Announcements | The Royal Astronomical Society

Dr Rebecca Smethurst Wins 2022 RAS Research Fellowship

The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to announce that Dr Rebecca Smethurst has been awarded the 2022 RAS Research Fellowship. The purpose of the RAS Research Fellowships is to enable outstanding candidates to pursue research in the UK in the d…

RAS Statement on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The Royal Astronomical Society deeply regrets the illegal military invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign democratic nation, by Russia. Our thoughts and hopes go out to our fellow scientists and all the citizens of Ukraine for their safety and well-being.…

Eruption of Hunga Volcano: special issue of GJI

Geophysical Journal International (GJI) welcomes contributions to a special issue devoted to the eruptive sequence of Hunga volcano (Tonga islands) that began on 14 January 2022. This eruption produced what is perhaps the largest volcanic explosion i…

An artist's impression of the circumbinary planetary system Kepler 16-b. A planet is seen in the foreground, with 2 orange and yellow-hued stars in the background. Faint stars can be seen in the background.

‘Tatooine-like’ exoplanet spotted by ground-based telescope

A team of astronomers, led by Professor Amaury Triaud of the University of Birmingham, has detected a rare type of exoplanet using a ground-based telescope. The exoplanet is circumbinary, meaning it orbits around two stars at once, and until now had…

Two white-blue coloured spheres are shown merging in space, with tendrils of plasma coming from their merging point. Blue circular lines are seen extending outward from the point where the spheres meet.

Astronomers discover a new type of star covered in helium burning ashes

A team of German astronomers, led by Professor Klaus Werner of the University of Tübingen, have discovered a strange new type of star covered in the by-product of helium burning. It is possible that the stars might have been formed by a rare stellar…

An illustration of a blue-white hued star in space surrounded by rings of orange and brown coloured planetary material. A small planet, blue in colour, lies just off the centre of the image.

Planetary bodies observed in habitable zone of dead star

A ring of planetary debris studded with moon-sized structures has been observed orbiting close to a white dwarf star, hinting at a nearby planet in the “habitable zone” where water and thus life could exist, according to a new study led by UCL resear…

a grid of 100 patchwork squares depicting scenes, objects and people related to astronomy and geophysics.

RAS Bicentennial Quilt - 100 Patchwork Squares

The RAS received 100 squares from all over the world and every one will be included on the patchwork side of the bicentennial quilt. Click the images below to learn more about the squares and the people who made them.

Royal Astronomical Society reveals 2022 award winners

The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to announce the 2022 winners of its awards, medals and prizes. Each year the RAS recognises significant achievement in the fields of astronomy and geophysics through these awards, encompassing different types…

Multicoloured filaments in space surrounding a bright blue core, Sagittarius A*. The filaments appear to be red, and green, and look gaseous.

Black hole at centre of Milky Way unpredictable and chaotic

An international team of researchers, led by postgraduate student Alexis Andrés, has found that the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, not only flares irregularly from day to day but also in the long term. The team analysed 15 ye…

A map of part of the sky showing the constellations Hercules, Draco, Bootes, and Ursa Major. An orange circle with white streaks radiating from it is placed near the constellation of Bootes to show the radiant of the Quadrantid meteor shower.

Quadrantids Offer Winter Meteor Spectacle

Northern hemisphere stargazers can look forward to what could be 2022’s best meteor shower on 3-4 January. Observers enjoying dark skies could see 50 or more meteors an hour that night, as the Quadrantids shower reaches its peak. Meteors are the res…

Dr Sheila Kanani awarded MBE

Dr Sheila Kanani, the Royal Astronomical Society’s Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer has been awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the New Year Honours list. She receives the honour in recognition of her services to…

James Webb Space Telescope is on its way!

Today saw the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, atop an Ariane 5 rocket. The culmination of more than three decades of work, JWST is seen as the successor to the Hubble Space Telesc…