The Intra-Cluster Light (ICL) is a diffuse and faint emission that permeates the intra-cluster space and that is produced by the stars that have become gravitationally unbound from their host galaxies. While the specific roles of the different mechanisms of formation and evolution of the ICL at different cosmic epochs are still unknown, it is clear that the production (and, thus, the physical properties) of the ICL is strongly linked to the hierarchical assembly process of the cluster as a whole. Therefore, improving our understanding of how the ICL develops within a cluster may provide interesting contributions to multiple related topics in astrophysics, ranging from galaxy evolution to cosmology.

New facilities, such as JWST, Euclid or the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, are opening a new privileged window to study the ICL. Thanks to their enhanced depth, resolution, and multi wavelength coverage, it is now possible to resolve multiple internal features along with their stellar populations in detail. This will be of especial relevance for the case of the ICL and many other low surface brightness (LSB) features, since they are often hidden or lost when low-resolution data is processed following a standard data reduction approach. In this context, the development of improved reduction pipelines to exploit the data acquired by these new facilities will allow us to improve our understanding of the ICL phenomena.

This special session aims at reviewing the current state of the ICL research from both an observational and a theoretical perspective, covering the following main topics:

• Optimized pipelines and data reduction for the low surface brightness universe
• The ICL in cosmological hydro-dynamical simulations
• Assembly history of clusters as revealed by the ICL
• Evolution of the ICL over cosmic time
• ICL as indicator of the dynamical stage in clusters
• The role of the ICL as tracer of the dark matter distribution
• The ICL with next-generation facilities: JWST, EUCLID, and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Programme

Abstract submission here Deadline 4 March

Program to be defined soon.

Invited speakers

• Andrea Cattaneo (Observatoire de Paris, LERMA, Paris, France)
• Jean-Charles Cuillandre (AIM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, France)
• M. James Jee (Yonsei University, Department of Astronomy, Seoul, Republic of Korea)

Scientific organisers

• Paola Dimauro (Chair) (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma)
• Yolanda Jimenez-Teja (Chair) (Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, Granada)
• Fernando Caro (INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma)
• Jose M. Diego (Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, CSIC-UC)
• Emanuele Daddi (CEA, Saclay)
• Florence Durret (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, Sorbonne Université, CNRS)
• Nicolas Lopes de Oliveira (Observatorio National, Rio de Janeiro)
• Reynier Peletier (Kapteyn Institute, University of Groningen)
• Eric Slezak (Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur)

Contact

Paola Dimauro: paola.dimauro @ inaf.it; Yolanda Jimenez-Teja: yojite @ iaa.es