Description: The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is a society of professional astronomers from around the world who are currently working in some aspect of astronomy research, education, or outreach. It was founded in 1919 and it works to develop outreach and educational activities for the public, alongside promoting active astronomy research through its scientific meetings.

Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".