March 2026

17/03/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — Tracing the Roots of the Early Evolution of the Milky Way through Pulsations
Emanuela Luongo (INAF-Naples)

Abstract

We explore the formation history of the Milky Way using RR Lyrae variable stars (RRLs) as fossil tracers of ancient stellar populations. The investigation focuses specifically on the Oosterhoff dichotomy, a phenomenon characterized by the separation of RRLs into two distinct groups in the Bailey diagram. The primary objective of this research is to confirm whether this dichotomy is an intrinsic feature of the Galaxy or if it was "imported" through merging events with dwarf galaxies, such as Gaia-Enceladus and Sagittarius. To test this hypothesis, chemo-dynamic classifications from existing literature were applied, analyzing their distribution in the integrals of motion space to distinguish between in situ and accreted populations. A new Period-Wesenheit-Metallicity (PWZ) relation was derived to ensure the accuracy of the distances required for the dynamical analysis. The adopted methodology relies on a robust statistical approach based on: the use of photometric parallaxes combined with Gaia astrometric data, a Bayesian MCMC (Markov Chain Monte Carlo) algorithm for parameter inference. Preliminary results indicate that the PWZ relation coefficients are consistent with current literature. Future work will involve a detailed characterization of the pulsational properties (including Fourier parameters) for each identified dynamical component, aiming to reconstruct the early evolutionary stages of our Galaxy with greater precision.

24/03/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Antoine Schneeberger (Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS))
31/03/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Marco Mirabile (ESO, Garching)

April 2026

14/04/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Giulia De Somma (INAF-Naples)
21/04/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Miguel Mas-Hesse (CSIC-INTA Madrid)
28/04/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Simon Weng (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille)

May 2026

05/05/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Patrick Kamieneski (Chalmers)
12/05/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Eridanus (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Francesco Salvestrini (INAF Trieste)
19/05/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Paul Goldsmith (JPL)
26/05/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium and Council Room Fornax (ESO, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Michele Ginolfi (University Florence)

June 2026

02/06/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Laura Olivera-Nieto (Amsterdam University)
16/06/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Unnati Kashyap (Texas Technical University)
30/06/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Max Parente (University of Florida)

July 2026

28/07/26 (Tuesday)
12:00, Auditorium Telescopium (ESO HQE, Garching) | ESO Garching
Lunch Talk
Talk — to be announced
Lucie Rowland (Leiden University)