At the recent XXVIIth General Assembly of the IAU (International Astronomical Union), held in Rio de Janeiro from 3rd to 14th August 2009, Astronomy & Astrophysics had a stand where scientists met and chatted with staff from our journal. The conference was an opportunity to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Astronomy & Astrophysics and to present a special issue illustrating the journal’s scientific voyage through a collection of excellent articles published over the last forty years. The activities organized during the conference included an effort to bring the journal closer to its readership, and for that purpose, members of the Board of Astronomy & Astrophysics, including its chairman, Prof. G Meynet, and Dr. F. Combes and Dr. B. Nordström, organized a presentation of the journal, its results, and its ambitions. The journal also sponsored the poster session held alongside the conference.

The Astronomy & Astrophysics Board, its editorial team, and the team in charge of the journal at EDP Sciences hope that this opportunity for a dialogue between a journal and its community of authors and readers was beneficial to everyone concerned!