I suppose Paraguay is one of those forgotten out-of-the way countries in South America, that most people don’t even dream of going there. That was much the way I perceived Paraguay, as a land-locked nation completely off the tourist track and lagging behind in economic development.

At the end of August I had the chance to visit Paraguay for a week and lecture at the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA), thanks to the support of the IAU Commission 46. I went there with Hugo Levato from the CASLEO institute in San Juan, Argentina. It was interesting to see how preconceptions and reality differed so markedly!

The General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union has finished in Rio de Janeiro after two busy weeks of sessions. The final plenary session was on Thursday August 13, and six resolutions were proposed and passed by the members present.

Rio de Janeiro as seen from the Morro de Urca in evening light.

Astronomers from around the world have congregated in Rio de Janeiro. On a quick count there are about 2100 astronomers here for the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, and they come from about a hundred countries. This pilgrimage to a General Assembly is made every three years, and this is now the 27^th such GA since the IAU was founded in 1919.

below: Rio de Janeiro Conference Centre

A few years ago (in fact in 2006) I considered the issue of how the support for astronomy in any country depends on its economy. It’s an interesting question, but the problem is how to measure an index of astronomical vitality in a country.

The very simplest and crudest measure is just to count the number of International Astronomical Union (IAU) members present in any country. The IAU is recognized as the main international organization for professional astronomers.

In August 2008 I travelled on the Silk Road to Samarkand, following in the footsteps of many a famous traveller who passed through that Central Asian thoroughfare. Alexander the Great came and plundered there in the fourth century BC, Genghis Khan came from the east in 1220, Marco Polo came en route to China a half century later and Tamerlane conquered the whole of Central Asia in the late 14^th century, establishing a centre of learning in Samarkand. He is the Uzbek national hero. His grandson, the famous astronomer Ulugh Beg, produced the first star catalogue since Ptolemy in 1437. I owe my visit to Uzbekistan to Ulugh Beg, as I visited the Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute in Tashkent with sponsorship from the International Astronomical Union.

At times in the Cosmic Diary blog I will feature interesting events in my life in recent past years. This blog is about astronomy in the Republic of Mongolia. I visited Mongolia for one week in mid-March 2004 as chairperson of the IAU Commission 46 Program Group for the World-wide Development of Astronomy (PGWWDA). The purpose of my visit was to assess the current situation in Mongolia concerning astronomical teaching and research and to make appropriate recommendations to the IAU on possible future development of astronomy in that country.

One of the most rewarding activities I have engaged in over the last six years has been to chair the International Astronomical Union’s Program Group for the World-wide Development of Astronomy, or PGWWDA.

The Program Group for the World-wide Development of Astronomy (PGWWDA) is a committee that operates within Commission 46 of the IAU for Astronomical Education and Development. It is one of nine IAU Commission 46 program groups engaged with various aspects of the development of astronomy education and research in the developing world.