IAU Division XII - Union-Wide Activities

1. Introduction

Division XII consists of six IAU Commissions that had remained outside the Division structure when it was created in 1994, because their activities did not fit comfortably into any of the eleven initial Divisions which are organised by scientific or technical discipline.

Their activities cut across the full range of scientific subdisciplines - comets to cosmology - but also deal with important policy interfaces to the outside world which are important for astronomy and the IAU as a whole - e.g. data access rights, science education and outreach, and protection of the environment. Recognising this unifying theme, the IAU General Assembly created Division XII during its meetings in Sydney in 2003, on the proposal of the Executive Committee.