The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and development through global cooperation. It was founded in 1919 and is based in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France. The IAU is composed of individual members, who include both professional astronomers and junior scientists, and national members, such as professional associations, national societies, or academic institutions. Individual members are organised into divisions, committees, and working groups centered on particular subdisciplines, subjects, or initiatives. As of 2018, the Union had over 13,700 individual members, spanning 90 countries, and 82 national members. Among the key activities of the IAU is serving as a forum for scientific conferences. It sponsors nine annual symposia and holds a triannual General Assembly that sets policy and includes various scientific meetings. The Union is best known for being the leading authority in assigning official names and designations to

astronomical object An astronomical object, celestial object, stellar object or heavenly body is a naturally occurring physical entity, association, or structure that exists in the observable universe. In astronomy, the terms ''object'' and ''body'' are often us ...

s, and for setting uniform definitions for astronomical principles. It also coordinates with national and international partners, such as UNESCO, to fulfill its mission. The IAU is a member of the

International Science Council The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 20 ...

(ISC), which is composed of international scholarly and scientific institutions and national

academies of sciences An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

Function

The International Astronomical Union is an international association of professional

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

s, at the PhD level and beyond, active in professional research and education in

. Among other activities, it acts as the recognized authority for assigning designations and names to celestial bodies (

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s, etc.) and any surface features on them. The IAU is a member of the

(ISC). Its main objective is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU maintains friendly relations with organizations that include

amateur astronomers Amateur astronomy is a hobby where participants enjoy observing or imaging celestial objects in the sky using the unaided eye, binoculars, or telescopes. Even though scientific research may not be their primary goal, some amateur astronomer ...

in their membership. The IAU has its head office on the second floor of the ''Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris'' in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

. This organisation has many working groups. For example, the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN), which maintains the

astronomical naming conventions In ancient times, only the Sun and Moon, a few stars, and the most easily visible planets had names. Over the last few hundred years, the number of identified astronomical objects has risen from hundreds to over a billion, and more are discovered ...

and

planetary nomenclature Planetary nomenclature, like terrestrial nomenclature, is a system of uniquely identifying features on the surface of a planet or natural satellite so that the features can be easily located, described, and discussed. Since the invention of the tel ...

for planetary bodies, and the

Working Group on Star Names The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) in May 2016 to catalog and standardize proper names for stars for the international astronomical community. It operates under Division C – Education ...

(WGSN), which catalogues and standardizes proper names for stars. The IAU is also responsible for the system of astronomical telegrams which are produced and distributed on its behalf by the

Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams The Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) is the official international clearing house for information relating to transient astronomical events. The CBAT collects and distributes information on comets, natural satellites, novae, super ...

. The

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function ...

also operates under the IAU, and is a "clearinghouse" for all non-planetary or non-moon bodies in the Solar System.

History

The IAU was founded on 28 July 1919, at the Constitutive Assembly of the International Research Council (now the

) held in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. Two subsidiaries of the IAU were also created at this assembly: the ''International Time Commission'' seated at the

International Time Bureau The International Time Bureau (french: Bureau International de l'Heure, abbreviated BIH), seated at the Paris Observatory, was the international bureau responsible for combining different measurements of Universal Time. The bureau also played an i ...

in Paris, France, and the ''International Central Bureau of Astronomical Telegrams'' initially seated in Copenhagen, Denmark. The seven initial member states were Belgium, Canada, France, Great Britain, Greece, Japan, and the United States, soon to be followed by Italy and Mexico. The first executive committee consisted of Benjamin Baillaud (President, France),

Alfred Fowler Alfred Fowler, CBE FRS (22 March 1868, in Yorkshire – 24 June 1940) was an English astronomer. Early life and career He was born in Wilsden on the outskirts of Bradford, Yorkshire and educated at London's Normal School of Science, w ...

(General Secretary, UK), and four vice presidents: William Campbell (USA), Frank Dyson (UK), Georges Lecointe (Belgium), and Annibale Riccò (Italy). Thirty-two Commissions (referred to initially as Standing Committees) were appointed at the Brussels meeting and focused on topics ranging from relativity to minor planets. The reports of these 32 Commissions formed the main substance of the first General Assembly, which took place in Rome, Italy, 2–10 May 1922. By the end of the first General Assembly, ten additional nations (Australia, Brazil, Czecho-Slovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Africa, and Spain) had joined the Union, bringing the total membership to 19 countries. Although the Union was officially formed eight months after the end of World War I, international collaboration in astronomy had been strong in the pre-war era (e.g., the ''

Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog The ''Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog'' (AGK) is an astrometric star catalogue. Compilation for the first version, AGK1, was started in 1861 by Friedrich Argelander and published between 1890 and 1954, listing 200 000 stars down to ninth m ...

'' projects since 1868, the

Astrographic Catalogue The Carte du Ciel (literally, 'Map of the Sky') and the Astrographic Catalogue (or Astrographic Chart) were two distinct but connected components of a massive international astronomical project, initiated in the late 19th century, to catalogue an ...

since 1887, and the International Union for Solar research since 1904). The first 50 years of the Union's history are well documented. Subsequent history is recorded in the form of reminiscences of past IAU Presidents and General Secretaries. Twelve of the fourteen past General Secretaries in the period 1964-2006 contributed their recollections of the Union's history in IAU Information Bulletin No. 100. Six past IAU Presidents in the period 1976–2003 also contributed their recollections in IAU Information Bulletin No. 104. In 2015 and 2019, the Union held the

NameExoWorlds NameExoWorlds (also known as IAU NameExoWorlds) is the name of various projects managed by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.) to encourage names to be submitted for astronomical objects, which would later be considered for official ad ...

contests.

Composition

As of 1 August 2019, the IAU has a total of 13,701 ''individual members'', who are professional astronomers from 102 countries worldwide; 81.7% of individual members are male, while 18.3% are female. Membership also includes 82 ''national members'', professional astronomical communities representing their country's affiliation with the IAU. National members include the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

, the Chinese Astronomical Society, the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

, the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

, the

National Academies (United States) The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (also known as NASEM or the National Academies) are the collective scientific national academy of the United States. The name is used interchangeably in two senses: (1) as an umbrell ...

, the

National Research Foundation of South Africa South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) is the intermediary agency between the policies and strategies of the Government of South Africa and South Africa's research institutions. It was established on 1 April 1999 as an autonomous ...

, the

National Scientific and Technical Research Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(Argentina), KACST (Saudi Arabia), the Council of German Observatories, the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

(United Kingdom), the

Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand The Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand (RASNZ) is the New Zealand national astronomical society. It is an association of professional and amateur astronomers with the prime objective to the ''promotion and extension of knowledge of astronom ...

, the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

, the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...

, and the

Science Council of Japan The Science Council of Japan (SCJ) is a representative organization of Japanese scholars and scientists in all fields of sciences, including humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. , president of Toyohashi ...

, among many others. The sovereign body of the IAU is its ''General Assembly'', which comprises all members. The Assembly determines IAU policy, approves the Statutes and By-Laws of the Union (and amendments proposed thereto) and elects various committees. The right to vote on matters brought before the Assembly varies according to the type of business under discussion. The Statutes consider such business to be divided into two categories: * issues of a "primarily scientific nature" (as determined by the Executive Committee), upon which voting is restricted to individual members, and * all other matters (such as Statute revision and procedural questions), upon which voting is restricted to the representatives of national members. On budget matters (which fall into the second category), votes are weighted according to the relative subscription levels of the national members. A second category vote requires a turnout of at least two-thirds of national members to be valid. An absolute majority is sufficient for approval in any vote, except for Statute revision which requires a

two-thirds majority 2/3 may refer to: * A fraction with decimal value 0.6666... * A way to write the expression "2 ÷ 3" ("two divided by three") * 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines of the United States Marine Corps * February 3 * March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – ...

. An equality of votes is resolved by the vote of the President of the Union.

List of national members

Africa

* Algeria * Egypt * Ethiopia * Ghana * Madagascar (Observer) * Morocco (Observer) * Mozambique (Observer) * Nigeria * South Africa

Asia

* Armenia * China, People's Republic of * China, Republic of * Cyprus * Georgia (Suspended) * India * Indonesia * Iran (Suspended) * Israel * Japan * Jordan * Kazakhstan * Korea, Democratic People's Republic of (Interim) * Korea, Republic of * Lebanon (Interim) * Malaysia * Mongolia (Interim) * Philippines *

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

* Saudi Arabia (Suspended) * Syria (Observer) * Tajikistan * Thailand * Turkey * United Arab Emirates * Vietnam (Interim)

Europe

* Austria * Belgium * Bulgaria * Denmark * Croatia * Czech Republic * Estonia * Finland * France * Germany * Greece * Hungary * Iceland * Ireland * Italy * Latvia * Lithuania * Netherlands * Norway * Poland * Portugal * Romania * Russian Federation * Serbia * Slovakia * Slovenia * Spain * Sweden * Switzerland * Ukraine * United Kingdom * Vatican City State

North America

* Canada * Costa Rica (Interim) * Honduras (Interim) * Mexico * Panama (Interim) * United States

Oceania

* Australia * New Zealand

South America

* Argentina * Bolivia (Suspended) * Brazil * Chile * Colombia * Peru (Suspended) * Uruguay (Observer) * Venezuela

Terminated national members

* Azerbaijan * Cuba *

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

* Uzbekistan

General Assemblies

Since 1922, the IAU General Assembly meets every three years, except for the period between 1938 and 1948, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After a Polish request in 1967, and by a controversial decision of the then President of the IAU, an ''Extraordinary IAU General Assembly'' was held in September 1973 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic Church, Catholic cano ...

, soon after the regular 1973 GA had been held in Sydney.

List of the presidents of the IAU

Sources.

Commission 46: Education in astronomy

Commission 46 is a Committee of the Executive Committee of the IAU, playing a special role in the discussion of astronomy development with governments and scientific academies. The IAU is affiliated with the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), a non-governmental organization representing a global membership that includes both national scientific bodies and international scientific unions. They often encourage countries to become members of the IAU. The Commission further seeks to development, information or improvement of astronomical education. Part of Commission 46, is Teaching Astronomy for Development (TAD) program in countries where there is currently very little astronomical education. Another program is named the Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP), is a project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, among which

Hands-On Universe Global Hands-On Universe (GHOU) is an educational program that enables students to investigate the Universe while applying tools and concepts from science, math, and technology. Using the Internet, GHOU participants request observations from an au ...

that will concentrate more resources on education activities for children and schools designed to advance sustainable global development. GTTP is also concerned with the effective use and transfer of astronomy education tools and resources into classroom science curricula. A strategic plan for the period 2010-2020 has been published.

Publications

In 2004 the IAU contracted with the

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

to publish the ''Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union''. In 2007, the Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal Working Group prepared a study assessing the feasibility of the ''Communicating Astronomy with the Public Journal'' (''CAP Journal'').

References

* Statutes of the IAU, VII General Assembly (1948), pp. 13–15

External links

*
XXVIth General Assembly 2006

XXVIIIth General Assembly 2012

XXIXth General Assembly 2015

XXXth General Assembly 2018
{{Authority control Astronomy organizations International organizations based in France International professional associations Members of the International Council for Science Organizations based in Paris Scientific organizations based in France Scientific organizations established in 1919 1919 establishments in France Standards organizations in France International scientific organizations International scientific organizations based in Europe Members of the International Science Council

Function

History

Composition

List of national members

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Oceania

South America

Terminated national members

General Assemblies

List of the presidents of the IAU

Commission 46: Education in astronomy

Publications

See also

References

External links