The International Astronomical Union (IAU; see https://www.iau.org/) was founded in 1919. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation.  Its individual members are professional astronomers from all over the world, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, who are active in professional research and education in astronomy. The IAU plays an important role in the development of astronomy through the organization of regional meetings and schools, partly through the Office of Astronomy for Development, in collaboration with South Africa.

A key activity of the IAU is the organization of scientific meetings. These include six major Symposia each year and the triennial General Assembly which in addition to the symposia involves a large number of shorter scientific and organizational meetings.

The IAU also serves to define fundamental astronomical and physical constants and unambiguous astronomical nomenclature, as well as being the internationally recognized authority for assigning names to celestial bodies and surface features on them, a task that has expanded greatly through the extensive observations from space of bodies in the solar system.

The Danish membership of the IAU is managed  by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters. It is coordinated by the National Committee for the IAU, established as those members of the IDA Executive Committee who are also members of IAU.

The present National Committee is:

Professor Jørgen Christensen-Dalsgaard, Aarhus University (chair)

Professor Jens Hjorth, University of Copenhagen

Senior researcher Allan Hornstrup, DTU Space

Associate Professor Jes Jørgensen, University of Copenhagen

Associate Professor Heidi Korhonen, University of Copenhagen