James Josephides.

Artistic rendering of a black hole

If we are located in a region with below-average density such as the green dot, then matter would flow away from us due to stronger gravity from the surrounding denser regions, as shown by the red arrows.

Research Highlights

Is Earth inside a huge void? 'Sound of Big Bang' hints so

Earth and our entire Milky Way galaxy may sit inside a mysterious giant hole which makes the cosmos expand faster here than in neighbouring regions of the universe, astronomers say. Their theory is a potential solution to the...

News

RAS reopens Burlington House HQ

The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to welcome back staff, Fellows and members of the public to its offices at Burlington House. A power outage in the surrounding area had temporarily forced the closure of the offices last...

Dr Sophia Vaughan (left), Dr Sihui Zhong (middle) and Graeme McGhee (right) are the 2024 Thesis Prize winners.

Max Planck astronomer among 2024 Thesis Prize winners

News

Astronomers pulled from James Webb Space Telescope’s data to analyse a sample of 111 disc galaxies, like the ones shown here.

JWST digs into structural origins of disk galaxies

Research Highlights

A black and white portrait of Professor Sir Francis Graham Smith. He rests his chin on his hand and smiles at the camera. He is wearing glasses, a shirt, tie and blazer.

Sir Francis Graham-Smith, 1923–2025

News

Dr Victoria Fawcett

Quasar scientist wins 2025 Caroline Herschel Lectureship

News

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (left) has been appointed a Companion of Honour for services to astronomy and physics and to diversity. Three other RAS Fellows including Dennis Ashton (top right) Professor Lyndsay Fletcher and Professor Raman Prinja (bottom right) were also recognised in the King's Birthday Honours.

Ex-RAS president among four Fellows in King's Birthday Honours

News

The 2022 Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal winner Professor George Efstathiou (right) and Professor John Richard Bond (left) have jointly received the 2025 Shaw Prize in Astronomy.

RAS Gold Medal winner receives 2025 Shaw Prize in Astronomy

News

Announcements

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News

RAS reopens Burlington House HQ

A black and white portrait of Professor Sir Francis Graham Smith. He rests his chin on his hand and smiles at the camera. He is wearing glasses, a shirt, tie and blazer.

News

Sir Francis Graham-Smith, 1923–2025

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (left) has been appointed a Companion of Honour for services to astronomy and physics and to diversity. Three other RAS Fellows including Dennis Ashton (top right) Professor Lyndsay Fletcher and Professor Raman Prinja (bottom right) were also recognised in the King's Birthday Honours.

News

Ex-RAS president among four Fellows in King's Birthday Honours

Graphic promoting the RAS Awards 2026 with the Society's medals in front of a background image of the Cartwheel galaxy from JWST and NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

News

RAS Awards 2026: Nominations now open

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News

RAS voices concern over threats to US academic freedom

Professor Karl Menten

News

Professor Dr Karl Martin Menten, 1957-2024

Events and Dates for the Diary

17

Jul 2025

Friends of RAS (only) Dr Megan Argo: Astronomy - the next 200 years

Thursday, 17 of July 2025 - 13:00

Friends of the RAS

10

Oct 2025

AGN-Driven Multiphase Outflows: Toward Consensus Between Theory and Observation

Friday, 10 of October 2025 - 10:30

10

Oct 2025

UKIArray: Geophysically instrumenting the UK and Ireland

Friday, 10 of October 2025 - 10:35

10

Oct 2025

A&G Highlights Meeting October 2025

Friday, 10 of October 2025 - 16:00

July 2025

Outreach & Education

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Careers, Education, Outreach

RAS Inclusion booklet

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RAS200

RAS200: Report of the Royal Astronomical Society’s bicentennial programme of outreach and engagement

Four circles of images of constellations, William, Caroline and John Herschel.

Education, Outreach

Astronomy through the Herschels

Library & Archives

Become a member of the RAS

For more information and how to apply online please see the Fellows' membership or Friends of the RAS section

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for more information on how you can contribute &
view our stories online please visit our A&G section.

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