The International Astronomical Union (IAU; French: Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is an astronomical body for professional, scientific and amateur astronomers from all over the world. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them.
As of 2019, it has 12 424 members from 103 countries1 making it by far the largest organization of professional astronomers in the world.2
3 The IAU was founded on July 28th 1919 by twelve nations: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, France, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Peru , Portugal , Romania and Spain .4 At that time there were just under 100 000 amateur astronomers worldwide. In 1922 membership was opened up to individuals rather than just national organizations and today anyone with an interest in astronomy can join .5
The IAU is divided into nine divisions which correspond to different areas of astronomy .6 These are:
•Division I : Solar System Sciences
•Division II : Stellar & Variable Stars
•Division III : Extragalactic Astronomy & Cosmology
•Division IV : Galaxies & Cosmology
•Division V : Planetary Systems Sciences
•Division VI : Interstellar Medium & Star formation • Division VII : High Energy Astrophysics • Division VIII : Instrumentation & Data Science • Division IX: Popular Astronomy Within each division there are a number of commissions which carry out specific tasks related to their field e.g. Commission 3B deals with galaxies while Commission 6C focuses on interstellar molecules .7 This structure allows astronomers with different interests to work together while still being able to focus on their own area of expertise .8
One example of the work done by the IAU is the naming of newly discovered astronomical objects such as exoplanets , asteroids or craters on Mars .9 This task is carried out by several working groups within relevant commissions who decide upon suitable names following set guidelines .10 For instance , minor planets must be named after mythological figures or characters from literature while exoplanets take their name from their host star followed by a lower case letter starting with ‘b’ if it is the first planet discovered orbiting that star e.g. HD 189733 b .11 Once a name has been decided upon it is then submitted to the IAU General Assembly for approval before being made official .12
Another important role played by the IAU is setting standards in astronomy so that observations can be compared regardless of where in the world they were made or what instrument was used.13 For example , they define precisely what we mean when we talk about a light-year14 or provide detailed calibrations for measuring distances to stars15 This ensures that everyone involved in astronomy is working with consistent data which makes it much easier to draw reliable conclusions from our studies .16
Communication between scientists around the globe is vital for furthering our understanding of astrophysical phenomena and this too falls under the remit of the IUA.17 They do this largely through organizing conferences and symposia where researchers can present their latest findings but also through initiatives like AstroLabs 18 – an online platform connecting professional astronomers with those interested in learning more about current topics in astrophysics such as black holes or dark matter 19 – or astronaut training programmes like Mission X 20 which helps prepare young people for future careers involving space exploration .”