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THE  FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
        Mapping the Galaxy  and Nearby Galaxies
        26 June - 30 June, 2006
        Ishigaki island, Okinawa, Japan

        http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/galaxy2006/

Dear colleagues,

   We would like to invite you to participate in a symposium entitled " Mapping the Galaxy  and Nearby Galaxies". This symposium will be held on  26 June - 30 June, 2006,  at Ishigaki island, a tropical resort island located about 1000 km south-west from the main island of Japan and surrounded by a coral reef and beautiful tropical beaches. Ishigaki island is also the site of one of the 20 m radio telescopes in the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA) network.  We believe that the relaxed atmosphere promises a pleasant and fruitful symposium.

        The symposium will focus on "mapping" the interstellar media and other components in galactic disks, bulges, halos, and central regions of galaxies.  Thanks to recent progress in observations using radio interferometers and optical/infrared telescopes in ground and space,  our knowledge on structures of our Galaxy and nearby galaxies has been growing for the last decade. Yet we do not fully understand the physics behind the observational results, and a number of questions still remain --  What is the origin of spiral structure?; How should the global star formation rate be determined?; What causes the differences between our Galaxy and other nearby galaxies?;  What differentiates galaxies with starburst/AGN activity from normal galaxies?

         In the next decade, we will have next-generation instruments, such as ALMA, JWST, TMT, OWL, SPICA, etc.. With these telescopes, complete multi-wavelength data at high resolution will become available on the  structures in our Galaxy and nearby galaxies.  It is therefore good timing to have a comprehensive discussion on what has been learned so far, what are the major outstanding issues, and how we can theoretically understand them.
         Recent numerical modeling of galaxies is getting much more realistic -- such modeling has become an essential tool in understanding and testing physical interpretations of observational results. In this sense, this symposium is also an excellent occasion for observers and theorists to exchange results.

        The symposium will cover the following topics, mainly focusing on mapping observations and related observational and theoretical studies.
        (1) Our Galaxy -- mass distribution (spiral arms, stellar bar and halo), global and local ISM, supermassive black holes and its environment at the center
        (2) Central part of nearby galaxies -- ISM around starbursts, AGNs,  fueling mechanism
        (3) Nearby Galaxies -- molecular gas distribution and star formation, gas dynamics, origin of starbursts`
        (4) Galactic environment and evolution --   formation of our Galaxy, environmental effect on galactic morphology, origin of supermassive black holes
        (5) The Nature of the Dark Matter component and its effects on the internal structures of galaxies

        This symposium is also planned in celebration of Professor Yoshiaki Sofue's 63th birthday and his retirement from the University of Tokyo.  Although Prof. Sofue has worked mainly in the field of radio astronomy, 
the subjects in this conference reflect the wide range of research in which he has been active in over the past four decades.

<< Pre-registration >>
   Due to the capacity of the conference room, the number of participants is currently limited to be about 100.
 If you are interested in joining us, please make a pre-registration through the web  page.
Deadline for pre-registration is:   *** 30 Oct, 2005 *** 

The symposium is  composed of 30 min-long invited talks, 15-20 min contributed talks, and poster presentations. Please visit the conference web side, in which a tentative list of invited speakers, a preliminary program and other important informations are posted.  

<< Important dates >>
   Aug. 2005 pre-registration open
   30 Oct. 2005 deadline for pre-registration
   Jan. 2006 2nd circular, call for contributed papers
   Mar 2006 deadline for contributed papers
   Apr. 2006 scientific program selection by SOC
   Jun. 2006 final fircular
   26 June 2006 opening of the symposium

<< Contact address >>
e-mail:   galaxy2006-loc@ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
URL:      http://www.ioa.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/galaxy2006/
        We are looking forward to seeing you at Ishigaki island next summer.


Keiichi Wada (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, SOC Chair)

SOC:   Nobuo Arimoto (NAOJ), Francoise Combes (Obs. Paris), Reinhard Genzel (MPE), Naomasa Nakai (Tukuba), Nick Scoville (Caltech), and Masato Tsuboi (Nobeyama, NAOJ)

LOC:  Mareki Honma (NAOJ, chair), Jin Koda (Caltech), Kotaro Kohno (U. Tokyo), Toshihiro Handa (U. Tokyo), Hiroyuki Nakanishi (Nobeyama, NAOJ), Keiichi Wada (NAOJ)