The Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) is a division within the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

(AAS) devoted to

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

research. It was founded in 1968. The first organizing committee members were: Edward Anders, Lewis Branscomb, Joseph W. Chamberlain, Richard M. Goody, John S. Hall, Arvidas Kliore, Michael B. McElroy, Tobias Owen, Gordon Pettengill,

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including e ...

, and Harlan James Smith. As of 2009, it is the largest special-interest division within the AAS. As of Oct 2010, membership totaled approximately 1415 planetary scientists and astronomers, including about 20% residing outside the U.S. DPS sponsors six prizes. The Kuiper Prize honors outstanding contributions to the field of planetary science. The Urey Prize recognizes outstanding achievement in planetary research by a young scientist. The Masursky Award acknowledges outstanding service to planetary science and exploration. The Carl Sagan Medal recognizes and honors outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public. The Jonathan Eberhart Planetary Sciences Journalism Award is a prize that recognizes and stimulates distinguished popular writing on planetary sciences. The Claudia J. Alexander Prize recognizes outstanding achievement in planetary research by a mid-career scientist. DPS has held meetings annually since 1970. The official journal of the DPS is '' Icarus''.

References

{{Portal bar, United States, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomy organizations 1968 establishments in the United States Scientific organizations established in 1968

See also

References