astro.wikisort.org - Institution

The Federation of Astronomical Societies (FAS) is an international union of astronomical societies formed in 1974 and will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024. Its motto is "Supporting UK Astronomy", and there is also one member society from Spain. As of November 2021, it has over 200 member societies.[1]

FAS publishes a newsletter 6 times a year, which is sent to its member societies, and holds in-person conventions as well as events online. The FAS is run by a council of elected volunteers.

A major benefit for local societies is to be able to arrange Public Liability Insurance from a policy which is shared between the members, greatly reducing the policy fee.

The FAS on-line convention in April 2021 was addressed by Lord Martin_Rees, the UK Astronomer Royal. Another speaker was George Tahu, the Lead Program executive for Mars_2020, speaking from Washington, D.C.

The Autumn 2021 Convention was the first national in-person astronomy event in the UK since 2019, due to COVID. It took place at the National Space Centre in Leicester on Saturday 13 November.

The 2022 convention is on Saturday 12 November and has the theme "Women In Astronomy". The keynote speaker will be Dame Jocelyn_Bell_Burnell, and as she is based in Oxford, that's where the event is being held. Details and a link to ticketing are at The Federation of Astronomical Societies 2022 Convention Tickets must be booked by midnight on 10 November, and include a snack lunch. Both these conventions were sponsored by the British_Astronomical_Association.

A list has been compiled for other conventions to be held at various locations around the UK, allowing people who live reasonably close to attend without high travel costs.

See also

• List of astronomical societies

References

External links

• The Federation of Astronomical Societies
• The Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies (IFAS)

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