GASEOUS MATTER IN GALAXIES AND INTERGALACTIC SPACE

             Courtesy ESO.
 
 

     Our increasing knowledge of the gaseous diffuse component of the interstellar medium (ISM) of both the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds, as well as of the intergalactic medium (IGM), is largely due to instrumental developments in high resolution spectroscopy, in particular within the ultraviolet wavelength range. The UV is indeed very sensitive to low column densities and extremely rich in spectral lines from many elements in various ionisation states. 27 years after Copernicus, FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer) was successfully launched in 1999 and since early 2000 delivers spectra in the wavelength range 905-1187 A with a resolving power of about 20000, from objects within the local interstellar medium to the brightest quasars. Many of the FUSE key-programs are directly linked to interstellar media, to gaseous halos and intergalactic media. The main ones concern the deuterium abundance in all possible astrophysical sites, the molecular hydrogen and the "coronal" phase as revealed through the oxygen VI ion. It seems to us very timely to hold an international colloquium dedicated to the interstellar results (and their interpretation) which have already been or will be obtained after one and a half year of FUSE exploitation.
     In parallel with FUSE, the ESO VLT was progressively becoming operational at Paranal in Chile; in particular, the high dispersion spectrometer UVES (UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph) is available at the VLT unit 2 since about one year. UVES offers the possibility of probing in the visible the diffuse media of the high redsfhit inter-galactic medium, just like FUSE can probe the interstellar medium of our Galaxy or of its vicinity. Finally, the use of the GHRS (Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph) and the STIS (Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph), both installed consecutively onboard the HST, has opened at high spectral resolution the missing part between far-UV and visible wavelengths. The HST data thus provide the link between FUSE and UVES, or, in the present context, between studies of low and high redshift absorbing media. This exceptional complementarity between all four instruments, FUSE, GHRS, STIS and UVES, justifies in our view the introduction of these last three in the foreseen colloquium.
     This colloquium will primarily aim at bringing together and fostering collaboration between the ISM and IGM communities. The presentation and discussion of the first FUSE and UVES results complemented by the HST ones should allow a further step in an effort to understand the physical phenomena that are at work in the structuration and evolution of the diffuse matter at different epochs of the Universe. This colloquium will be followed by a meeting specifically devoted to deuterium studies.
 
 

  S. D'Odorico (ESO), R. Ferlet (IAP), C. Gry (Marseille), M. Lemoine (IAP), J. Lequeux (Obs. de Paris), W. Moos (JHU), P. Petitjean (IAP), B. Savage (U. Wisconsin), K. Sembach (JHU), M. Shull (U. Colorado), G. Sonneborn (GSFC), A. Vidal-Madjar (IAP), D. York (U. Chicago)
 
 

 J.M. Desert, V. D'Odorico, R. Ferlet, G. Hébrard, A. Lecavelier, B. Raban, A. Vidal-Madjar

     Please fill in the registration form; the deadline for registration is set to May 15, 2001. If you wish to propose a talk/poster, the deadline for registration which includes an abstract is set to April 1st, 2001. The registration fee is 1000 French Francs (or 152.45 Euros, but we would better appreciate in French Francs) per participant. It is payable by check, labelled in French Francs, to "Agent comptable du CNRS" (it will be also possible to pay in cash upon registration). This fee includes a welcoming cocktail, the conference dinner, four lunch tickets, as well as a copy of the proceedings. Upon registration, participants must also pay for accompanying person to the banquet dinner. Important: participants who do not intend to attend the conference dinner or who will not need lunch tickets are still required to pay the full conference fee.
 
 

     The hotels in this list are located close to IAP (in some cases, the tenant will be willing to give a discount for participants: make sure to ask and mention that you are attending a conference at IAP!).
 

  Important: the famous Paris/Bourget air show will take place at the same epoch of our conference. Therefore, participants must book their hotel as soon as possible.

     Further practical information and social activities, as well as the scientific program of the conference will be given in due course on this web page.
 
 

  All scientific inquiries should be addressed to col2001@iap.fr

  All practical matter should be addressed to Mme Brigitte Raban (raban@iap.fr)

  The postal address of the meeting is:
 
 

  We look forward to hearing from you.