The scientific interests of Division VII are concerned with the Galactic system. Its two constituent commissions are Commission 33 (Structure and Dynamics of the Galactic System) and Commission 37 (Star Clusters and Associations). Please refer to the reports of these two commissions for the scientific highlights and lists of major conferences in this area.

Study of the Galactic system involves a wide range of astrophysics and astronomical techniques, and the fields covered by many other commissions are therefore of very significant interest to Division VII. In particular, astronomers with interests in the Galactic system could consider reading also the reports of Commissions 5, 7, 24-30, 34-36, 40, 44 and 45, among others.

The current situation in astronomy and astronomical education over the territory of the Former Soviet Union is traced. New facilities for radio-astronomy are being put into work – the most important of them being the two coupled 32-m dishes, VLBI network “Quasar”; a number of observatories are acquiring an international status (in the frame of CIS); The Internet is becoming available for an increasing number of astronomical institutions. Azerbaijan astronomers have overcome their isolation from the rest of the world and cooperate actively with the astronomical community.

This report lists some of the major conferences that took place or were published during the current period in the areas of interest to Commission 33. It then presents in summary form some of the scientific highlights in these areas. An expanded version of this report, including more related conferences, full references and a report of activities from the former Soviet Union, appears on the mid-2000 WWW page of the Commission: http://msowww.anu.edu.au/~ kcf/kcf_ftp/IAU/comm33report_1999.html.

An approach is developed, in which the major dynamical and physical concepts of astronomy and basic space science are used, to build a scheme (prototype model) for education on the undergraduate level. A way to teach different theories and observational facts is shown, in which those concepts are built in or used; within the suggested educational scheme. The computational techniques which are needed in astronomy and basic space science are disscussed at which steps through the suggested educational scheme might be introduced.

With the exception of the activities associated with the XXIII IAU General Assembly in Kyoto, Japan, in August 1997, the report period (July 1, 1996 through June 30, 1999) has been a relatively quiet one for Commission 37. Commission activities have been restricted primarily to the consideration of proposals for IAU Symposia and Colloquia together with some activity related to cluster nomenclature issues. At the General Assembly the commission was involved in either supporting or co-supporting four Joint Discussion sessions and one of the accompanying Symposia. Eighteen new members were added to the commission, increasing membership by just under 10%.

The fields of research covered by Division VIII and its two Commissions have experienced remarkable progress over the last several years. This is due at least in part to the proliferation of major new observational facilities, and the addition of the several 8-m class telescopes presently being completed and new space facilities which will have a huge impact in the years to come. Many of the important recent scientific developments are summarized on the following pages in the reports of Commission 28 and Commission 47. These reports have been prepared in the “short” form, and are intended both to present the major scientific highlights and the most important conference proceedings and reviews for further reading.

Astronomy studies have been developed in Algeria since 1890 when the Algiers Observatory was built. Several instruments were soon installed on the site and have contributed to many scientific projects such as the international sky-map program. However, the observatory activities were suddenly interrupted by the departure of all French astronomers in 1962. Twenty years were needed before new astronomy programs were developed at Algiers observatory. They are principally based on imaging through atmospheric turbulence, solar physics and studies of pulsating variable stars. Only one observational program, however, has so far been developed. This consists of solar observations in the framework of an international program to survey the Sun’s radius. The astronomers now form a relatively important team since more than twelve researchers have permanent status. This is a good start taking into account the fact that astronomy is not taught in Algerian universities. We will begin first by giving an overview of the history of Algiers Observatory, including its instrumentation. We will then present the existing Algerian team and all their current scientific work and proposed projects.

This report covers the period July 1996 to June 1999. It has been prepared by the President of the Commission with contributions from the members of the Organizing Committee and Dr. E.M. Corsini. As discussed in Kyoto and decided by the Organizing Committee, the report is meant to be in the “short” version.

Cosmology is one of the most dynamically evolving areas of astrophysics today. Twenty years ago the estimates of the amplitude of the primordial fluctuations were about 10-3, almost a factor of 100 off of today’s measurements. Ten years ago we could only hope for high precision measurements of large scale structure, there were less than 5000 redshifts measured, and only a handful of normal galaxies with z > 1 were known. Computer models of structure formation had just begun to consider non-power-law spectra based on physical models like hot/cold dark matter. As a consequence there was considerable freedom in adjusting parameters in the various galaxy formation scenarios. In contrast, many of today’s debates are about factors of 2 and soon we will be arguing about 10% differences. The Harrison-Zeldovich shape of the primordial fluctuation spectrum, first derived from philosophical arguments can now be quantified from detections of fluctuations by COBE. The number of available redshifts is beyond 50,000, and soon we will have redshift surveys surpassing 1 million galaxies. N-body simulations are becoming more sophisticated, of higher resolution, and incorporating complex gas dynamics.

The Kottamia 1.88-m reflecting telescope in Egypt is the largest in the Middle East and North Africa. An extensive upgrading programe has been undertaken for this telescope to increase its efficiency. A new Zerodur optical system has been delivered by Carl Zeiss, Germany, and a new CCD system including an acquisition Camera Tek 1024 x 1024 pixels, with pixel size 24 x 24 micron and LN cooling, and an offset guiding camera Kodak 1080 x 1024 pixels with pixel size 16 xl6 micron and thermoelectric cooling. This CCD system has been attached to the Newtonian focus for direct imaging with scale 22.5 arcsec mm-1. The aluminizing plant has also been refurbished by Balzer, the new pumping system can accommodate mirrors up to 2m. The unit is supplied with a microprocessor, which controls and checks all recoating steps, closes all valves and stops the operation in any emergency. A Cassegrain spectrograph (donation from Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, Japan) will be attached to the telescope, after modification, for use with a CCD camera instead of the image-intensifier used before. This spectrograph will be used to obtain medium-dispersion and low dispersion spectra for faint stars and galaxies down to 15th magnitude.

Division IX provides a forum for astronomers engaged in the innovation, development, and calibration of optical instrumentation and observational procedures, including data processing. The Reports of Commissions 9, 25 and 30 highlight the research topics covered from 1996 to 1999. Two Working Groups are associated with Comm. 9, viz. the Working Group on Sky Surveys, and the Working Group on Detectors; Commission 25 has one Working Group dealing with Infrared Astronomy. For a detailed account of progress over the last triennium, we refer to the following Reports of Commissions and Working Groups.

Astronomical researches in Tajikistan are carried out by the Institute of Astrophysics, Tajik Academy of Sciences. The main scientific fields of investigation are physics and dynamics of asteroids, comets and meteors, variable stars and observations of artificial Earth satellites. The Institute has three observational stations: the Gissar observatory (at an altitude 730 m above sea-level) with photographic fireball and meteor patrols, a 70-cm reflector, a 40-cm Zeiss astrograph, a high-precision astronomical telescope (D=1 m, F=0.75 m), etc.; the Sanglokh observatory (at an altitude 2300 m above sea-level) with a Ritchey-Chretien 1-m telescope and 0.6-m reflector by Carl Zeiss; the Pamir observatory (at an altitude 4350 m above sea-level) with a 70-cm reflector. In 1999 the Department of Astronomy was restored in the Tajik State National University and the first students were admitted to this university for the astronomical profession.

The last triennium, and coincidentally the last few years of the 20th century, has been a most remarkable time for Commission 9, and for astronomy in general. Ground-based astronomy in particular has received an enormous boost due to the arrival of an astonishing array of new telescopes, novel instruments and innovative techniques. For those of us closely involved in developing new observatories, instrumentation or detectors, the last few years have been rather hectic! As an astronomer with a long-time interest in the development of new instruments, what amazes me is the breadth of technology and the visionary scope of all these incredible new achievements. Many of the very large 8-10 meter class telescopes are now coming into full operation – yet, just as this is happening, numerous smaller “survey” telescopes are providing a wealth of new sources. Adaptive optics is being practiced at many sites and diffraction-limited imaging from the ground is now a reality. Several optical-IR interferometers are now working and more are coming along very soon. Detectors continue to get bigger and better, especially for the infrared, and instrumentation is increasingly more sophisticated, complex and efficient. Remote observing, robotic telescopes and global networks of telescopes are common, and international collaborations are larger and stronger than ever before.

An overview is presented of work at Bosscha Observatory during the last ten years. Future developments are also discussed.

Since the installation of the Observatorio Cagigal in Caracas, astronomy in Venezuela has developed steadily, and, in the last few decades, has been strong. Both theoretical and observational astronomy now flourish in Venezuela. A research group, Grupo de Astrofísica (GA) at the Universidad de Los Andes (ULA) in Mérida, started with few members but now has increased its numbers and undergone many transformations, promoting the creation of the Grupo de Astrofísica Teórica (GAT), the Grupo de Astronomía, the Centro de Astrofísica Teòrica (CAT), and with other collaborators initiated the creation of a graduate study program (that offers master’s and doctor’s degrees) in the Postgrado de Física Fundamental of ULA. With the financial support of domestic Science Foundations such as CONICIT, CDCHT, Fundacite, and individual and collective grants, many research projects have been started and many others are planned. Venezuelan astronomy has benefitted from the interest of researchers in other countries, who have helped to improve our scientific output and instrumentation. With the important collaboration of national and foreign institutions, astronomy is becoming one of the strongest disciplines of the next decade in Venezuela.

The work of Commission 25 covers a wide range of topics concerning the measurement of magnitude, colour and polarisation of astronomical objects. As such, the area of interest covers virtually every field of astrophysical research in the visual and infrared spectral domain. Our reports cover some aspects of photometry and polarimetry as a technique rather than being an account of research highlights over the last three years.

In 1988, a Joint Commission (9 and 25) meeting on the causes of the well-known limitations on the precision of infrared astronomy led to several suggestions to improve matters (see Milone 1989). These included better reporting of the photometric systems in use by practitioners, redesign of the infrared passbands to be more optimally placed inside the atmospheric windows, and development of a method to ascertain the water vapor content of the atmosphere when the astronomical infrared measurements were being made. An Infrared Astronomy Working Group was formed to look into the matter. Advice and suggestions were solicited from the community at large. All who volunteered information became, de facto, members of the Working Group. A small subgroup composed of Andrew Young, Chris Stagg, and Milone set to work on the central of the recommendations: improvement of the passbands. Young, Milone, k Stagg (1994) (hereafter YMS) summarized the work: existing JHKLMN and Q infrared passbands were found to be both far from standardized, and all too frequently defined, to various degrees, by the water vapor and other components of the terrestrial atmosphere. Following extensive numerical simulations with a MODTRAN 3 terrestrial-atmospheres model package, and Kurucz stellar atmospheres, we suggested a set of improved infrared passbands designed explicitly to fit within, and not be defined by, the terrestrial atmospheric windows; however, we sought to optimize them so as to get the maximum throughput consistent with plausible limitations on precision of manufacture of the filters. In 1995 and again in 1997, a number of improvements were made in the code with which the improved passbands were designed. While they do not much affect the optimization trials and thus the passband recommendations, they have been used to extend the modeling.

Decades of efforts made by Chinese astronomers have established some basic facilities for astronomy observations, such as the 2.16-m optical telescope, the solar magnetic-field telescope, the 13.7-m millimeter-wave radio telescope etc. One mega-science project, the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST), intended for astronomical and astrophysical studies requiring wide fields and large samples, has been initiated and funded.

To concentrate the efforts on mega-science projects, to operate and open the national astronomical facilities in a more effective way, and to foster the best astronomers and research groups, the National Astronomical Observatories (NAOs) has been coordinated and organizated. Four research centers, jointly sponsored by observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and universities, have been established. Nine principal research fields have received enhanced support at NAOs. They are: large-scale structure of universe, formation and evolution of galaxies, high-energy and cataclysmic processes in astrophysics, star formation and evolution, solar magnetic activity and heliogeospace environment, astrogeodynamics, dynamics of celestial bodies in the solar system and artificial bodies, space-astronomy technology, and new astronomical techniques and methods.