International Astronomical Union
Division VI   &   Commission 34
Interstellar Matter

• Triennial Report from Division VI

  The Triennial Report for Division VI/Commission 34 is completed and will be published in the IAU Transactions XXVIIIA, Reports on Astronomy 2009 - 2012. This document reports activities of our Division, Commission, and Working Groups since the IAU XXVII General Assembly in Rio in August 2009. The report is available here.

• Reorganization of the IAU's Divisional Structure.

  The current IAU Divisional structure will be almost 20 years old at the Beijing GA. A proposal has been drafted to capitalize on the cross-fertilization and impact of the IAU within the nonastronomical world, and to reorganize its scientific Divisions in a more compact form. The number of Divisions is proposed to reduce from 12 to 9. The draft proposal is available here.

  The immediate impact on our Division VI is the merger of current Divisions VI and VII into Division H "Interstellar Matter and Local Universe" (page 11 of the draft proposal). The Astrochemistry Working Group has requested to be upgraded to a Commission, and the Planetary Nebulae Working Group is considering a similar conversion. More actions are expected in the IAU GA in Beijing. Comments on the IAU reorganization are welcome.

• Div VI Supported Meetings in 2012 IAU General Assmbly Scientific Programme

  • IAUS 288 (Aug 20-24)
    Astrophysics from Antarctica
    
  • IAUS 292 (Aug 20-24)
    Molecular Gas, Dust, and Star Formation in Galaxies
    
  • SpS4 (Aug 20-23)
    New era for studying interstellar and intergalactic magnetic fields
    
  • SpS8 (Aug 27-30)
    Calibration of star-formation rate measurements across the electromagnetic spectrum
    
  • SpS12 (Aug 27-31)
    Modern views of the interstellar medium
    
  • SpS16 (Aug 27-28)
    Unexplained spectral phenomena in the interstellar medium
    

• Div VI Supported Meeting Outside IAU GA in 2012

  • IAUS 287 (Jan 29 - Feb 3)
    Cosmic masers - from OH to H₀