A prime challenge to our understanding of galaxy formation
concerns the scarcity of dwarf galaxies compared with the numerous
low-mass halos expected in the current L-CDM paradigm. This is usually
accounted for by assuming that energetic feedback from evolving stars
confines dwarf galaxy formation to relatively massive halos spanning a
narrow mass range. I will highlight a number of observations that may
be used to test this assumption and discuss the puzzles and challenges
that arise from this analysis. I will also discuss a number of
challenges that L-CDM faces on the scale of dwarf galaxies and their
possible resolutions.

The Kepler-discovered systems with tightly-packed inner planets (STIPs), typically with several planets of Earth to super-Earth masses on well-aligned, sub-AU orbits may host the most common type of planets in the Galaxy. They pose a great challenge for planet formation theories, which fall into two broad classes: (1) formation further out followed by migration; (2) formation in situ from a disk of gas and planetesimals. I review the pros and cons of these classes, before focusing on a new theory of sequential in situ formation from the inside-out via creation of successive gravitationally unstable rings fed from a continuous stream of small (~cm-m size) "pebbles," drifting inward via gas drag. Pebbles first collect at the pressure trap associated with the transition from a magnetorotational instability (MRI)-inactive ("dead zone") region to an inner MRI-active zone. A pebble ring builds up until it either becomes gravitationally unstable to form an Earth to super-Earth-mass planet directly or induces gradual planet formation via core accretion. The planet continues to accrete until it becomes massive enough to isolate itself from the accretion flow via gap opening. The process repeats with a new pebble ring gathering at the new pressure maximum associated with the retreating dead-zone boundary. I discuss the theory’s predictions for planetary masses, relative mass scalings with orbital radius, and minimum orbital separations, and their comparison with observed systems. Finally I speculate about potential causes of diversity of planetary system architectures, i.e. STIPs versus Solar System analogs.

Galaxy clusters are the most massive structures in the universe and their
mass growth provides a unique test for cosmological models of structure
formation.  Clusters are also the location where many galaxies have
their star formation strongly truncated, and this process is still
poorly understood.  I will present new results on the growth of stellar
mass in clusters over ~10 Gyr of cosmic time which shows they are highly
concentrated at early times and are growing in an inside-out manner,
something that is not seen in most simulations.  I will also present new
constraints on the timescale and location for quenching of galaxies in
the cluster environment at early times.  These timescales are showing us
that the process by which clusters quench star formation is likely
evolving over cosmic time, and that we clearly need to invoke much more
sophisticated models of environmental quenching and feedback in galaxies
if we are to truly understand how galaxies evolve in high-density
environments.

Understanding how and why galaxies form and evolve is one of the most challenging problems in modern astrophysics. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, shows order and structure, as do most massive galaxies in our local neighbourhood. Yet when we look to very distant galaxies they are disordered and chaotic. One leading theory for the origin of this transformation invokes gas-rich mergers, which trigger massive starbursts leading to bulge and supermassive black hole growth. I will start by reviewing the evidence for and against this scenario. I will then turn to the interesting case of post-starburst galaxies at 0

It has long been recognized that the bright and simple afterglow spectra of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) make highly effective probes of the ISM within distant, star-forming galaxies. The imprint left by dust and gas absorption on GRB X-ray and optical afterglow spectra can be measured to a high level of accuracy, providing details on the ionisation state and location of absorbing material on sub-kpc scales. Despite significant progress in this field, there remain unresolved issues, such as the origin of the X-ray afterglow absorption 'excess', and discrepancies in the dust extinction derived from spectroscopic and photometric data. In this talk I will present results from a comprehensive study on the multi-wavelength attenuation of GRB afterglows, and highlight some of the principal outstanding issues to be addressed. A more controversial topic is the use of GRBs as probes to the cosmic star formation rate density. This area of research has received increased attention over the last few years, as more massive, dust-rich, and (super-) solar-metallicity host galaxies have come to light. I will summarise the latest developments within this field, and present ongoing work within our group to identify the relation between GRB host and other star-forming galaxy populations, and to use GRBs to study star formation at z > 2.

At large scales, Cosmic Rays (CR) permeate our Galaxy and ionise the UV-shielded molecular gas, which makes them crucial actors in shaping the InterStellar Medium (ISM) and governing star and planet formation. At smaller scales, newly born stars are suspected to be sources of energetic protostellar winds, which also affect the planet formation process. For example, traces of some short-lived radionucleides (e.g. 10Be) in meteoritic material suggest that the young Sun emitted an important flux of >MeV particles. These two cases, CR and energetic protostellar winds, have in common the fact that >MeV particles are impossible to directly detect, as they are scattered by the galactic magnetic fields. I will show that cold (<100K) molecules can be used to catch the sources of MeV-GeV particles and study them. Specifically, I will present observations that allowed us to infer the presence of an enhanced flux of CR and their MeV-GeV versus TeV spectrum towards molecular clouds close to some SuperNova Remnant (SNR). Using a similar technique, we revealed large fluxes of >MeV particles, similar to that necessary to explain the meteoritic 10Be presence, in a protocluster system that will eventually form a Solar-like planetary system.

Over the past 15 years a "standard" model of cosmology has been established. Apparently, we live in a low-density Universe with flat geometry, currently dominated by a cosmological constant driving a phase of accelerated expansion. Galaxy redshift surveys are one of the key experimental pillars that contributed to building this overall picture. Even larger surveys are ongoing or planned, with the goal of understanding the nature of cosmic acceleration, together with the origin of galaxies. In my talk I will review the most recent advances in studying large-scale structure at z~1, focusing on the results from the VIPERS project at the ESO VLT. VIPERS has curently measured around 80,000 redshifts, producing galaxy maps with unprecedented detail at 0.5

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The Galactic center black hole, Sgr A*, provides a remarkable opportunity to study strong gravity using either orbiting stars or accreting gas. Very long baseline interferometry observations at millimeter wavelengths are now spatially resolving event horizon scales around Sgr A*, and near-infrared astrometry with the VLTI instrument GRAVITY will achieve similar resolution in the next few years. In both cases, interpreting the data requires physical modeling. I will discuss the construction of relativistic emission models from numerical simulations of black hole accretion flows and jets, what we've learned from their comparison with current data, and the prospects for detecting signatures of strong gravity (e.g., the black hole "shadow") in future observations. I will also argue that the recent discovery of a rare magnetar outburst near Sgr A* implies the presence of an unusual pulsar population in the Galactic center.

Observations of the structure and dynamics of different stellar populations in the Milky Way's disk provide a unique perspective on disk formation, evolution, and dynamics. I will review our current knowledge of the chemo-orbital structure of the disk. I will then discuss new measurements of the kinematics and chemistry of intermediate-age stars over a large part of the Galactic disk from the APOGEE survey and the new insights these measurements provide about the formation and evolution of the disk.

Radio outflows of active galactic nuclei (AGN) are invoked in cosmological models as a key feedback mechanism in the latest phases of massive galaxy formation. However, from an observational point of view, the impact of such a mechanism on galaxy formation and evolution is still poorly understood. I will present our results, based on radio-selected samples at low (SDSS/NVSS and 3CRR surveys; z<0.3) and high redshifts (COSMOS survey, z<3), that for the first time observationally test the importance of radio-mode feedback in massive galaxy formation (out to z~3). In particular, in the context of the commonly adopted blue-to-red galaxy evolution scenario we find that the two major radio AGN populations -- the powerful high-excitation, and the weak low-excitation radio AGN -- represent two, earlier and later, stages of massive galaxy build-up. To expand this study to higher redshifts, we developed a new method that efficiently selects weak AGN (such as Seyfert, LINER, and absorption line AGN) based only on their NUV-NIR photometry. This method allowed us to study, for the first time, the cosmic evolution of weak radio AGN out to z~3, which can directly be linked to the radio-mode feedback prediction in cosmological models.

The birth of neutron stars in supernova explosions and their death in violent binary mergers are catastrophic events, which are connected to important open questions of stellar astrophysics. They also offer possibilities to probe regimes of extreme physics that are hardly accessible by laboratory experiments and direct observations. Numerical simulations are therefore indispensable to make progress in understanding the processes in the obscured deep interior of these explosive phenomena. This talk will review recent progress in a fast-moving field from a theorist's perspective. 3D supernova simulations have become possible only very recently and have already led to the discovery of new and unexpected effects, but still need to confirm basic theoretical concepts of the explosion mechanism. Nevertheless, based on these concepts models are now able to predict explosion properties and asymmetries, the mass and metallicity dependent progenitor-explosion-remnant connection, birth masses, kicks and spins of the compact remnants, and crucial parameters that determine supernova nucleosynthesis. However, the best models cannot support supernovae as the long-sought cosmic site of the production of trans-iron elements including lanthanides and actinides by the rapid neutron-capture process. Instead, relativistic 3D simulations have confirmed considerable ejection of very neutron-rich matter in neutron-star mergers and thus demonstrate the potential of such events as main sources of r-process elements in the universe. The unambiguous detection of a characteristic, radioactively powered electromagnetic transient, possibly in connection with a short gamma-ray burst, is a promising perspective for a final proof of this theoretical prediction. On the other hand, the detection of gravitational waves from neutron-star mergers with upcoming laser interferometers like Advanced LIGO and VIRGO can yield accurate measurements of neutron-star radii and will thus provide tight constraints of the still uncertain properties of ultradense matter in neutron stars.

Stellar explosions in Supernovae or Gamma Ray Bursts begin with the launching of a shock into the stellar envelope. As the shock wave propagates towards the edge of the star, the decreasing density causes the shock to accelerate, and eventually break out of the star. We show that for fast shocks, with v>10,000km/s, the radiation is out of equilibrium causing the breakout to appear in x-rays rather than the previously estimated UV. Later, recombination in the cooling expanding envelope may lead to the flat lightcurve of type-IIp supernovae. Finally, we argue, that relativistic effects in extreme breakouts may be the sources of low luminosity Gamma Ray Bursts, and show that their properties match well with our theory.

Galaxies form when gas is able to cool, condense and form stars within dark matter halos. Over the past 5 years, there have been a number of efforts aimed at linking the atomic and molecular gas properties of nearby galaxies to their stellar properties in a systematic way. This talk will describe the main results obtained by recent surveys carried out using the Arecibo, IRAM and Westerbork radio telescopes, and what we have learned about the late stages of galaxy formation as a result.

Understanding the processes that regulate the formation of stars within galaxies is one of the major themes in current astrophysical research. Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs, size ~ 40pc) are thought to play a critical role in these processes as they host most of the massive star formation occurring in our Galaxy. Detailed observations on their scales can provide important insights on the properties of the star forming interstellar medium and the conditions promoting the formation of massive stars. Combining exquisite data on the molecular gas disk in the grand-design spiral galaxy M51 at 40pc resolution from the PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS) with ancillary data across the electromagnetic spectrum allowed us to investigate in detail how molecular gas, dust and star formation relate across the galaxy disk and test common assumption about Giant Molecular Clouds. I will present highlights from our studies.

I will present an overview of the evolution of massive stars from the pre main sequence phase up to the onset of the iron core collapse, their hydrostatic and explosive nucleosynthesis and their final fate. The models extend in mass between 13 and 80 Msun, have initial metallicities corresponding to [Fe/H]=0,-1,-2,-3 and have initial rotation velocities corresponding to v=0, 150 and 300 km/s.

Analysts of the low-z observations of the Universe are fortunate: a. The late-time large scale structure is traced by "softly" evolving mature galaxies. This cosmic coincidence greatly simplifies the relation between galaxies and the dark matter. b. In addition to traditional galaxy redshift surveys, good quality measurements of peculiar motions of galaxies are now availalbe. A critical assessment of the observed large scale structure will be presented, starting from the Local Group of galaxies within 5 Mpc, out to z 0.1. Traditional and new probes will be shown to support the standard paradigm of structure formation, but not without raising a few eyebrows. Mild tweaks will be discussed as well as potential constraints on alternative theories of gravity.

Thanks to their period-luminosity (PL) relation, Cepheids provide one
of the most accurate empirical distance scales, applicable up to at
least 20 Mpc. They are in particular at the base of the calibration of
secondary distance indicators, such as SN Ia.

In the era of precision cosmology, the calibration of the PL relation
at the 1% level is however complicated by the fact that long-period
Cepheids are too distant for direct and accurate trigonometric
parallax measurements (even for GAIA). The most accurate Cepheid
distances are currently based on the classical Baade-Wesselink (BW)
technique, which in turn relies on surface brightness-color relations
and a velocity conversion factor (the projection factor). To bypass
this dependance, we applied a novel technique based on the measurement
of the changes in angular diameter of Cepheids using optical
long-baseline interferometry. I will present the results we obtained
from interferometric observations of a sample of Galactic Cepheids,
with an emphasis on the projection factor employed in BW techniques. I
will also briefly discuss the influence of circumstellar envelopes on
these observations, their potential impact on the distance scale, and
present the special case of the dust-embedded Cepheid RS Puppis.

As they are relatively massive stars, Cepheids are often members of
multiple systems. We discovered that they also host bright
circumstellar envelopes, particularly at infrared wavelengths.
Binarity and envelopes can both affect the apparent brightness of
Cepheids, potentially biasing the calibration of the PL relation. But
these properties also provide us with new tools to measure geometric
distances (through binary orbits), and to better understand the
evolution and complex dynamics of the Cepheid atmospheres. I will
present our recent results and ongoing programs on this front.

Some of the most fascinating properties of quasars arise from the strong gravitational field that dominates over all other forces near the supermassive black hole (SMBH). Observations of the X-ray spectra of quasars have the potential of testing the theory of General Relativity in a region of strong gravity, constraining the structure of the X-ray emitting region, and further our understanding of the quasars' role in feedback, quenching of star formation and galaxy evolution. I will present results from the detection of near-relativistic winds launched near the innermost stable circular orbits of SMBHs. A recent detection of a powerful wind in the X-ray bright quasar HS 0810 strengthens the case that quasars play a significant role in feedback. The two main mechanisms proposed for accelerating ultra-fast quasar outflows are radiation and magnetic driving. I will briefly review these acceleration mechanisms and test them against current observations of ultra-fast outflows.

Accretion disks around compact objects are responsible for some of the most powerful phenomena that we observe in the universe, from gamma-ray bursts to quasars. Stresses in the flow that transport angular momentum outward and allow gravitational binding energy to be released are central to the physics of these flows. For over twenty years, the dominant theoretical paradigm for these stresses is turbulence driven by an instability of weak magnetic fields embedded in the flow. Numerical simulations of this turbulence have revealed much about how these stresses might work, but until recently, they have not successfully explained (never mind predicted) the most significant quantitative observational constraints: the outburst time scales of dwarf novae and low mass X-ray binaries. I will describe recent progress on understanding the behavior of these systems through new simulations that incorporate the physics that is essential for exploring the physics of these phenomena.

We now stand firmly in the era of solid exoplanet detection via Kepler and other state of the art facilities. Yet the empirical characterization of these most intriguing planets is extremely challenging. Transit plus radial velocity information can yield planet mass and radius, and hence planet density, but the bulk composition remains degenerate and completely model-dependent. Currently, the abundances of a handful of exoplanet atmospheres can be estimated from transit spectroscopy, or observed directly via spectroscopy, but probing only the most tenuous outer layers of those planets.

Fortunately, as demonstrated by Spitzer and complementary ground-based observations, debris disk-polluted white dwarfs can yield highly accurate information on the chemical structure of rocky minor planets (i.e. exo-asteroids), the building blocks of solid exoplanets. The white dwarf distills the planetary fragments, and provides powerful insight into the mass and chemical structure of the parent body.

This archaeological method provides empirical data on the assembly and chemistry of exo-terrestrial planets that is unavailable for any planetary system orbiting a main-sequence star. In the Solar System, the asteroids (or minor planets) are leftover building blocks of the terrestrial planets, and we obtain their compositions - and hence that of the terrestrial planets - by studying meteorites. Similarly, one can infer the composition of exo-terrestrial planets by studying tidally destroyed and accreted asteroids at polluted white dwarfs.

I will present ongoing, state of the art results using this unconventional technique, including the recent detection of terrestrial-like debris in the Hyades star cluster, as well as the detection of water-rich planetesimals that may represent the building blocks of habitable exoplanets.

Our Mahalo-Subaru project has been mapping out star forming activities at 0.4
I will also present prospects from other on-going/future major programs using a wide range of facilities from optical to (sub)mm to increase samples and investigate in more detail the physics and mode of star formation.

A star interacting with a massive black hole cannot be treated as a point mass if it gets so close to the black hole that it becomes vulnerable to tidal distortions and even disruption. When a rapidly changing tidal force starts to compete with a star's self-gravity, the material of the star responds in a complicated way. This phenomenon poses an as yet unmet challenge to computer simulations. The art of modeling the tidal disruption of stars by massive black holes forms the main theme of my talk. Detailed simulations should tell us what happens when stars of different types get tidally disrupted, and what radiation a distant observer might detect as the observational signature of such events.

One of the primary goals of cosmology is to elucidate the origin of structure in the Universe. The currently most widely accepted paradigm is the theory of inflation - an epoch of extremely rapid expansion at a very early phase in the history of the Universe. A significant effort in cosmology is directed toward testing this hypothesis. I will show how we can use the clustering of galaxies, as well as statistics of their observed shapes, to learn about the physics of inflation, as well as alternative scenarios. This provides a fascinating connection between the largest observable scales in the cosmos and physics at energies far beyond the reach of accelerators on Earth.

Within this decade the detection of gravitational waves (GWs) may be a reality, opening a completely new window on the Universe. The low frequency window will be dominated by signals emitted by a cosmological population of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs). In this talk I will review several aspect of MBH physics focusing in particular on spin evolution and gravitational wave emission. In the first part of the talk, I will present a model linking the accretion flow to the kinematical properties of the galaxy hosts, which produces MBH spins in broad agreement with current observations. In the second part, I will pay particular attention to the prospect of GW detection from MBHBs with pulsar timing arrays and/or future space based interferometers.

Why do black holes in galactic nuclei have masses proportional to bulge masses and luminosities? Why did galaxies at a certain point of their cosmological evolution, stop to form stars? What is the path(s) and the mechanism(s) leading the transition from gas rich, star-forming galaxies, to red passive galaxies, deprived of all their gas? Theory and few observations suggest that AGN driven super winds (=feedback) play a major role in all these transformations. The two main building blocks of this scenario are: 1) AGN outflows, which inject energy in their environment; 2) the interaction of these flows with the galaxy interstellar matter, and its physical/chemical/geometrical modification.

I will first review AGN outflows seen in different gas phases and at different scales. I will then present searches for "direct" evidence of AGN feedback in bright nearby AGN, linking accretion and ejection occurring on sub-parsec scale in galaxy nuclei to the transformations occurring in the rest of the galaxy. I will finally discuss the perspectives of extending these studies up to z=1-3, the golden epoch of AGN and galaxy activity.

Stellar clusters are common. Globular clusters contain some of the oldest stars, whilst the youngest stars are found in OB associations or in other clusters associated with recent star formation. Such crowded places are hostile environments: a large fraction of stars will collide or undergo close encounters. I will explain how stellar clusters are factories for producing exotic objects, including potentially intermediate-mass black holes which can grow into supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei. I will also discuss how planetary systems similar to our own solar system are vulnerable within stellar clusters due to interactions with other stars. Thus by studying stellar clusters we will learn more about the rarity of planetary systems similar to our own solar system. I will explain how the depletion of red giants in the very centre of our own galaxy may tell us something about its history.

Studies of stellar populations, understood to mean collections of stars with common spatial, kinematic, chemical, and/or age distributions, have been reinvigorated during the last decade by the advent of large-area sky surveys such as SDSS, 2MASS, RAVE, and others. These data, together with theoretical and modeling advances, are revolutionizing our understanding of the nature of the Milky Way, and galaxy formation and evolution in general. These recent developments have made it clear that the Milky Way is a complex and dynamic structure, one that is still being shaped by the merging of neighboring smaller galaxies. I will review the progress over the last decade, including the mapping of stellar counts, metallicity and kinematics distributions, interstellar dust using extinction of stars, and dark matter halo using Jeans equations. I will conclude by briefly discussing new breakthroughs expected from Gaia and LSST surveys, which will improve measurement precision manyfold, and comprise billions of individual stars.

Type Ia supernovae are by no means rare, which together with the strong evidence that at least one white dwarf is involved, implies that their progenitors should be fairly common too. Yet it is still unclear what these are. There has been great progress in several observational aspects of this issue. In addition the traditional division between "single" and "double" degenerate models has been challenged or at least complicated by a flurry of new possible progenitor models. I will give an overview of these developments and focus on the implications for our understanding of binary evolution. Finally I will use this to discuss other compact binary populations in the context of Gaia and as gravitational wave sources.

The Large Area Telescope of the Fermi observatory has detected hundreds of AGNs, most of them are blazars. The GeV spectra of the flat spectra radio quasars were claimed to be inconsistent with a simple power law model or any smoothly curved models. Instead, a much better description was obtained with a broken power law, with the break energies of a few GeV. The sharpness and the position of the breaks could be well reproduced by absorption of gamma-rays via photon-photon pair production on He II and H I Lyman recombination continuum (LyC) and lines. In addition to the spectra from individual sources, we have created stacked redshift-corrected spectrum of several bright blazars. This spectrum shows a strong break at 20 GeV associated with hydrogen LyC. The detected breaks univocally prove that the gamma-ray emitting region lies with the BLR. This solves the long-standing question of the location of the gamma-ray production region.

The epoch of re-ionization is a fascinating time in the history of the Universe and many uncertainties still plague our understanding of when and how it occurred.

Lyman alpha emitting galaxies at high redshift offer a powerful probe to study both reionization and the process of galaxy formation. In particular Lyman alpha emission is an efficient tool for identifying young galaxies and for measuring how much neutral hydrogen is present in the environment of the galaxies, thus providing a reionization test that is independent of the Gunn-Peterson trough observations in quasar spectra.

The last few years have seen a number of discoveries that offered the first glimpse of the Universe at z =7, using both space and ground-based telescopes. I will review the most recent observational results on high redshift galaxies, namely Ly alpha emitters and Lyman break galaxies. In particular I will review the current constrains that we can place on the reionization epoch using the first statistical samples of spectroscopically confirmed z=7 Lyman break galaxies, the evolution of the luminosity functions and of the clustering strength of Ly alpha emitters.
I will finally present very recent ALMA observations which reveal, for the first time the nature and physical properties of these primeval galaxies that were probably responsible for the reionization.

Driven by the potential of large-scale structure (LSS) observations to shed light on the physics behind the accelerated expansion of the Universe, several ground-breaking galaxy surveys are currently under way. These surveys will measure the LSS of the Universe with unprecedented precision, providing new insights not only on the origin of cosmic acceleration, but also on many other important physical parameters. The ongoing Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) is an example of these new surveys. In this talk I review the cosmological implications of the large-scale galaxy clustering in BOSS, with an emphasis on the problem of cosmic acceleration.

Hydrodynamical cosmological simulations are one of the most powerful tools to study the formation and evolution of galaxies in the fully non-linear regime. Despite several recent successes in simulating Milky Way look-alikes, self-consistent, ab-initio models are still a long way off. In In this talk I will review numerical and physical uncertainties plaguing current state-of-the-art cosmological simulations of galaxy formation. I will then present global properties of galaxies as obtained with novel cosmological simulations with the moving mesh code Arepo and discuss which feedback mechanisms are needed to reproduce realistic stellar masses and galaxy morphologies in the present day Universe.

Once thought to be restricted to Pluto, the outskirts of the Solar System beyond Neptune are now known to harbor a collection of small bodies, the Kuiper Belt objects which represent the remnants of planetesimals that formed during the early phases of planetary accretion. With over 1300 known objects, the orbital characterization of this Trans-Neptunian population (TNOs) is now relatively well established, showing several population families (classical, resonant, scattered/detached, Centaurs) of various dynamical origins. The physical characterization of TNOs has also progressed significantly in the last 20 years, with numerous results obtained on their colors (from visible and IR photometry), surface composition (spectroscopy), rotation state and shape (optical light-curves) and binarity (direct imaging). In recent years, new techniques, including thermal radiometry, stellar occultations and high-resolution spectroscopy, have provided access to other fundamental parameters, such as size, mass density, albedo, and thermo-physical properties (i.e. thermal inertia and emissivity), as well as constraints on their atmospheres. Knowing these quantities is necessary not only for a complete characterization ("portrait") of the individual objects, but also, if they can be measured on a sufficiently large sample, to assess possible correlations between physical and orbital characteristics, possibly testifying of physical processes at work within the population (e.g. collisions, surface irradiation, maintenance of volatile ices...). We will discuss recent findings in the field, presenting general results on the population as a whole, as well as on several prominent objects, particularly the dwarf planets (Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake).

The inner Milky Way is dominated by a box/peanut shaped bulge believed to have formed through disk instability processes. Recent photometric and spectroscopic surveys have greatly increased our understanding of its spatial, kinematic, and metallicity structure. Formation models are broadly consistent with these data, although many aspects still need to be worked out. There appears to be little evidence for a merger-built classical bulge: the Milky Way may have started out as a pure disk galaxy.