The Society

ASA members Nick Lomb, and more recently Toner Stevenson, have published the following historical papers in the peer-reviewed journal Historical Records of Australian Science . These will be accessible to many local ASA members through their institutional library.

• How Astronomers Focused the Scope of their Discussions: The Formation of the Astronomical Society of Australia – HRAS
• Scientific Society Journals: the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia – HRAS
• Australia and the International Astronomical Union: the 1973 Sydney general assembly – HRAS
• Australia and the International Astronomical Union: the 2003 Sydney General Assembly – HRAS
• Spreading across the continent: the Astronomical Society of Australia 1966-2023 – HRAS or PDF
• Gender diversity in Australian astronomy: the Astronomical Society of Australia, 1966 to 2023 – HRAS or PDF

The ASA is one of 3 peak bodies in Australian astronomy.

The ASA provides a community forum for Australian astronomers and represents their interests individually and collectively. The Society fosters Australian astronomy through regular scientific meetings, the publication of a scientific journal, and workshops and activities to support students and early-career researchers.

The National Committee for Astronomy (NCA) is a committee of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS). The AAS is Australia’s link with the International Science Council (ISC) and its constituent bodies and committees, in particular the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The NCA also carries out regular discipline reviews (most recently the 2005 and 2015 Astronomy Decadal Plans and 2011 & 2020 Mid-Term Reviews) and addresses other issues of community-wide significance.

Astronomy Australia Limited (AAL) is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee whose members are Australian universities and research organisations involved in astronomical research. AAL manages programs providing access to astronomy infrastructure and is guided in its activities by the Astronomy Decadal Plan. Unlike the NCA, AAL is a legal entity and can hold or disperse funds on behalf of the astronomy community.

Representation

The Society provides a representative on:

• the National Committee for Astronomy (NCA) of the Australian Academy of Science (AAS).
• the Standards Australia committee LG2 (Road Lighting) and LG10 (Obtrusive Lighting)
• the committee administering the Donovan Astronomical Trust.

The ASA is Trustee of the Foundation for the Advancement of Astronomy (FAA). The FAA is a tax-deductible Foundation intended to enhance the ASA’s efforts to promote Astronomy and related fields in Australia, and to recognise and support excellence in those fields. The purposes of the FAA are very broadly defined to allow the support of prizes, scholarships, research and facilities.

The Society is a member of:

• Science & Technology Australia (formerly FASTS) which aims to represent the interests of scientists and technologists throughout Australia. The ASA sends representatives to the annual Science meets Parliament, organised by Science & Technology Australia.
• the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) which aims to to preserve and protect the nighttime environment.

The Society is a signatory to the Washington Charter that acknowledges the responsibility of astronomers to effectively communicate astronomy to the public for the benefit of all.

The Society also maintains a list of Australian Astronomical Societies. One function of this list is as a reference for NSW Police for the purposes of regulation surrounding hand-held laser pointers (see the ASA’s Astronomy Factsheet No.22 on laser pointers). Listing implies no endorsement of any Society or its activities.

The ASA web pages are primarily intended to provide information for the professional astronomy community. The ASA also provides the Australian Astronomy web site which provides information on astronomy in Australia for the amateur astronomy community and the general public.

Information is distributed to members primarily via an Email Exploder, with recent emails archived.

• The ASA publishes an on-line refereed journal, the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA). Immediate on-line access is a privilege of most classes of ASA membership, or may be purchased by libraries and other organisations. All papers are archived at the NASA ADS archive. There are no page(s) charges. PASA is published by Cambridge University Press.

Through the NCA and ASA, Australian astronomers accepted an invitation by the IAU to host the XXVth General Assembly (GA) of the IAU between July 13 and 26, 2003. Many ASA members participated in all aspects of the organisation of the General Assembly which was extremely succesful, presenting Australian astronomy to the visiting astronomers and the public.

The Final Report (pdf 43 pages/480kB) on the General Assembly is available, along with Report Annexes (pdf 116 pages/3.8MB) giving more details and associated documents.