Royal Astronomical Society
The
Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) began as the Astronomical Society of
London in
1820 to support
astronomical research (mainly carried on at the time by 'gentleman astronomers' rather than professionals). It became the Royal Astronomical Society in
1831 on receiving its
Royal Charter from
William IV. A Supplemental Charter in
1915 opened up the fellowship to women. It is the UK adhering organisation to the
International Astronomical Union and a member of the
Science Council.
Publications
One of the major activities of the RAS is publishing refereed journals. It currently publishes two world-leading primary research journals, MNRAS in astronomy and (in association with the Deutsche Geophysikalische Gesellschaft) GJI in geophysics, and A&G, which publishes review and other articles of wide interest in a 'glossy' format. The full list of journals published by the RAS, with abbreviations as used for the NASA ADS bibliographic codes is:
- Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society (MmRAS): 1822 – 1978\n*Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS): Since 1829\n*Geophysical Supplement to Monthly Notices (MNRAS): 1922 – 1957\n*Geophysical Journal (GeoJ): 1958 – 1987\n*Geophysical Journal International (GeoJI): Since 1988\n*Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society (QJRAS): 1960 – 1996\n*Astronomy & Geophysics (A&G): Since 1997
Fellowship
Members of the RAS are styled fellows, and may use the postnominals FRAS. Fellowship is open to anyone over the age of 18 who is considered acceptable to the society. As a result of the society's foundation in a time before there were many professional astronomers, no formal qualifications are required. However, around three quarters of fellows are professional astronomers or
geophysicists.
Meetings
The Society regularly organises monthly discussion meetings on topics in astronomy and geophysics, which are usually held in London on the second Friday of every month from September through to June. It also sponsors the UK National Astronomy Meeting, a lengthier meeting of professional astronomers held each spring, and occasionally meetings in other parts of the UK.
Jointly with the Geological Society of London, the Society sponsors the
British Geophysical Association.
Presidents
The first person to hold the title of President of the Royal Astronomical Society was William Herschel, though he never chaired a meeting, and since then the post has been held by many distinguished astronomers. The post is currently offered for a period of two years.
Recent Presidents:
Notable former Presidents:
Medals
The highest award of the Royal Astronomical Society is its Gold Medal. Among the recipients best known to the general public are
Albert Einstein in
1926, and
Stephen Hawking in
1985.
Other awards include the Eddington Medal, the Herschel Medal, the Chapman Medal, the Price Medal and the Jackson-Gwilt Medal. Lectureships include the Harold Jeffreys Lectureship in
geophysics, the George Darwin Lectureship in
astronomy, and the Gerald Whitrow Lectureship in
cosmology.
Other activities
The Society occupies premises at Burlington House, London, where a substantial library and meeting rooms are available to fellows and, by arrangement, other interested parties. The Society represents the interests of astronomy and geophysics to UK national and regional, and European government and related bodies, and maintains a press office, through which it keeps the media and the public at large informed of relevant developments in these sciences. It maintains links with parallel learned societies in the UK and abroad, and participates in their administration at an international level.
See also
\n* Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
External links
Category:British institutions