This is the voice of the plutons... we know that you can hear us Earthlings. The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union took place in Prague in the Czech Republic between the 14th and 25th August 2006. We have interviewed astronomers at the General Assembly to find out what they are up to and what has been attracting their interest. And, with such a range of sizes for objects in the Solar System, we find out a little about how difficult it is to come up with a scientific definition for a planet (check out our cut-out-and-keep Venn diagram in the show notes).
A Venn diagram of the results of the planet vote at the IAU
Show Links
- IAU General Assembly 2006, Prague, Czech Republic
- Thomas Marquart's IAU blog
- MP3: Slacker Astronomy listen in on Pluto's entry examination at planet school
- MP3: Phil Plait discusses planet definitions on the Paul Harris show (KMOX/St Loius)
- MP3: Planetary Radio talk to Dava Sobel (author of Longitude and The Planets) about her work on the Planet Definition Committee
- MP3: Dr Karl and Dava Sobel on Australia's triple j answering questions about the solar system
- MP3: The Museum of Science in Boston talk to Owen Gingerich - chairman of the International Astronomical Union's Planet Definition Committee
- MP3: Interview With Venetia Burney Phair - the girl who named Pluto
- MP3: Planetary Radio talk to co-discoverer of 2003 UB313 Mike Brown about the results of the planet definition vote
- Mike Brown (co-discoverer of 2003 UB313) writes about the possible ways to define a planet
- Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the new planet classifications pictorially.
Interview with Michael Burton (Friday 25th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- Michael's website
- The Joint Australian Centre for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
- Dome C (from New Scientist)
- Antarctic diaries (from UNSW)
- IceCube
- Antarctic Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Institute
Interview with Gordon Squires (Friday 25th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- Spitzer Space Telescope
- Spitzer Space Telescope Data Centre
- Gordon Squires
Interview with Gilbert Satterthwaite (Thursday 24th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- Royal Observatory, Greenwich
- History of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich
- Airy's transit circle
IAU session voting on the definition of a planet (Thursday 24th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- IAU General Assembly 2006, Prague, Czech Republic
Interview with Dr. Carolina Odman (Wednesday 23rd)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- Universe Awareness for young children
- Universe Awareness Interdisciplinary Workshop 9 - 13 October 2006
- Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands
Interview with Dr Enno Middelberg (Monday 21st)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- Australia Telescope National Facility
- Lisa Harvey-Smith (JIVE)
Interview with Prof. Ian Robson (Friday 18th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre
- Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 Jul 22
- IAU DIVISION XII Working Group - CommunicatingAstronomy.org
- IAU Plans for Astronomy Year 2009
- More information on active galaxies
- Pretty radio astronomy images of active galaxies
Interview with Prof. Mike Bode (Thursday 17th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- The Liverpool Telescope
Round table discussion with Nick Rattenbury, Tim O'Brien, Megan Argo and Stuart Lowe (Wednesday 16th)
- MP3: Download this segment individually
- IAU daily newsletter issue 2 (770kB)
- IAU daily newsletter issue 3 (1.3MB)
Show Credits
| Interview: | Stuart Lowe and Hannah Thrall talked to Michael Burton (University New South Wales) |
| Planet Views: | Lisa Harvey-Smith got the views of (anonymous) astronomers |
| Interview: | Stuart Lowe and Hannah Thrall talked to Gordon Squires (Caltech) |
| Interview: | Debbie Mitchell talked to Gilbert Satterthwaite |
| IAU vote: | Nick Rattenbury introduces a recording of the session at the IAU General Assembly in Prague 2006. The Chairman was Ron Ekers, with assistance from Jocelyn Bell Burnell. The audio is courtesy of the IAU. |
| Interview: | Nick Rattenbury and Stuart Lowe talked to Dr. Carolina Odman (Leiden Observatory) |
| Interview: | Lisa Harvey-Smith talked to Dr Enno Middelberg (ATNF) |
| Interview: | Nick Rattenbury and Stuart Lowe chatted to Prof. Ian Robson (UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh) |
| Interview: | Nick Rattenbury and Stuart Lowe chatted to Prof Mike Bode (Liverpool John Moores University/Liverpool Telescope) |
| Round-table: | Nick Rattenbury, Tim O'Brien, Megan Argo and Stuart Lowe |
| Editor: | Stuart Lowe |
| Website: | Stuart Lowe |
| Cover art: | The famous astronomical clock on Prague's townhall Credit: polanri (Flickr) |