Browsing the Milky Way at the IAU General Assembly in Honolulu

Kai‘aleleiaka: artist’s impression showing the Milky Way over Hawaii. (Courtesy: IAU)

By Hamish Johnston

Earlier this week the triennial XXIX General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) kicked off in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1919, the IUA has about 10,000 members based in 96 countries worldwide. About 3500 astronomers are attending this year’s meeting, which runs until 14 August and is hosted by the American Astronomical Society.

A long-standing tradition of the congress is the production of a daily newspaper for delegates and 2015 is the first year that an electronic version is available to the general public. You can catch up with all the daily news by downloading a copy of Kai‘aleleiaka, which is pronounced “kah EE ah lay-lay-ee AH kah” and means “the Milky Way” in Hawaiian.

Most scientific conferences don’t attract political protesters, but Hawaii’s Mauna Kea mountain has been chosen as the location for the planned Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) and the decision has been opposed by some Hawaiians including several organizations representing Hawaii’s indigenous people. The Wednesday issue of Kai‘aleleiaka reported on a demonstration outside the congress venue by about 50 people who are opposed to construction of the TMT. According to the paper the protesters cited cultural and environmental concerns regarding the construction of a major facility on what indigenous Hawaiians regard as a sacred mountain.

There must have been a strong undercurrent of politics at the 1958 IUA General Assembly, which was held in Moscow at the height of the Cold War. You can read scanned copies of the 1958 congress newspaper Cosmos, which seems to capture the mood of the times with a front page article headlined “Science needs peace”. Despite the Iron Curtain that was being built across Europe at the time, there are articles that are written by American delegates.

Digital archives of all the congress newspapers back to 1958 are available for your perusal.

Stay tuned to physicsworld.com for more coverage of the IAU congress including guest blogs from speakers.