The International Astronomical Union coordinates national astronomical associations and promotes advancement in astronomy while protecting it as a scientific field. It defines and designates terms for use in astronomy, and its work includes the development of a uniform and coherent terminology. The organization is divided into divisions, committees, and working groups, and its terminology is used in astronomy texts. The IAU’s decision to downgrade Pluto from a “planet” to a “dwarf planet” and later to a “plutoid” attracted controversy.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is an organization that coordinates the work of national astronomical associations together with professional astronomers. The IAU promotes advancement in the science of astronomy, along with the protection of astronomy as a scientific field. It is a member organization of the International Council for Science, a group of international scientific organizations that includes the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Mathematical Union, among many others.
This organization was founded in 1919 with the merger of several astronomical organizations. It is headquartered in Paris, France, and includes individual professional members, most of whom are leaders in the field of astronomy, along with numerous national astronomical organizations. While most of the International Astronomical Union’s work focuses on advances in professional astronomy, the organization also works with groups that include amateur astronomers among their membership and recognizes the valuable contributions made by some amateur astronomers.
One of the key aspects of the International Astronomical Union’s work is the development of a uniform and coherent terminology through the Planetary Systems Nomenclature Working Group. The organization has extensively defined and designated terms for use in astronomy so that astronomers can communicate clearly with each other. When an astronomer writes about a “planet” in a scientific paper, for example, other astronomers know exactly what kind of celestial body that astronomer is referring to, thanks to the standards set by the IAU.
There are different parts of the IAU. The first is the General Assembly, a collective of representative member countries that meets every three years to set policy. The meeting venues of the General Assembly rotate, giving each member nation the opportunity to host the International Astronomical Union. The organization as a whole is divided into divisions, with each division subdivided into committees. The commissions, in turn, have a large pool of working groups and programs working on individual issues.
For the sake of standardization, astronomy texts usually stick to the terminology defined by the International Astronomical Union, and the organization publishes periodic updates so that people in the field can keep up with terminological changes. The definitions published by the IAU are not without controversy, however, as scientists are a notoriously rowdy and argumentative bunch, and astronomers are no exception. The decision to downgrade Pluto from a “planet” to a “dwarf planet” and later to a “plutoid,” for example, attracted a lot of attention.
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