Working Groups

Working Groups are established by the Executive Committee, by Divisions or by Commissions, to undertake certain well-defined tasks for limited time periods. Working Groups of the Executive Committee undertake essential functions on behalf of the IAU as a whole.

Normally IAU Working Groups end after a three-year term unless actively renewed. There are several 'Functional Working Groups' listed below. These are Working Groups whose scope and purpose are institutional and naturally extend beyond the IAU three-year cycle.

For information on the creation of Working Groups, please see points V. and VI. of the IAU Bye-Laws.

For a list of guidelines for the functioning of Working Groups, please see the IAU Working Group Rules document.

In order to join an IAU WG the member should contact the relevant WG Chair.

For reference, all past Commission's Working groups are listed at the bottom of the second page of Working Groups below.

Executive Committee Working Groups Chair Co-Chairs Under
Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion Susana E. Deustua
Jacob Noel-Storr
Executive Committee
Dark and Quiet Sky Protection Constance Elaine Walker
Executive Committee
Exoplanetary System Nomenclature Gonzalo Tancredi
Executive Committee Functional
Global Coordination of Ground and Space Astrophysics Rachel Somerville
Roger L. Davies
Executive Committee
Junior Members Hannah R Stacey
Camilo Delgado-Correal
Executive Committee
Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) Rita M. Schulz
Executive Committee Functional
Professional-Amateur Relations in Astronomy Aniket Prakash Sule
Timothy S. Spuck
Executive Committee
Small Bodies Nomenclature (SBN) Jana Tichá
Keith S. Noll
Executive Committee Functional
Women in Astronomy Mamta Pommier
Priya (Hasan) Shah
Executive Committee

Division Working Groups

Chair

Co-Chairs

Under
Astrometry by Small Ground-Based Telescopes Anatoliy Ivantsov
Marcelo Assafin
Division A
Multi-waveband International Celestial Reference Frame (optical+VLBI) Patrick Charlot
Division A
Standards of Fundamental Astronomy (SOFA) Antonia J Wilmot
Division A Functional
Time Metrology Standards Elisa Felicitas Arias
Division A Functional
Time Domain Astronomy Rob Seaman
Division B
UV Astronomy Ana I. Gomez de Castro
Division B
Virtual Observatory Graham Bruce Berriman
Division B Functional
Key Initiatives in Education, Outreach and Development Beatriz Elena Garcia
Rosa M. Ros
Division C Functional
Star Names Susanne M Hoffmann
Division C Functional
Supernovae Avishay Gal-Yam
Division D Functional
Active B Stars Yael Naze
Mary Elizabeth Oksala
Alex C. Carciofi
Division G
Ap & Related Stars Barry Smalley
Division G
Red Giants and Supergiants Gioia Rau
Division G
The Galactic Center Cornelia Chesley Lang
Division H

Inter-Division Working Groups

Chair

Co-Chairs

Under
Cartographic Coordinates & Rotational Elements Brent A. Archinal
Division A, Division F Functional
Near Earth Objects Patrick Michel
Division A, Division F Functional
Coordination of Synoptic Observations of the Sun Alexei A. Pevtsov
Sabrina Bechet
Division B, Division E Functional
Solar Eclipses Zhongquan Qu
Division C, Division E Functional

Commission Working Groups

Chair

Co-Chairs

Under
Consistent Realization of TRF, CRF and EOP (CRTCE) Robert Heinkelmann
Manuela Seitz
Commission A2
Improving Theories and Models of the Earth’s Rotation (ITMER) Jose Manuel Ferrándiz
Richard Gross
Commission A2
Designations & Nomenclature Cécile Loup
Marion Schmitz
Commission B2 Functional
FITS Jessica D. Mink
Commission B2 Functional
Preservation and Digitization of Photographic Plates R. Elizabeth M. Griffin
Commission B2 Functional
Global VLBI Alliance Zsolt Paragi
Commission B4
Spectroscopic and Radiative Data for Molecules Steven Robert Federman
Commission B5
Astronomy from the Moon Richard F. Green
Martin S. Elvis
Commission B7
Site Protection Richard F. Green
Saeko S. HAYASHI
Commission B7
Astronomy Competitions for Secondary School Students Grzegorz S Stachowski
Commission C1
Astronomy Education Research & Methods Urban Eriksson
Akihiko TOMITA
Robert Paul Hollow
Commission C1
CAP Conferences Ramasamy Venugopal
Samir Dhurde
Commission C2 Functional
Communicating Climate Change Through Astronomy Commission C2
Astronomical Heritage in Danger Alejandro Martín Lopez
Commission C4
Windows to the Universe: Classical and Modern Observatories Gudrun B. E. Wolfschmidt
Ian S. Glass
Commission C4
Meteor Shower Nomenclature (MSN-WG) Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez
Commission F1

Inter-Commission Working Groups

Chair

Co-Chairs

Under
Laboratory Astrophysics Data Compilation, Validation and Standardization: from the Laboratory to FAIR Usage in the Astronomical Community Marie-Lise Dubernet
Commission B2, Commission B5
Historical Radio Astronomy (Inter-Union IAU-URSI) Leonid I. Gurvits
Timothy Robishaw
Commission B4, Commission C3 Functional
Astronomy in Culture (WGAC) Steven Gullberg
Javier Mejuto Gonzalez
Commission C1, Commission C2, Commission C3, Commission C4
Ethnoastronomy and Intangible Astronomical Heritage Jarita C Holbrook
Johnson O. Urama
Commission C1, Commission C3, Commission C4
Education and Training in Astrobiology Muriel Gargaud
Beatriz Elena Garcia
Christopher David Impey
Commission C1, Commission F2, Commission F3, Commission H2

Past Commission Working Group Under
- TG On Asteroid Magnitudes C 15
- TG On Asteroid Polarimetric Albedo Calibration C 15
- TG on Preservation & Digitization of Photographic Plates C 5
Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture C 41
Archives C 41
Asteroid Families C 15
Astrochemistry C 34
Astronomy and World Heritage C 41
Astrophysically Important Spectral Lines C 40
Astrostatistics and Astroinformatics C 5
Atomic Data C 14
CAP Conferences C 55
CAP Journal C 55
Catolog of Orbital Elements of Spectroscopic Binary Systems C 26
Communicating Heliophysics C 55
Coordination of Synoptic Observations of the Sun C 12
Data Bases for Comet Spectroscopy C 15
Designations C 5
FITS C 5
Historic Radio Astronomy C 40
Historical Instruments C 41
Infrared Astronomy C 25
Johannes Kepler C 41
Libraries C 5
Maintenance of the Visual Double Star Database C 26
Meteor Shower Nomenclature C 22
Molecular Data C 14
New Media C 55
New Ways of CAP C 55
Outreach Professionalization & Accreditation C 55
Physical Studies of Asteroids C 15
Physical Studies of Comets C 15
Planetary Nebulae C 34
Public Outreach Information Management C 55
Radial-Velocity Standard Stars C 30
Solids & Their Surfaces C 14
Standardizing Access to Ephemerides C 4
Stellar Radial Velocity Bibliography C 30
The IAU Dictionary of Astronomical Concepts C 46
The Radio Astronomy Definition of Continuum Flux Density in Broad-Band SED Observations C 40
Theory of Earth Rotation C 19
Time Domain Astronomy C 5
Transits of Venus C 41
Virtual Observatories, Data Centers & Networks C 5
Washington Charter For CAP C 55

Past INTER-COMMISSION WORKING GROUP Under
Natural Planetary Satellites C 4, C 7, C 8, C 16, C 20