American Astronomical Society

The Society's most prestigious award, the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, went to Dr. Margaret J. Geller (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) "for a lifetime of work on the distribution and clustering of galaxies in the universe and for her notable success in describing this work to the public."

Electronic hosting of journals makes it possible to collect related articles into what amounts to virtual special issues. In December 2008, the AJ published several papers from and related to the THINGS project as a special section of that issue. Our electronic compilation brings together those first papers with papers published in later issues (and may include additional papers published in future). Many options are imaginable but to start we have gathered a handful of paper series, each covering a common topic and written by a relatively well-defined set of authors.

AJ Compilations

The AAS will be participating as a partner organization in LaserFest 2010, which is the 50th anniversary of the invention of the laser, a fundamental component in our modern technology.

The purpose of this celebration is to recognize and honor the accomplishments of the scientists, engineers, inventors, and entrepreneurs who made possible the discovery, development, and application of the laser; to inform students, educators, legislators, funding agencies, and the general public about the impact that the laser has had on the economy and how it has affected and continues to affect their lives in many ways; and to use the story of the laser to illustrate the importance of the scientific discovery and technological innovation.

To find out more information visit the LaserFest website.

Donate to the AAS

By donating to the AAS, members of the public can help enable astronomers to make new discoveries, collaborate more effectively and share their results with the public through publication.

See the President speak at the White House Star Party.

President Obama kicked off Astronomy Night on the South Lawn of the White House. Some 150 middle school students from the Washington area got to learn more about their universe using more than 20 telescopes provided by NASA and other organizations. They observed Jupiter, the moon and selected stars. Other activities included science presentations with samples of meteorites and moon rocks. NASA's Museum Alliance, a consortium of museums, science centers and planetariums conducted activities worldwide to coincide with the White House event. Astronomy Night helped note the International Year of Astronomy, a global celebration of contributions to society and culture in the 400 years since Galileo first used a telescope.

The Galileoscope is a high-quality, low-cost telescope kit developed as a Cornerstone Project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009. For just $20 plus shipping, you get a 50-mm f/10 achromatic refractor that snaps together in less than 5 minutes and gives great views of the celestial wonders that Galileo first glimpsed 400 years ago: lunar craters and mountains, Jupiter’s moons, the phases of Venus, Saturn's rings, and the Pleiades and Beehive star clusters. It comes with a 25x eyepiece and 2x Barlow lens, accepts standard 1¼-inch accessories, and attaches to any photo tripod (not included). Two educational activity guides are already available, and more are coming. You can download these guides, and order small numbers of Galileoscopes using a credit card or PayPal, at http://www.galileoscope.org. Institutions wishing to place orders of 100 or more get a discounted price of $15 per kit, save on shipping via freight service, and may pay by purchase order. To initiate a large order of 100+ kits, fill out the Request for Quotation form.