The National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) is an annual scientific conference of astronomers, usually held in the British Isles.

[5] The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) was formed in 1820, and from the very beginning, one of its major activities was to host scientific meetings.

They were held in the summer or early autumn in most years until 1966 when the RAS Council decided to stop asking groups to host them.

[4] The goal was to attract a broad section of the UK astronomy research community and provide a focus for media attention on the discipline.

[4][8] The meetings continued to be held around Easter until 2012,[4] except in 1999 when NAM moved to August to coincide with the 1999 solar eclipse, visible from the venue.

[2] Universities see hosting the meeting as an opportunity to promote their astronomical research and attract undergraduate students in the discipline.

Typically there are around 500-600 registered attendees, but the 2009 event (which was combined with the annual meeting of the European Astronomical Society) drew a record of 1100 delegates.