Next IAU general assembly to be held in Prague

The 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) at which several thousand astronomers from around the world come together to debate about the state of the universe will be held in Prague. According to Pavel Suchan from the Academy of Science's Astronomy Institute, the assembly is scheduled for 2006. The last time Prague, a city with a rich astronomical history going back to the mid-14th century, hosted the general assembly was in 1967. It has attracted many of the world's greatest astronomers and physicists including Albert Einstein (from 1911-1912), Johannes Kepler (from 1600 - 1612), Christian Doppler (1835 - 1847), and Tycho Brahe who is buried in the city's Tyn church.