Contact
History: Name changed (April 2023), formerly the Committee for Light Pollution, Radio Interference, and Space Debris (LPRISD); Name changed (January 1988, Austin)
Members: Appointed by the Board of Trustees.
Term: Three years, June - June, from the close of one Annual Members' Meeting to the close of the next Annual Members' Meeting.
Chair: One year, June to June, from the close of one Annual Members' Meeting to the close of the next Annual Members' Meeting.
Charge: COMPASSE represents the interests of AAS relating to the protection of dark and radio-quiet skies, the safe and sustainable use of outer space, and related issues, and empowers AAS members to be effective advocates for the protection of US astronomy.
Recent Materials from the Committee:
- 2022 Webinar: From Sky Glow to Satellite Swarms: Challenges to Astronomy from Ground and Space (Video | Slides)
- 2022 Response to Request for Information from White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on uses of Cislunar Space (Document)
- 2021: SATCON2 Report (Archive)
- 2020: SATCON1 Report
- 2020: The Industrialization of Space (Presentation; Chris Impey, University of Arizona)
- 2020: Mega-Constellations of Satellites and Optical Astronomy (Presentation | Press Briefing; Patrick Seitzer, University of Michigan)
- 2020: Radio Astronomy in a New Era of Radiocommunication (Presentation | Press Briefing; Harvey Liszt, National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
- 2020: Satellite's Impacts on the General Public (Presentation | Press Briefing; Ruskin Hartley, International Dark-Sky Association)
- 2020: Starlink and the Astronomers (Press Briefing; Jeffrey C. Hall, Lowell Observatory)
Committee Members
Jonathan C. McDowell (He/They)
Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025
Meredith L. Rawls (She/Her/Hers)
Term: Feb 2022 – Jun 2025
Jessica Heim
Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024
Vice Chair for Community Engagement
Constance E. Walker (She/Her/Hers)
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024
Vice Chair for Satcons
James D. Lowenthal (He/Him/His)
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024
Vice Chair for Light Pollution
Patrick Seitzer
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024
Vice Chair for Space Debris
Harvey Liszt
Term: Jun 2020 – Jun 2024
Vice Chair for Radio Interference
Julie D. Davis (She/Her/Hers)
Term: Jun 2021 – Jun 2024
Vice Chair for Satcons; Consultant to the Committee