XXVII GENERAL ASSEMBLY

AUGUST 03 - 14, 2009 - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil



Press briefings and other interesting events (20/07)




Tuesday 4 August

10:30 Press briefing: General information about the Opening Ceremony.

12:00 Press briefing: The Gruber Award to a distinguished cosmologist.

14:00 Opening Ceremony, including the official announcement of the Gruber Award.

Thursday 6 August

12:00 Press briefing: The International Year of Astronomy 2009

Friday 7 August

11:00 Press briefing (topic TBD)

Monday 10 August

10:00 Press briefing: General update on the General Assembly.

19:30 IAU press dinner (no host, split bill).

Tuesday 11 August

11:30 Press briefing (topic TBD)

Thursday 13 August

14:00-17:30 Closing Ceremony.

Voting on Resolutions on:

  • IAU Strategic Plan: Astronomy for the Developing World


  • Current best estimates of astronomical constants


  • The Second Realization of the International Celestial Reference Frame


  • Supporting Women in Astronomy


  • Defence of the night sky and the right to starlight


    • 18:00 Press briefing: Concluding the General Assembly



    Invited Discourses

    The four Invited Discourses are overview talks given by highly eminent scientists in their fields.

    Wednesday 5 August

    18:00 Invited Discourse 1

    Franco Pacini: The Legacies of Galileo

    Thursday 6 August

    18:00 Invited Discourse 2

    James F. Bell III: Water on Planets

    Monday 10 August

    18:00 Invited Discourse 3

    Simon D.M. White: Evolution of Structure in the Universe

    Tuesday 11 August

    18:00 Invited Discourse 4

    Maria Teresa Ruiz: Do Low-Luminosity Stars Matter?

    Invited Discourse 1 will also be the topic of a public talk in Rio.

    Other events

    Special Session 2 will be on the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and Special Session 9 will be on the 400th anniversary of Kepler's Astronomia Nova.

    Screenings of several astronomy movies will take place in the Main Room:

  • Eyes on the Skies


  • 400 Years of Telescope


  • Blast!


    • Two IYA2009 photo exhibitions will be on display: The World at Night and From Earth to the Universe. They will be accessible to the public during the weekend.

    There will also be book-signing sessions organised by the publishers of several IYA2009 related books.








    National Organizing Committee - NOC
    ____________________________________________

    www.astronomy2009.com.br