The Society

The Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA) was formed in 1966 as the organisation of professional astronomers in Australia. It was incorporated in the ACT in 1993. The operation of the Society is governed by its Constitution and By-laws and administered by its Council. The purposes of the ASA are described in its Statement of Purpose.

Association Number : A2224

Australian Business Number (ABN) : 37 660 297 848

What is the ASA?

The Society has adopted a structure in which topical interest groups may be formed, known as Chapters, Working Groups or Joint Groups:

The History of the ASA

ASA member, Nick Lomb has 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.  If not, the papers can also be found on University of Southern Queensland (USQ) preprint server.

  • How Astronomers Focused the Scope of their Discussions: The Formation of the Astronomical Society of AustraliaHRAS or USQ
  • Scientific Society Journals: the Publications of the Astronomical Society – HRAS or USQ
  • Australia and the International Astronomical Union: the 1973 Sydney general assembly – HRAS or USQ
  • Australia and the International Astronomical Union: the 2003 Sydney General Assembly – HRAS or USQ

The ASA in Australian Astronomy

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 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:

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.

Communication

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.

Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA)

IAU 2003 – XXVth General Assembly (GA) of the IAU

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.

ASA Reports

Several Society reports are publicly available on the Reports page:

Some other documents are not publicly available. Please contact one of the ASA Secretaries if access is required.

Public Document Archive available.

The ASA Council

The business of the Society is conducted by a Council elected by a ballot (if necessary) of the members every two years. The Council also invites one student member, elected by the students every year, to attend meetings as an observer, to represent the interests Australian postgraduate students at the meeting and report back to the student members. 

 

A/Prof. Stas Shabala

A/Prof. Stas Shabala

PRESIDENT

School of Natural Sciences
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 37, Hobart TAS 7001
Email: stanislav.shabala -@- utas.edu.au

Professor John Lattanzio

Professor John Lattanzio

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Monash Centre for Astrophysics
School of Physics and Astronomy
Monash University
Email: john.lattanzio@monash.edu
Web: users.monash.edu.au/~johnl/

A/Prof. John O'Byrne

A/Prof. John O'Byrne

SECRETARY (contact for membership issues)

Sydney Institute for Astronomy
School of Physics, The University of Sydney NSW 2006
Ph : 61-2-9351-3184 Fax: 61-2-9351-7726
Email: asa.secretary@sydney.edu.au
Web: http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/john.obyrne.php

Dr Ashley Ruiter

Dr Ashley Ruiter

VICE PRESIDENT

School of Science
University of New South Wales Canberra / ADFA
Campbell, ACT, 2600
UNSW page
Email: ashley.ruiter@adfa.edu.au

Dr Yeshe Fenner

Dr Yeshe Fenner

TREASURER

Chief Operating Officer, OzGrav
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Ph : 61 3 9214 8302
Email: asa.treasurer@sydney.edu.au

Dr Marc Duldig

Dr Marc Duldig

SECRETARY

School of Natural Sciences
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 37, Hobart TAS 7000
Ph: 61-3-6226-2022 Fax: 61-3-6226-2410
Mobile: 0421-757285
Email: marc.duldig@utas.edu.au
Web: www.phys.utas.edu.au/physics/

Dr Vanessa Moss

Dr Vanessa Moss

MEDIA & OUTREACH COORDINATOR

Dr Tanya Hill

Dr Tanya Hill

PRIZES & AWARDS COORDINATOR

Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666, Melbourne Vic 3001
Ph: 61-3-9392-4503
Email: thill@museum.vic.gov.au
W: http://museumvictoria.com.au/Planetarium/

Dr Ivo R Seitenzahl

Dr Ivo R Seitenzahl

CHAIR, Editorial Board for PASA

School of Science
UNSW Canberra
Email: i.seitenzahl@adfa.edu.au

Pradosh Barun Das

Pradosh Barun Das

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE

Macquarie University
Email: pradoshbarun.das@hdr.mq.edu.au

A/Prof. Christoph Federrath

A/Prof. Christoph Federrath

COUNCILLOR

Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
The Australian National University
Email: christoph.federrath@anu.edu.au

A/Prof. Bernhard Mueller

A/Prof. Bernhard Mueller

COUNCILLOR

Monash University
Email: Bernhard.Mueller@monash.edu

Dr Ivy Wong

Dr Ivy Wong

COUNCILLOR

CSIRO Space & Astronomy
Email: ivy.wong@csiro.au

Professor Richard McDermid

Professor Richard McDermid

COUNCILLOR

Department of Physics & Astronomy
Macquarie University
Email: richard.mcdermid@mq.edu.au

Dr Sarah Pearce

Dr Sarah Pearce

COUNCILLOR

Director, SKAO Australia
Email: sarah.pearce@skao.int

The ASA Executive

Professor John Lattanzio

Professor John Lattanzio

PRESIDENT

Monash Centre for Astrophysics
School of Physics and Astronomy
Monash University
Email: john.lattanzio@monash.edu
Web: users.monash.edu.au/~johnl/

Prof. Jonathan Bland-Hawthorn

Prof. Jonathan Bland-Hawthorn

VICE PRESIDENT

Centre Deputy Director, Astro 3D
Sydney Institute for Astronomy
The University of Sydney
Ph : 61 2 9351 2621
Email: jonathan.bland-hawthorn@sydney.edu.au

A/Prof. Cathryn Trott

A/Prof. Cathryn Trott

IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT

Faculty of Science and Engineering
Curtin University/ICRAR
Bentley, WA 6845
Ph: 61-8-9266-1306
Email: Cathryn.Trott@curtin.edu.aus

Dr Yeshe Fenner

Dr Yeshe Fenner

TREASURER

Chief Operating Officer, OzGrav
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Ph : 61 3 9214 8302
Email: asa.treasurer@sydney.edu.au

A/Prof. John O'Byrne

A/Prof. John O'Byrne

SECRETARY (contact for membership issues)

Sydney Institute for Astronomy
School of Physics, The University of Sydney NSW 2006
Ph : 61-2-9351-3184 Fax: 61-2-9351-7726
Email: asa.secretary@sydney.edu.au
Web: http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/john.obyrne.php

Dr Marc Duldig

Dr Marc Duldig

SECRETARY

School of Natural Sciences
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 37, Hobart TAS 7000
Ph: 61-3-6226-2022 Fax: 61-3-6226-2410
Mobile: 0421-757285
Email: marc.duldig@utas.edu.au
Web: www.phys.utas.edu.au/physics/

Other Council Positions

Dr Michael Brown

Dr Michael Brown

MEDIA & OUTREACH COORDINATOR

School of Physics
Monash University
Vic 3800
Ph: 61-3-9905-4498 Fax: 61-3-9905-3637
Email: Michael.Brown@monash.edu
Web: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/michael-brown

A/Prof. Stas Shabala

A/Prof. Stas Shabala

CHAIR, Editorial Board for PASA

School of Natural Sciences
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 37, Hobart TAS 7001
Email: stanislav.shabala -@- utas.edu.au

Dr Krzysztof Bolejko

Dr Krzysztof Bolejko

PRIZES & AWARDS COORDINATOR

School of Natural Sciences
University of Tasmania
Private Bag 37, Hobart TAS 7001
Ph: +61 3 6226 2234
Email: krzysztof.bolejko@utas.edu.au
Dr Tanya Hill

Dr Tanya Hill

PRIZES & AWARDS COORDINATOR (On Leave)

Museum Victoria
GPO Box 666, Melbourne Vic 3001
Ph: 61-3-9392-4503 Fax: 61-3-9391-0100
Email: thill@museum.vic.gov.au
W: http://museumvictoria.com.au/Planetarium/

Dr Matthew Roth

Dr Matthew Roth

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE

Australian National University
Email: maroth@mso.anu.edu.au

Councillors

Dr Barbara Catinella

Dr Barbara Catinella

COUNCILLOR

International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
The University of Western Australia
Email: barbara.catinella@uwa.edu.au

Prof. Richard de Grijs

Prof. Richard de Grijs

COUNCILLOR

Department of Physics & Astronomy
Macquarie University
Email: richard.de-grijs@mq.edu.au

A/Prof. Richard McDermid

A/Prof. Richard McDermid

COUNCILLOR

Department of Physics & Astronomy
Macquarie University
Email: richard.mcdermid@mq.edu.au

A/Prof. Bernhard Mueller

A/Prof. Bernhard Mueller

COUNCILLOR

Monash University
Email: Bernhard.Mueller@monash.edu

Dr Sarah Pearce

Dr Sarah Pearce

COUNCILLOR

Director, SKAO Australia
Email: sarah.pearce@skao.int