The online XXXI General Assembly (GA) Business Sessions are scheduled for this month, August 2021, and will go ahead over the coming 10 days in an online format.  

Business Session 1 will take place Monday 23 August and Business Session 2 on Thursday 26 August 2021, both at 15:00 CEST and lasting for a maximum of 2 hours each. The agenda for these meetings is available here.

Both sessions will be preceded by a Pre-Meeting between 13:30-14:50 CEST with a lively mix of invited short talks by junior and senior prize winners.

On Tuesday 24 August, also at 15:00 CEST, there will be a session to discuss the new IAU Resolutions to be voted electronically by Individual and Junior Members, between 26 August and 10 September 2021. The Resolutions are as follows:

• Resolution B1 in support of the protection of geodetic radio astronomy against radio frequency interference.
• Resolution B2 on the improvement of the Earth’s rotation theories and models.
• Resolution B3 on the Gaia Celestial Reference Frame.
• Resolution B4 on the use of a standard photometric system in ultraviolet (UV) astronomy.

All Individual and Junior Members and other interested participants are encouraged to attend the Business Sessions via YouTube LiveStream. Recordings will be available to watch after the live stream to accommodate different time zones. IAU Members will be able to access a Slack Channel for comments and questions (please log in first), which the IAU Officers and Secretariat will monitor, communicating relevant questions to the speakers. National Members, the Executive Committee, Division Presidents, and other speakers will participate by Zoom.

The General Assembly XXXI 2021 Business Sessions Program for Monday 23 and Thursday 26 August 2021 15:00-17:00 CEST is published on the IAU GA Business Sessions page.

More information

The IAU is the international astronomical organisation that brings together more than 12 000 active professional astronomers from more than 100 countries worldwide. Its mission is to promote and safeguard astronomy in all its aspects, including research, communication, education and development, through international cooperation. The IAU also serves as the internationally recognised authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies and the surface features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAU is the world's largest professional body for astronomers.

Contacts

Madeleine Smith-Spanier
Database Manager
Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 43 25 83 58
Email: smith@iap.fr   

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
Cell: +1 520 461 0433
Email: lars.christensen@noirlab.edu