Centenary of the INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION 1919 – 2019

IAU100 website 

Women and Girls in Astronomy Women and Girls in Astronomy Day on February 11th, the IAU are encouraging events throughout 2019 to increase participation of women and girls in science.

Dark skies for all The Dark Skies for All project aims to raise awareness of the preservation of quiet and dark skies. The project will address two fundamental areas – capitalising existing education programs on light pollution to reach out to students and forming a new IAU Dark Skies Ambassadors Network for public engagement on light pollution protection actions, including government lobbying actions, making the term “light pollution” a household term etc. In particular, the project will encourage the organization of worldwide activities around the UNESCO International Day of Light 16th May 2019.

IAU Amateur Astronomy Day  This event in Belgium will be hosted on 13 April 2019 at the Palace of the Academies in Brussels and we (the IAU) have been asked to get the information out to our amateur communities. It’s believed this is the first IAU event dedicated to amateur astronomers and it is hoped this can be a place where both amateurs and professionals share their experiences and contributions etc.