At present, the Astronomy and Astrophysics Board of the European Physical Society is the main medium through which astronomers in the different nations of Europe interact. However, most astronomers do not identify with a society that is overwhelmingly dominated by physicists, and so its membership of stargazers has never reached critical mass. Several countries, such as Great Britain and Italy, have strong national societies, but their memberships often include significant numbers of non-Europeans or non-professionals. The proposed Astronomical Society will be open only to professional astronomers, research students, and very keen amateurs. For the first time it offers the Europeans the chance to create a professional forum similar to the American Astronomical Society.
L. Woltjer, director of the European Southern Observatory in Munich, has argued for 20 years that astronomers need to organize themselves across the historical boundaries of Europe. The observatory, which is managed by a consortium of several ...
