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iau1402 — News Release

Concerns and Considerations with the Naming of Mars Craters

11 March 2014: Recently initiatives that capitalise on the public’s interest in space and astronomy have proliferated, some putting a price tag on naming space objects and their features, such as Mars craters. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) would like to emphasise that such initiatives go against the spirit of free and equal access to space, as well as against internationally recognised standards. Hence no purchased names can ever be used on official maps and globes. The IAU encourages the public to become involved in the naming process of space objects and their features by following the officially recognised (and free) methods.

iau1401 — News Release

Ethiopia Hosts East African Regional Office of Astronomy for Development

10 January 2014: Today, in Addis Ababa, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) signed an important agreement with partners in Ethiopia to host an East African regional node of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development.

iau1305 — News Release

Launch of astroEDU: Peer-reviewed Open-access Astronomy Education Activities Platform

29 November 2013: A new platform for high-quality, peer-reviewed astronomy education activities has been launched by the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development at the ESA/Galileo Teachers Training Program Workshop, Leiden, Netherlands. astroEDU is a platform that allows educators to discover, review, distribute, improve and remix astronomy education activities, and offers a free peer-review service by professionals in education and science.

iau1304 — News Release

Mukhanov and Starobinsky to Receive $500 000 Gruber Cosmology Prize for Developing Theory of Universe’s Earliest Moments

11 July 2013: The 2013 Gruber Cosmology Prize recognises Viatcheslav Mukhanov and Alexei Starobinsky for their formative contributions to inflationary theory, an essential component for understanding the evolution and structure of the Universe.

iau1303 — News Release

Names for New Pluto Moons Accepted by the IAU After Public Vote

2 July 2013: The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is announcing that the names Kerberos and Styx have officially been recognised for the fourth and fifth moons of Pluto, which were discovered in 2011 and 2012. The names were submitted to the IAU by the leader of the team responsible for the discovery, who had called for the help of the general public in an open contest that attracted a substantial number of participants.

iau1302 — News Release

IAU and UNESCO Sign New Agreement

2 May 2013: The International Astronomical Union (IAU) and UNESCO have renewed their Memorandum of Understanding at UNESCO’s Headquarters. The agreement has been concluded in the framework of the thematic initiative Astronomy and World Heritage, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary. The purpose of the initiative is to reinforce the links between science and culture by highlighting the importance of heritage linked to astronomy.

iau1301 — News Release

Can One Buy the Right to Name a Planet? — The IAU Responds to Recent Name-Selling Campaign

12 April 2013: In the light of recent events, where the possibility of buying the rights to name exoplanets has been advertised, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) wishes to inform the public that such schemes have no bearing on the official naming process. The IAU wholeheartedly welcomes the public’s interest to be involved in recent discoveries, but would like to strongly stress the importance of having a unified naming procedure.

iau1206 — News Release

Major Astronomy Meeting Draws to a Close

31 August 2012: The XXVIIIth General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) ends today in Beijing, China. One of the largest astronomy meetings ever held, it saw a pot pourri of frontline astronomy topics being presented. The General Assembly resulted in the redefinition of the astronomical unit, and the meeting played an essential role in establishing a number of science- and technology-related collaborations throughout the world. The IAU also acquired a new divisional structure that fits better with the current astronomy landscape, focusing on education, outreach and development.

iau1205 — News Release

Kepler Discovers Planetary System Orbiting Two Suns — First transiting circumbinary multi-planet system detected to date

29 August 2012: A team of astronomers has found the first transiting circumbinary multi-planet system: two planets orbiting around a pair of stars. This discovery shows that planetary systems can form and survive even in the chaotic environment around a binary star. And that such planets can exist in the habitable zone of their stars. The results are being announced at the XXVIII General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Beijing, China and published in the 30 August 2012 issue of the journal Science.

iau1204 — News Release

OAD Shoots for the Stars — International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Development makes landmark agreements

27 August 2012: The International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) programme is announcing a number of exciting new partnerships that will assist with the IAU’s decadal strategic plan, aimed at realising the societal benefits of astronomy. These landmark decisions involve establishing two new coordinating centres that use astronomy as a tool for development in the East and South East Asian regions, as well as launching an array of exciting programmes and events with different institutions across the world.

iau1203 — News Release

Launch of UNESCO–IAU Astronomical Heritage Web Portal

24 August 2012: A new UNESCO–IAU online Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy has been launched today at the IAU’s 28th General Assembly in Beijing, China. The site, which resides at www.astronomicalheritage.net, is a dynamic, publicly accessible database, discussion forum and document repository on astronomical heritage sites throughout the world, even if they are not on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

iau1202 — News Release

Gruber Cosmology Prize 2012 Awarded to Charles Bennett and the WMAP Team

20 June 2012: Charles L. Bennett and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team are the recipients of the 2012 Cosmology Prize from the Gruber Foundation. They used observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation to determine the Universe’s age, content, geometry, and origin. This achievement has helped to transform cosmology into a precision science.

iau1201 — News Release

Media invitation for the 28th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union

27 March 2012: The 28th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the first meeting of its kind to be held in China. More than 3000 astronomers from all around the world are expected to meet and present their latest discoveries in Beijing, China, from 20–31 August 2012. A number of exciting media events are planned.

iau1104 — News Release

Science Magazine Honours IAU-endorsed Universe Awareness Programme with Prestigious SPORE Award

25 August 2011: Universe Awareness, a programme endorsed by the IAU that uses astronomy to inspire and educate very young children around the world, has been recognised for its educational value by Science Magazine.

iau1103 — News Release

"Gang of Four" receives $500 000 Gruber Cosmology Prize for reconstructing how the Universe grew

1 June 2011: Four astronomers who found a way to model the growth of the Universe are the recipients of the 2011 Cosmology Prize from The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. Marc Davis, a professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Physics at the University of California at Berkeley (USA); George Efstathiou, the director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology in Cambridge (UK); Carlos Frenk, the director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University (UK); and Simon White, a director of the Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching (Germany) will share the $500 000 award.

iau1102 — News Release

South African Minister of Science and Technology launches the IAU Global Office of Astronomy for Development

16 April 2011: The South African Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs Naledi Pandor, today launched the IAU Global Office of Astronomy for Development at the headquarters of the South African Astronomical Observatory.

iau1101 — News Release

Educational Astronomy Project Awarded Grant of 1.9 Million Euros

8 February 2011: The European Union (EU) has granted 1.9 million euros to support the 6-country educational programme EUNAWE, based on Universe Awareness (UNAWE). UNAWE is, an IAU-endorsed programme that uses the beauty and grandeur of the Universe to encourage young children, particularly those from an underprivileged background, to have an interest in science and technology and foster their sense of global citizenship from the earliest age. Although UNAWE was only founded five years ago, it is already active in 40 countries and comprises a global network of almost 500 astronomers, teachers and other educators.

iau1009 — News Release

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 Secretariat to Close at the End of the Year

20 December 2010: The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) Secretariat will finish its activities on 31 December 2010, following three and a half years of service. While closure of the IYA2009 Secretariat marks the end of the largest project that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has ever embarked upon, the organisation remains committed to promoting education and public outreach throughout the world.

iau1008 — News Release

Cosmic Diary Anthology Released as a Free Book: Postcards from the Edge of the Universe

7 September 2010: The book, Postcards from the Edge of the Universe, was launched today at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Lisbon, Portugal. A legacy of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project Cosmic Diary, the book features articles from astronomers around the world about the hottest astronomical topics of the moment.

iau1007 — News Release

International Year of Astronomy 2009 Reached Hundreds of Millions of People: Final Report Released

7 September 2010: A 1300-page final report for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 was released today at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in Lisbon, Portugal. The report shows that at least 815 million people in 148 countries participated in the world’s largest science event in decades.

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