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What is INAAO, and what do we do?
What is INAAO, and what do we do?
INAAO (International Network of Amateur Astronomy Organizations) is an informal international network that links national organisations/federations which support astronomy groups in multiple locations across large regions.
To avoid confusion: INAAO is not a network of local amateur astronomy groups, and does not have individual amateur astronomers as members.
The main goals of the network are:
To share good practices as well as challenges. How can a national federation or similar organization best support its member organizations? We can learn from each other and maybe face some challenges together.
To arrange concrete experiences like international projects or exchanges.
To provide a single point of contact for professional astronomers interested in international collaborations, facilitating communication with amateur astronomy groups.
We meet up online about every six weeks to share our ideas and experiences, and to discuss chosen topics. The network is quite new and still evolving, but we have already benefitted from exhange of information and inspiration.
Why INAAO?
Why INAAO?
There are amateur astronomers all around the world. Many are members of local and regional groups where we share our passion, share good practices, learn from each other, arrange private and public astronomy activities, and just enjoy each others’ company. We recognise the many benefits of working together, both for ourselves and our communities.
In some countries there is a national organisation or federation that provides support to multiple amateur astronomy groups in different locations. Such an organisation/federation’s activities might include encouraging collaborations, providing training, arranging insurance, and/or sharing skills and resources between groups.
However, we have until now lacked a wider, international network. There are international networks for specific projects, mostly in research, but none that focus on supporting the amateur astronomy groups themselves. In 2025, to cover this gap, Jenny Shipway from FAS (UK) and Cesare Pagano from UAI (Italy) initated the project that led to the creation of INAAO.
Who in the network?
Who in the network?
As of July 2025, the network has 12 organisations and is still expanding.
Vereniging voor Sterrenkunde (Belgium)
Vereinigung der Sternfreunde eV (Germany)
Société Haïtienne d'Astronomie (Haiti)
Unione Astrofili Italiani (Italy)
Nederlandsche Vereniging voor Sterrenkunde (Netherlands)
Portuguese Amateur Astronomers Association (Portugal)
How is INAAO managed?
How is INAAO managed?
INAAO is an informal network facilitated by its members. The current facilitators are Jenny Shipway from FAS (UK) and Cesare Pagano from UAI (Italy).
Interested in joining?
Interested in joining?
We would be excited to welcome new organisations to our network. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more.
To be eligible to join, the following statements must all be true of your organisation:
Your organisation/federation is structured, with written aims and defined roles
Your organisation/federation supports at least three different groups of amateur astronomers where:
Your organisation/federation has a formal relationship with the groups.
Each group has its own organisational structure, with a leadership through which communications are made.
Each group holds in-person activities (eg meetings, events) for their members at least once every two months.
Each group is in a different location, so that the members of different groups cannot normally all meet up together.
Your organisation/federation provides general/varied networking and support to these groups of amateur astronomers.
Please note we do not accept local amateur astronomy societies, nor individual astronomers, as members.
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