A Little History

The need for international cooperation in meteor work has existed for a long time. Therefore, in 1979, a first International Meteor Weekend was held near Bonn, Germany. After that time, similar meetings were held every one to two years in Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands. Each weekend was more successful than the previous one; an ever growing number of countries was represented and the 1986 and 1988 meetings even saw professional attendance. At the same time, international contacts also grew outside Europe, although these were mainly kept up through the personal correspondence of numerous active meteor amateurs. As a result of this internationalization of amateur astronomy, WGN, originally "Werkgroepnieuws", a circular in Dutch for observers in Belgium and the Netherlands, grew into a truly international journal in English with contributions from all over the world. It was therefore decided at the 1988 International Meteor Conference in Oldenzaal, the Netherlands, that an International Meteor Organization had to be founded with WGN as its principal journal.

In less than a year, about 100 meteor workers from Europe, North- America, the former Soviet-Union, Australia and Japan, among them several professionals, were prepared to act as founding members for this organization. In order to guarantee its truly international character, the IMO got legal status as an international scientific non-profit making organization. The organization's constitution was approved at the 1989 International Meteor Conference in Balatonfoldvar, Hungary.

During the first years of its existence, the IMO has already managed to get world-wide recognition from amateurs as well as professionals, including Commission 22 (Meteors & Interplanetary Dust) of the International Astronomical Union. New initiatives are taken at an ever growing pace. All branches of meteor work are now being internationally coordinated. Finally, both quantity and quality of articles submitted to WGN keeps growing. Isn't it time you joined the IMO?