Why

In the rich context of upcoming powerful facilities at radio, submilimeter, IR, Optical, and high energies,  it is extremely important to maintain access to space-UV capabilities. Such facilities are fundamental for many aspects of astronomical research such as planetary and exoplanetary-astrobiological research, or intergalactic medium and galaxy formation studies, to mention but a few.

The current activity of the IAU UV working group is the definition of standard photometric filters in the ultraviolet that provide fundamental information in the UV range not achieve up to date.

In December 2015, the UV Astronomy Working Group (UVA-WG) was officially created within Division B (Facilities, Technologies and Data Science) to tie together the international science with specific missions, which may or not involve multiple space agencies. The global community consists of disparate groups which together, within the framework of the International Astronomical Union, would be able to catalyse new missions and models to advance UV science, a field which has contributed greatly to many areas of astronomy. In August 2019, the UVA-WG was allowed to continue with its activity for two more years due to the necessity of the definition of standard ultraviolet photometric passbands. 

UVA-WG  grows on the experience of NUVA, the pan-european network set-up to identify the needs of the astronomical community in the UV domain and eventually propose actions to structure it around new projects. It was first established in 2004 within the OPTical Infrared COordination Network for astronomy FP6 European program, but now is continuing its task in structuring and coordinating the UV community around well defined projects.

 

UVA-WG has three major LINES OF ACTIVITY: basic science, technical developments and the definition of a road map that coordinates international efforts in the field driven by science interests and technological capabilities.