Report for Transaction B, 1997
During the triennium
The Commission sponsored or co-sponsored several symposia and
colloquia, which were prioritized by the members of the Committee
annually. A single mailing went to the entire membership in January,
1996 soliciting volunteers and nominations of people to help with the
triennial report, serve on the Committee, and otherwise participate in
the activities of the Commission. Of the 30 or so people who responded
or were nominated, several indeed helped write the report, several;
are among the new Committee members, and a couple were among the
suggestions from Division VIII for the special Nominating Committee.
At the General Assembly
The Commission sponsored Symposium 187 and Joint Discussions 2 and
11. It was a co-sponsor of S183, 184 and 188 and of JD 1,18,21 and
22. During the business meeting, the new slate of officers was elected
and 25 current IAU members who had asked to join the commission were
elected to membership.
In addition, about 11 newly elected IAU memebers had Commission 28 as
their first choice. All were, in principle, accepted, although in
a couple of cases it was clear that they really wanted to join 29
or some other Commission. No enthusiasm was expressed for preserving
any of the working groups that have existed in the past, including
redshifts, Photometry and Internal Structure, Magellanic Clouds, and
Supernovae; and all of these have now lapsed. The possibility of
splitting the commission into two, devoted to active and normal
galaxies repectively was discussed briefly (as it had also been at the
earlier meeting of Division VIII). No strong desire to do this was
expressed; several members disagreed on the distinction between normal
and active galaxies; and in the light of the current development of
the Divisional structure, the decision was made to leave things as
they are. The Commission thus currently has about 700 members.
prepared by V. Trimble
Mark Birkinshaw