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Membership is open to all interested AAS members, regardless of their status or background.
History: Name changed (April 2023), formerly the Committee for Light Pollution, Radio Interference, and Space Debris (LPRISD); Name changed (January 1988, Austin)
Members: Appointed by the Board of Trustees.
Term: Three years, June - June, from the close of one Annual Members' Meeting to the close of the next Annual Members' Meeting.
Chair: One year, June to June, from the close of one Annual Members' Meeting to the close of the next Annual Members' Meeting.
Charge: COMPASSE represents the interests of AAS relating to the protection of dark and radio-quiet skies, the safe and sustainable use of outer space, and related issues, and empowers AAS members to be effective advocates for the protection of US astronomy.
Recent Materials from the Committee:
- 2022 Webinar: From Sky Glow to Satellite Swarms: Challenges to Astronomy from Ground and Space (Video | Slides)
- 2022 Response to Request for Information from White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on uses of Cislunar Space (Document)
- 2021: SATCON2 Report (Archive)
- 2020: SATCON1 Report
- 2020: The Industrialization of Space (Presentation; Chris Impey, University of Arizona)
- 2020: Mega-Constellations of Satellites and Optical Astronomy (Presentation | Press Briefing; Patrick Seitzer, University of Michigan)
- 2020: Radio Astronomy in a New Era of Radiocommunication (Presentation | Press Briefing; Harvey Liszt, National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
- 2020: Satellite's Impacts on the General Public (Presentation | Press Briefing; Ruskin Hartley, International Dark-Sky Association)
- 2020: Starlink and the Astronomers (Press Briefing; Jeffrey C. Hall, Lowell Observatory)
Committee Members
Christopher G. De Pree (He/Him/His)
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Term: Jun 2025 – Jun 2028
Richard F. Green
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2028
Co-Vice Chair for Policy; CAPP
Constance E. Walker (she/her)
NSF's NOIRLab / IAU CPS
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2028
Vice Chair for Satcons
James D. Lowenthal (he/him)
Smith College
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2028
Vice Chair for Light Pollution
Meredith L. Rawls (she/her)
University of Washington/Rubin Observatory
Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2028
Harvey Liszt
NRAO - Charlottesville
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2028
Vice Chair for Radio Interference
Teznie Pugh
McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin
Past Chair
Term: Jun 2025 – Jun 2026
Roohi Dalal (she/her)
American Astronomical Society (AAS)
ex officio
Term: Oct 2024 – Jun 2028
(Member from April 2023 to Sept 2024)
Lindsey S. Wiser (She/Her/Hers)
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Term: Jan 2025 – Jan 2027
Jessica Heim
University of Southern Queensland
Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2028
Co-Vice Chair for Community Engagement
Lucie Afko (She/Her/Hers)
NIST Boulder
Term: Apr 2023 – Jun 2028
Co-Vice Chair of Community Engagement