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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...
Professor David Flower alongside an image of a front cover of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
MNRAS Editor-in-Chief to step down next year
The Editor-in-Chief of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS), Professor David Flower, is to step down after more than a decade in the role. He will remain in post until the end of 2026 but a recruitment process for his successor...
Radiant of the Perseid meteor shower.
Perseid meteor shower to reach its peak on 12 August
The annual Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak on the night of 12-13 August, although skywatchers hoping for a summer spectacular may be left disappointed because of the Moon. It is always more favourable to try to spot meteors when our lunar...
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.
RAS Awards 2026: Deadline for nominations extended
Due to technical issues with our website, we understand that some people may have experienced difficulties submitting nominations for our 2026 RAS Awards. To ensure everyone has a fair opportunity, we are reopening the awards round until Wednesday...
The newly discovered ultramassive blackhole lies at the centre of the orange galaxy. Far behind it is a blue galaxy that is being warped into the horseshoe shaped ring by distortions in spacetime created by the immense mass of the foreground orange galaxy.
'Most massive black hole ever discovered' is detected
Astronomers have discovered potentially the most massive black hole ever detected. The cosmic behemoth is close to the theoretical upper limit of what is possible in the universe and is 10,000 times heavier than the black hole at the centre of our...
Professor Michele Dougherty
Michele Dougherty becomes first female Astronomer Royal
The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to congratulate Professor Michele Dougherty CBE FRS FRAS on her appointment as Astronomer Royal. The Society has a strong working relationship with Professor Dougherty in her position as Executive Chair of...
Last chance to nominate for 2026 RAS Awards
Time is running out to submit nominations for the Royal Astronomical Society's 2026 Awards. There is now less than a week to go before the deadline closes for most awards – 31 July 2025 – although the Education and Outreach Awards have a later...
Professor James Binney, of Oxford University (right with RAS president Professor Mike Lockwood), and University College London's Professor Jonathan Tennyson (left), received the Society's Gold Medal at the 2025 RAS Awards ceremony during the National Astronomy Meeting in Durham. Inset is all the winners of the 2025 RAS Awards.
Winners of 2025 RAS Awards receive their prizes
The winners of the 2025 RAS Awards were given their prizes at a special ceremony during the National Astronomy Meeting. Awards and medals were handed out at the conference dinner at the Newcastle Civic Centre on 8 July, which was attended by around...