Science with the VLT

"...well-presented and thought-provoking, carefully dissecting individual goals and requirements for the future." - Irish Astronomical Journal

• 1 The Solar System and Extra-Solar System Planets.- The Solar System and the VLT.- Very Distant Objects in the Solar System.- How to Search for Extra-Solar Planets with the VLT/VISA.- Astrometric Detection and Investigation of Planetary Systems with the VLT Interferometer.- 2 Star Formation.- Star Formation Studies with the VLT.- Circumstellar Disks with VLT/VLTI.- 3 Stellar Astrophysics.- Do We Need the VLT to Study Nearby Stellar Populations?.- Nucleosynthesis in the First Galactic Stars.- Elemental and Isotopic Abundances in Metal-Poor Stars.- Stellar Surface Structure: Doppler Imaging with the VLT-UVES.- Observation of Surface Activity on Cool Giants with the VLT Interferometer.- Imaging the Surfaces of Late-Type Stars.- A Sharper View on (Post-) AGB Evolution.- The Asymptotic Giant Branch in the LMC, SMC and the Galactic Center.- Prospects for Circumstellar Physics. Observations and Models.- Compact Stars In and Out of Binaries.- VLT High-Speed Spectro-Photometry: A Powerful Tool for Exploring Compact Stellar Objects and Related Phenomena.- Observational Astrophysics on Milli-, Micro-, and Nanosecond Timescales.- Problems and Prospects in White Dwarf Stars.- Mass Determination of Very Low Mass Stars.- Evolution of Massive Stars and the VLT.- 4 Stellar Clusters.- Globular Clusters with the VLT.- Detailed Analysis of Stars in the Galactic Bulge with the VLT.- Deep Star Counts and Cosmological Backgrounds: A Powerful New Model for the Point Source Sky.- 5 Interstellar Medium.- High Resolution Spectroscopy of the Interstellar Medium.- The Interstellar Medium in Galaxies.- 6 Astronomical Targets in Nearby Galaxies.- Supernovae and the VLT: More Light to Examine.- Supernovae with the VLT.- Late Stages of Supernovae with the VLT.- Faint Planetary Nebulae as Mass Tracers for Early Type Galaxies.- Resolving Distant Galaxies into Stars.- Proper Motions for the Nearest Galaxies Using ASTROCAM on the VLT.- Quantitative Spectroscopy of Luminous Blue Stars in Distant Galaxies.- Distance Indicators and the Expansion Field of the Universe.- Distance Indicators: Beyond Distances — A Return to Astrophysics.- 7 Active Galactic Nuclei.- High Resolution Infrared Imaging and Spectroscopy with the VLT: Galactic Nuclei.- Resolving Extragalactic Nuclei with the VLT.- Galaxy Dynamics, Black Holes and FUEGOS: Prospects for Studying Stellar Dynamics.- The VLT Contribution to Development of AGN Unified Schemes.- Subarcsecond Observations of Galactic Nuclei.- The AGN Environment.- 8 Quasars.- Quasar Surveys and the VLT.- QSO Absorption Line Systems.- 9 The Distant Universe.- Observational Cosmology with Faint Galaxies and a (9±1)-meter Telescope.- Deep Spectroscopy of 780 Galaxies: Results and Prospects for the VLT.- Deep Redshift Surveys on Faint Galaxies: Prospects for the VLT above z=1.- VLT Observations with Large Natural Gravitational Telescopes.- Integral Field Spectroscopy of Selected Extragalactic Objects with FUEGOS.- Perspectives in the Study of Large Scale Structure and Galaxy Evolution with the VLT.- The Nature of Compact Objects at R=23.- Faint AGNs, Evolution and the X-Ray Background.- 10 High-Resolution Imaging and Interferometry.- High-Resolution Imaging with the VLT at Optical Wavelengths.- From Planets to Galaxies: Adaptive Optics Revolution and VLT Interferometry.- A Strategy for High Angular Resolution Astrophysical Programmes at the VLT in the Visible.- Narrow-Angle Astrometry with the VLT Interferometer.- 11 Strategies for Use of the VLT.- Flexible Professional Observing at the VLT.- The VLT: max (4 × 8; 1 × 16; 1/X × 64)?.- 12Synopses of Panel Discussions.- I. Interferometry.- II. Future Instrumentation.