exquisite observations of environments like PDRs and evolved stars. The astonishing resolution now available in the nearby Universe allows us to investigate even the smallest-scale physics of these complex processes.
The 2025 STScI Spring Symposium will focus on all the ways in which harnessing stars and the ISM together advances our understanding of both, far more than when considering them separately. We will feature work that is:
Focused on high resolution observations and simulations of the nearby Universe
Using stars and/or the ISM as a tool to better understand the other
Combing multi-wavelength observations from a variety of facilities
Modeling of stars, gas, and dust together
We find ourselves in a world where more and more astronomers harness stars and the ISM together – and where this approach is vital for answering key questions from the 2020 decadal, for which future facilities like HabWords, ELTs, and a far-infrared probe will be key. This symposium will celebrate and exploit the ever-increasing intersection of stellar and ISM astronomy, for the puzzles of today and the questions of tomorrow.
Details
The 2025 Spring Symposium will be held May 12th – 16th 2025 as an in-person event at the Space Telescope Science Institute (Muller Building, Bahcall Auditorium) in Baltimore, MD, USA. The abstract submission and registration deadlines will be announced soon. For more information contact the organizing committee [email protected] or visit the Symposium webpage.
Chairs
Elizabeth Tarantino, Christopher Clark, and Joshua Peek
SOC Members
Karin Sandstrom (UCSD), Catherine Zucker (SAO/Harvard CfA), Mordicai-Mark Mac Low (AMNH), Katherine Kreckle (Heidelberg), Ilse De Looze (Ghent), Annalase de Cia (ESO), Yumi Choi (NOIRLab), Tom Megeath (Toledo), Joel Green (STScI), Adam Ginsburg (University of Florida)