EURO-ASIAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

The Euro-Asian Astronomical Society (EAAS) was founded in April, 1990 under the name "Soviet Astronomical Society" as a non-governmental, non-profit, and non-political organization for professional astronomers of the Soviet Union.

The principal goals of the Society were and continue to be:

1. assisting the development of astronomy on the territory of the country (now CIS and Baltic states) and worldwide,
2. bringing the interests of the astronomical community to the notice of governmental structures.

Individual membership is the basis of the EAAS. It is open to individuals worldwide and has a membership of more than 800 astronomers from 32 countries of all continents except Africa (including all the 13 new independent states (NIS) on the territory of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) - CIS and Baltic states where there are professional astronomers. Below we enlist the number of individual members of EAAS for specific states with more than five members:

The Society is now, after the break up of the Soviet Union, the only officially registered international institution that represents the interests of professional astronomers on the entire territory of the former Soviet Union. Its present activities are aimed, in a great measure, at intensification of scientific contacts between astronomers of different FSU countries and their colleagues worldwide.

EAAS is affiliated to the Russian Physical Society, EAS, and American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS). It is a co-founder of the Russian Union of Scientific Societies and the Physical Society of Russian Federation.

EAAS activities are directed by the Council Board (currently 27 persons) headed by 3 co-chairpersons. These two bodies are elected every 3 years during EAAS General Assemblies.

EAAS activities are determined, to a large measure, by rather specific post-Soviet conditions in FSU countries. EAAS is permanently monitoring the situation in astronomy and astronomical education at the professional, school, and public levels in all FSU countries.

EAAS, together with affiliated bodies and in cooperation with other organizations, sponsors six periodic and serial publications including

• the scientific refereed journal "Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions" (in English, 70 issues have been published since 1991);
• the earlier founded scientific journals in Russian "Solar Data" (1994-96) and "Astron. Tsirkular" (publication resumed in 1999);
• the Society Bulletin (1990-95), and, more recently, (since 1996) the electronic newsletter "Astrocourier" (in Russian, with occasional digests in English);
• the popular-science almanac "Universe and Ourselves" (in Russian, digests in English, 4 issues since 1993);
• the popular "Zvezdochet" ("Stargazer") magazine (in Russian since 1994, 12 issues per year),
• the Bulletin of the Association of Planetaria of Russia, since 1995 (one to two issues per year).

EAAS and its affiliated members, in cooperation with other institutions, hold about 10 different size conferences every year. The largest was the IVth EAAS General Assembly (Moscow, Nov. 1997): during 11 days 360 persons participated in plenary sessions, 9 parallel sections, one joint discussion, business meetings, and 3 associated colloquia. 300 participants contributed to the VIIth Symposium on Solar-Terrestrial Physics (Pakhra, Moscow region, Oct. 1998).

Examples of smaller events are annual conference of planetaria lecturers (50-100 participants), meetings of high-school teachers of astronomy (several dozen persons) associated with annual spring Olympics and autumn schools for school students held by the EAAS commission on astronomical education. Since 1995, EAAS helps to organize the annual (XXVIIIth in 1999) winter conference for students of astronomical departments of universities (Kourovskaya observatory of Ural state university (Ekaterinburg)). The largest scientific meeting held by the EAAS in 1999 was the 2nd G.A.Gamow memorial international conference (Odessa (Ukraine), Aug. 16-22 and St. Petersburg, Aug. 23-27), with more than 200 participants.

In 1992, in the situation of the collapse of state funding for the science, EAAS worked out the program "Survival of Astronomy in Russia". The Program got the approval and financial support of the Russian Ministry of Science. Astronomical teams at 36 institutions received grants. As a result, several groups of astronomers in Russia, that otherwise would have to be suspended, continued their research. Later, owing to joint efforts of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the EAAS, the Russian State Science and Technology Program "Astronomy" was founded and later was included as a sub-program into the governmental program "Priority areas of science and technology in Russia". Since 1992 to the present day, EAAS keeps permanent contacts with Russian governmental structures and Parliament as well as with the Moscow City Duma (local elected legislation organ).

With another grant, obtained by EAAS in 1995 from the Russian Ministry of Science, the Abastumani Astronomical Observatory (Georgia), its city laboratory in Tbilisi, and Byurakan Observatory (Armenia) were supplied with PCs of Notebook-type which allowed the data processing and other work not to be stopped during the periods of blackouts (and breaks in power support) that used to happen there in mid 1990ies.

Since 1993, the EAAS carries on a library program aimed at supplying astronomical institutions in CIS, Baltic states, Bulgaria (during two years), and Yugoslavia (since 1997) with Russian-language astronomical journals, popular magazines and other printed matter as well as with "Astronomical and Astrophysical Transactions". EAAS interference allowed all FSU astronomical institutions to be granted three-years-long free-of-charge access to the electronic version of ApJ and a number of other AAS periodicals.

In 1992-96, EAAS obtained Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Ministry of Science grants for fabrication of astronomical photographic plates. The plates proved to be of high quality and were requested by and delivered to a large number of astronomical observatories and institutions of Russia, several other NIS countries, and Latvia.

The EAAS Commission on Astronomical Education supports annual Olympics in astronomy for School students (in Moscow city; All-Russian and International ones: with participants, in different years, from NIS, West Europe, India, Brazil). More details on Olympics in Astronomy may be found at the Web site http://www.issp.ac.ru/univer/.

Thanks to the efforts of the Commission on astronomical education, a new version of the textbook in astronomy for secondary schools was published and several new versions of programs in astronomy for secondary school were included in the list of programs recommended by the Russian Ministry of Education.

EAAS pays much attention to popularization of astronomy. Since 1995 an astronomical evening school patronized by EAAS was added to Moscow University evening schools for school students. Periodic astronomical performances are prepared by EAAS local structures for local TV in several cities (the best ones being those in Odessa, Ukraine). EAAS press secretary regularly promotes astronomical topics and news into widely-read federal and local newspapers and magazines (about 70 publications during 1993-99).

EAAS and its affiliated member: the Russian Association of Planetaria, (an international association after several planetaria from Ukraine and Belorussia have joined it) keep a many-years-long struggle for planetaria survival: most of them being housed in former church buildings to be given back to the Church, run the risk of just getting closed. Nevertheless 26 planetaria are still working. The oldest and the best, Moscow planetarium, housed in a big specialized building in the central part of Moscow and closed for 5 years now, is a case of seizure by gambling business: EAAS continues to fight for a better fate for it, at the level of the highest authorities of Moscow.

The EAAS carries out its activities in some other fields (see [1, 2], where more details on the topics mentioned above can be found).

1. N.G.Bochkarev About the Euro-Asian Astronomical society. Astron. Astrophys.Transactions, v.14, p. 149-163, 1997
2. Report of EAAS Council Board to the IVth General Assembly (in Russian), 48 pp., 1997. N.G.Bochkarev and V.N.Obridko, EAAS co-chairmen