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UK young astronomers gain international medals in Hungary
The UK team of 5 secondary level students have all gained medals in a fierce competition at this year's International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) in Hungary. The results were the best since the UK entered the competition in 2015...
Artist's impression of outflow from black hole J1 357
Repeating outflows of hot wind found close to black hole
An international team of astrophysicists from Southampton, Oxford and South Africa have detected a very hot, dense outflowing wind close to a black hole at least 25,000 light-years from Earth. Lead researcher Professor Phil Charles from the...
Green Bank Telescope
Dead planets can ‘broadcast’ for up to a billion years
In new research led by the University of Warwick, scientists have determined the best candidate remnant stars to search for relics of planets, based upon the likelihood of the stars hosting surviving planetary cores and the strength of the radio...
Red and blue quasars
Astronomers reveal true colours of evolving galactic beasts
Astronomers have identified a rare moment in the life of some of the universe’s most energetic objects. Quasars were first observed 60 years ago, but their origins still remain a mystery. Now researchers at Durham University, UK, have spotted what...
Partial lunar eclipse of 16 July 2019
Partial lunar eclipse to grace UK evening sky
Tuesday 16 July will see a partial eclipse of the Moon, visible in the UK after sunset. The eclipse, 50 years to the day after the launch of Apollo 11, will also be seen across a large part of Asia, the whole of Africa, the eastern part of South...
Jellyfish galaxy JO201. Credit: Callum Bellhouse and the GASP collaboration
Black hole brings down curtain on jellyfish galaxy’s star turn
The role of an excited black hole in the death of an exotic ‘jellyfish’ galaxy will be presented today (3 July) by Callum Bellhouse of the University of Birmingham at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Lancaster. The supermassive black hole at the...
Three pairs of formation-flying coronagraphs make up the SULIS mission. With three viewpoints SULIS will reconstruct the 3D properties of coronal mass ejections from the Sun that cause space weather impacts on Earth. Credit: Dr Eamon Scullion Northumbria
Details of UK-led solar science mission revealed at National Astronomy Meeting
Named after a Celtic goddess of the Sun, SULIS is a UK-led solar science mission, designed to answer fundamental questions about the physics of solar storms. The mission consists of a cluster of small satellites and will carefully monitor solar...
Image credit: Royal Astronomical Society
3D Holograms Bringing Astronomy to Life
Scientists working on unravelling the mysteries of star cluster formation have found an innovative way of sharing their work with the general public. Taking inspiration from a 19th century magic trick, researchers from the University of Leeds have...
A model showing light (red/yellow) penetrating the surface of the human breast (white triangles). Credit: T. Harries
Astronomers help wage war on cancer
Techniques developed by astronomers could help in the fight against breast and skin cancer. Charlie Jeynes at the University of Exeter will present his and Prof Tim Harries team’s work today (3 July) at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2019)...
Image showing the galaxy cluster Abell1689. Credit: NASA/ESA
Deep-CEE: The AI deep learning tool helping astronomers explore deep space
Galaxy clusters are some of the most massive structures in the cosmos, but despite being millions of lightyears across, they can still be hard to spot. Researchers at Lancaster University have turned to artificial intelligence for assistance...
Member of Basingstoke Astronomical Society has his eyes on the sky. Credit: Dstl
Collision Course: Amateur Astronomers Play a Part in Efforts to Keep Space Safe
Heavy traffic is commonplace on Earth but now congestion is becoming an increasing problem in space. With over 22,000 artificial satellites in orbit it is essential to keep track of their positions in order to avoid unexpected collisions. Amateur...
Example images showing three example CMEs in ranked order of subjective complexity increasing from low (left-hand image) through to high (right-hand image). Credit: NASA Heliospheric Imager data courtesy of RAL Space, made available by the UK Solar System
Citizen scientists discover cyclical pattern of complexity in solar storms
Citizen scientists have discovered that solar storms become more complex as the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle reaches its maximum – a finding which could help forecasters predict which space weather events could have potentially devastating...