Preface: Special Session SpS3 Galaxy Evolution through Secular Processes

Extract

The meeting “Galaxy Evolution through Secular Processes,” hosted as Special Session 3 at the XVIIIth General Assembly of the IAU in Beijing, brought together a broad community of astronomers actively working on topics related to the evolution of galaxies. This evolution is currently thought to have two phases: (1) a formative chaotic phase, where baryonic matter collected into dark halo “seeds” with the occurrence of frequent mergers; and (2) a slower secular evolutionary phase where internal perturbations such as bars and spirals interacted (and likely still interact) with a galaxy's stars and gas clouds to redistribute material and slowly change the morphology, such as growing bulges or pseudobulges from disk material.