International Astronomical Union

International Astronomical Union (IAU)
Union astronomique internationale (UAI)
	National members from 85 countries as of May 2023 Member states States with interim status Observer states Suspended states
Formation	28 July 1919; 105 years ago
Founded at	Brussels, Belgium
Headquarters	Paris, France
Membership	85 national members ; 12,131 individual members
President	Debra Meloy Elmegreen
General Secretary	Piero Benvenuti
Website	www.iau.org

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is an international group that brings together the national astronomical groups from around the world. It was created in 1919. It was created to promote and protect the science of astronomy by getting different nations to work together. Its members are professional astronomers from all over the world, and they all work on research and education in astronomy. The IAU has good relationships with groups that include amateur astronomers. "National Members" are usually people with a high level of professional astronomy. There are more than 10,000 active "Individual Members" in 107 countries.^[4] It has 62 "National Members".^[5]

This organization has many working groups like the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN), which maintains the astronomical naming conventions and planetary nomenclature for planetary bodies, and the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) for naming stars.

The IAU is also the group in charge of naming objects in space and anything on them such as mountains and craters.

References

↑ "National Members".
↑ "Geographical and Gender Distribution of Individual Members".
↑ "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
↑ "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
↑ "IAU Secretariat." International Astronomical Union. "Address: IAU - UAI Secretariat 98-bis Blvd Arago F–75014 PARIS FRANCE" and "The IAU Secretariat is located in the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 2nd floor, offices n°270, 271 and 283."

Other websites

Website of the International Astronomical Union
XXVIth General Assembly 2006 Archived 2003-04-10 at the Wayback Machine

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[National_Members-1] "National Members".

[iau.org-2] "Geographical and Gender Distribution of Individual Members".

[3] "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 24 October 2023.

[4] "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2020-06-19.

[5] "IAU Secretariat." International Astronomical Union. "Address: IAU - UAI Secretariat 98-bis Blvd Arago F–75014 PARIS FRANCE" and "The IAU Secretariat is located in the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, 2nd floor, offices n°270, 271 and 283."

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