Latest News

September Tube strikes 2025
Tube strikes are currently planned from Sunday 7th September to Friday 12th September. While last-minute talks are ongoing in an effort to prevent the strikes, it is likely they may go ahead. The RAS have decided to close the offices to the public...
Graphic featuring a front cover of RAS Techniques and Instruments alongside text which says the same and 'New addition to Web of Science'.
RASTI listed in Web of Science
The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to announce that its journal RAS Techniques and Instruments (RASTI) has been included in the Clarivate Web of Science, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI). This is an important milestone because inclusion...
Members of the UK team for the 2025 astronomy Olympiad, including team leader Charlotte, an undergraduate at Brasenose College, Oxford, Puyuan, a Year 13 student at Eton College, Rory, a Year 13 student at Colchester Royal Grammar School, George B, a Year 13 student at Wallington County Grammar School, Yuvan, a Year 12 student at RGS Guildford, George D, a Year 13 student at the Stephen Perse Foundation, and team leader Ben, an undergraduate at Merton College, Oxford.
UK takes joint second place in astronomy Olympiad 2025
The United Kingdom placed joint second with India in this year's International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) after a team of five secondary level students all collected medals in the face of stiff competition from across the world...
Graphic promoting the RASTI Student Prize, with the OUP and RAS logos and text 'Student Author Prize' on a blue starry background.
RASTI launches new student prize
RAS Techniques and Instruments ( RASTI) is delighted to announce a new annual student prize for the 'best' paper published in the journal by a student scientist. The award is designed to celebrate and acknowledge the contribution of student authors...
This image, which combines infrared data from the James Webb Space Telescope with submillimetre observations from the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA), shows the doughnut-shaped torus and interconnected bubbles of dusty gas that surround the Butterfly Nebula’s central star. The torus is oriented vertically and nearly edge-on from our perspective, and it intersects with bubbles of gas enclosing the star. The bubbles appear bright red in this image, illuminated by the light from helium and
Cosmic butterfly reveals clues to Earth's creation
Clues about how worlds like Earth may have formed have been found buried at the heart of a spectacular 'cosmic butterfly'. With the help of the James Webb Space Telescope, researchers say they have made a big leap forward in our understanding of how...
Job vacancy: Assistant Librarian
Job title Assistant Librarian Salary and hours £21,000 per annum for 21 hours per week (pro-rated from £35,000 FTE) Contract type Part-time, permanent About the Society: The Royal Astronomical Society was founded in 1820 and is the professional body...
Fresh twist to mystery of Jupiter's core
The mystery at Jupiter's heart has taken a fresh twist – as new research suggests a giant impact may not have been responsible for the formation of its core. It had been thought that a colossal collision with an early planet containing half of...
A&G Readers Survey 2025
Take part in A&G Readers Survey
The Royal Astronomical Society and Oxford University Press would like to invite Fellows to provide feedback on the Society's flagship bimonthly magazine, Astronomy & Geophysics (A&G). The brief, anonymous Readers Survey takes about seven minutes to...
Pictures from RAS Open House 2024 in the background, with a lock and key graphic and details of the date and times of RAS Open House 2025 in the foreground.
Guided tours and family fun at RAS Open House next month
The Royal Astronomical Society will once again be throwing open its doors as part of this year's Open House Festival in September. Guided tours of the Society's Burlington House HQ will take place alongside a number of fun-filled science activities...
Graphic showing the Earth with the text 'UK Space Agency joins DSIT'.
Savings from scrapping UK Space Agency 'must stay in science'
The Royal Astronomical Society notes with caution the Government's decision to disband the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and absorb it within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). While the desire to cut costs and bureaucracy must be...
Herstmonceux Observatory
RAS welcomes Herstmonceux lease deal
The Royal Astronomical Society is delighted to hear that the future of Herstmonceux Observatory has been secured with the signing of a new 10-year lease. It means The Observatory Science Centre, a charitable venture that welcomes about 60,000...
An artist's impression of the UPM J1040−3551 system against the backdrop of the Milky Way as observed by Gaia.
Rare quadruple star system could unlock mystery of brown dwarfs
The "exciting" discovery of an extremely rare quadruple star system could significantly advance our understanding of brown dwarfs, astronomers say. These mysterious objects are too big to be considered a planet but also too small to be a star because...