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A yellow gold hued spiral galaxy against the blue-black backdrop of space.
Research unveils birthplace of gold-rich stars
A team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame and Tohoku University have revealed the birthplace of so-called ‘gold-rich’ stars – stars with an abundance of heavy elements beyond iron, including the "jewellery store elements", gold and...
The Sun in the sky, with a 'chunk' taken out of it. This chunk is the shadow of the Moon, and it eats into the circle of the Sun, coming from the right hand side.
Partial Solar Eclipse 25 October 2022: viewing it safely
On Tuesday 25 October, the whole of the UK will see a partial eclipse of the Sun. That morning, the Moon will pass right in front of the Sun, blotting out up to around 25% of its disc. However, it is extremely dangerous to just go out and look up...
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The RAS and JWST
At its meeting in July the governing council of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) took a decision to write to the UK Space Agency, the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA to express its concerns about the original JWST naming process, the...
Three large blobs against the black backdrop of space. The one on the left is yellow, the middle is hot pink and shaped like a mushroom, and the one on the right is also yellow. The yellow blobs are galaxies and the pink is the radio jet being emitted from RAD12.
Black hole discovered firing jet at neighbouring galaxy
With the help of citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has discovered a unique black hole spewing a fiery jet at another galaxy. The black hole is hosted by a galaxy around one billion light years away from Earth named RAD12. The work was...
a large orange star is seen exploding, with layers of orange fiery looking material being blown outwards as well as rays of high energy.
Red Alert: massive stars sound warning they are about to go supernova
Astronomers from Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Montpellier have devised an ‘early warning’ system to sound the alert when a massive star is about to end its life in a supernova explosion. The work was published in Monthly...
Image of the first verse of the poem 'Astronomy for Beginners' printed on paper.
National Poetry Day - Astronomy for Beginners by Simon Armitage
This year, National Poetry Day is on Thursday 6 October. This annual mass celebration encourages everyone to make, experience and share poetry with family and friends. The theme in 2022 is 'The Environment'. The poem below, Astronomy for Beginners...
A world map scattered with different coloured circles. The circles are blue, orange and green and appear translucent against the map.
Hunga Volcano special issue of GJI: connection between atmosphere and Earth
A paper accepted for the special issue of Geophysical Journal International (GJI) on the 2022 January 15 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano examines the connection between the atmosphere and the solid Earth highlighted by this event...
The SDV tide gauge at Macau. A wall with very obvious water markings. Behind the wall are several buildings. Water beneath the wall and markings is dark and still.
Hunga Volcano special issue of GJI: analysis of tsunamis in Lingding Bay
The 2022 January 15 eruption of the Hunga volcano in Tonga caused tsunamis worldwide. A paper by Wang et al in the special issue of Geophysical Journal International (GJI) on the 2022 Hunga eruption highlights how atmospheric pressure waves created...
A composite image made of two images. The image on the left is a 3D model of the Cat's Eye Nebula, a nebula made of tendrils of blue and light orange hued gas. The image on the left is an image of the Cat's Eye Nebula in 2D, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Cat’s Eye Nebula seen in 3D
Researchers have created the first computer-generated three-dimensional model of the Cat's Eye Nebula, revealing a pair of symmetric rings encircling the nebula’s outer shell. The rings’ symmetry suggests they were formed by a precessing jet...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second in March 2015
Statement on the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The Royal Astronomical Society offers its sincere condolences to His Majesty the King and the members of the Royal Family following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. We were very grateful to have her as our patron throughout her reign. The thoughts of...
A silhouette of a skygazer against a green-hued night sky, with the Milky Way visible.
Hidden gems from 1926 found in Geophysical journal archive
Hidden treasures can be found in the archive of the Geophysical Supplement to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (1922-1957) including, for example, detailed observations of a meteor which descended over Yorkshire in 1926. In the...
An image of the Earth on the left hand side, accompanied by the RAS logo and text on the right hand side that reads "RAS Techniques and Instruments."
First paper published in RAS Techniques and Instruments
The first paper in our new open access journal, RAS Techniques and Instruments (RASTI), has now been published online: https://academic.oup.com/rasti/article/1/1/3/6651147 The paper, by Lugo-Aranda et al, describes a new code, PYHIIEXTRACTOR, which...