Latest News

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...

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...

The use of electric propulsion for raising satellites into geostationary orbit can result in significant solar cell degradation according to a new study. The extended journey time results in greater exposure to the damaging effects of space weather....

Congratulations to Eimear Gallagher who has been awarded The Patricia Tomkins Undergraduate Prize 2019. Eimear is studying Physics with Astrophysics at Nottingham Trent University and is currently on an industrial placement year at the Rutherford...

The RAS is pleased to announce the winners of its prizes for the best Ph.D. theses completed in the UK during 2018. Prizes are awarded annually: the Michael Penston Prize for the best thesis in astronomy and astrophysics, the Keith Runcorn Prize for...

Hundreds of thousands of volunteers have helped to overturn almost a century of galaxy classification, in a new study using data from the longstanding Galaxy Zoo project. The new investigation, published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal...

Professor David Southwood. Max Alexander / RAS Professor David Southwood , President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2012-14, has been made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List...

Around 500 astronomers and space scientists will gather at Lancaster University , from 30 June – 4 July, for the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting 2019 (NAM 2019). The conference is the largest annual astronomy and space science...

The winner of the 2019 Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship is Dr Anna Lisa Varri . Dr Varri (UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Physics and Astronomy and School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh) is an outstanding researcher who works...

The Royal Astronomical Society notes with concern the launch of the new SpaceX Starlink constellation of satellites into low-Earth orbit, and the potential impact of this and other programmes on views of the night sky and on astronomical research....

The BFI and the Royal Astronomical Society have announced the rediscovery of the earliest moving picture of a total solar eclipse from 1900. The original film fragment held in The Royal Astronomical Society’s archive has been painstakingly scanned...

Celebrations are underway across the globe to commemorate 100 years since a UK-led expedition confirmed Einstein’s theory of general relativity . The theory fundamentally changed our understanding of physics and astronomy, and underpins critical...