This volume of the Highlights of Astronomy contains the Invited Discourses and the proceedings or summaries of Joint Discussions, Special Sessions, and Working Group Meetings held at the XIInd IAU General Assembly in August 1994 in The Hague. While the three Invited Discourses are reproduced in the order of their appearance in the meeting programme, the Joint Discussions have been reordered according to their topics. Not included in this volume are the proceedings of the GA Symposia which will be published individually in the IAU Symposia series. I am most grateful to the authors of the...

The investigation of the Galactic nucleus and its surroundings is necessarily a modem endeavor, for traditional observations made at visual wavelengths have not even begun to penetrate the veil of -30 magnitudes of visual extinction that intercedes. On the other hand, infrared, and especially radio observers find a relatively unobstructed view of the central portion of the Galaxy, so the study of this arena has proceeded apace with the development of these branches of astronomy. Thus, it is no accident that the first IAU sponsored conference to be held on the Galactic center is timed to...

The investigation of the Galactic nucleus and its surroundings is necessarily a modem endeavor, for traditional observations made at visual wavelengths have not even begun to penetrate the veil of -30 magnitudes of visual extinction that intercedes. On the other hand, infrared, and especially radio observers find a relatively unobstructed view of the central portion of the Galaxy, so the study of this arena has proceeded apace with the development of these branches of astronomy. Thus, it is no accident that the first IAU sponsored conference to be held on the Galactic center is timed to...

IAU Symposium 135 on Interstellar Dust was hosted and co-sponsored by NASA's Ames Research Center from July 26-30, 1988. The symposium was held at the lovely campus of Santa Clara University situated around the historic Santa Clara Mission in California. The meeting was made possible by generous grants from the Astron omy and Relativity Branch of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Galactic Astronomy Program of the National Science Foundation. The International Astronomical Union provided travel grants to a few participants from countries with limited travel funds. We...

IAU Transactions XXIIB summarizes the work of the XXIInd General Assembly. The discourses given during the Inaugural and Closing Ceremonies are reproduced in Chapters I and III, respectively. The proceedings of the two sessions of the General Assembly will be found in Chapter II, which includes the Resolutions and the report of the Finance Committee. The Statutes, Bye-Laws and a few working rules of the Union are published in Chapter IV. The Accounts and other aspects of the administration of the Union are recorded in Chapter V, together with the report of the Executive Committee for...

This Symposium, the first devoted entirely to the measurement and the role of magnetic fields in the non-solar Universe, was held in Heidelberg, on June 19-23, 1989. The meeting began with review talks on magnetic phenomena near the solar photosphere, corona, and in stellar winds, since these nearby "laboratories," studied for many years, provide much of the prior knowl- edge of magnetic effects in astrophysical plasmas. The Symposium contained presentations of considerable new work concerning the role of magnetic fields in accretion disks, bipolar outflows, and related magnetic phenomena in...

IA U Symposium Number 141 "Inertial Coordinate System on the Sky" was held in Leningrad, USSR from 17-21 October 1989. The symposium also commemorated the 150th anniversary of the founding of Pulkovo Observatory. The scientific program was presented in ten half-day sessions. Most sessions were held at the Pulkovskaya Hotel, but one session which highlighted Pulkovo's current programs was held at Pulkovo Observatory. The sessions were organized into general categories pertaining to the legacy of Pulkovo for inertial systems; current programs at Pulkovo Observatory; concepts, definitions and...

IAU symposium 165 'Compact Stars in Binaries' was held from 15 through 19 August 1994, as part of the 22nd General Assembly of the IAU in The Hague. The symposium, supported by IAU Commissions 35,37,44 and 48, and co-sponsored by Commission 42, was attended by about 400 to 500 participants. This symposium received support from: - The International Astronomical Union; - The Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences; - The Netherlands Ministery of Education and Science; - The Leids Kerkhoven Bosscha Fonds; - The Stichting Fysica. The field of compact stars in binaries is one of the most active...

This Symposium on fundamental stellar properties was held to honour Emeritus Professor Robert Hanbury Brown on the occasion of his 80th birthday. The speakers described current advances in interferometry, astrometry, spectroscopy and in theoretical models of stellar atmospheres and interiors. The emphasis was on the critical assessment of the quality, accuracy, and prospects for improvement of the observational data and theoretical models, on the outstanding problems in stellar astrophysics, and on the feasibility of achieving the observational and theoretical advances required for their...

In addition to being fascinating astrophysical laboratories in their own right, Herbig-Haro flows have in recent years emerged as key phenomena in our attempts to understand the complex and violent processes that govern the birth of low mass stars.