Latest News

The RAS logo and text reading "Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship 2022 winner announced"
2022 Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship winner announced
Dr Amon is an expert in cosmology. She is a Senior Kavli Fellow at the Institute for Cosmology and a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Before this, she was a Fellow at Stanford University and the SLAC...
The NAM 2022 logo overlaid on an image of the Milky Way. Text reads "NAM 2022 at the University of Warwick. 11th - 15th July."
National Astronomy Meeting 2022: first media announcement
Journalists are warmly invited to attend the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022), to take place at the University of Warwick from 11-15 July. We are delighted to announce that the UK’s largest regular gathering of...
4 different sky maps overlaid on a black background with the ESA, DPAC and Gaia logos in the top right, top left and bottom right corners respectively.
New Gaia data reveals secrets of the Universe
Today, ESA’s Gaia mission released its new treasure trove of data about our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Astronomers describe stellar DNA, asymmetric motions, strange ‘starquakes’, and other fascinating insights in this most detailed survey of our...
A medal designating the award of Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The medal has a red ribbon, a metal crown and four blue arms around two figures with crowns on a central disc.
RAS Fellows recognised in Queen’s Birthday Honours
Dr Megan Argo and Professor Stephen Smartt FRS, both Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society, are to receive national honours. Professor Smartt, of Queen’s University Belfast, is made Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE...
Front cover of RAS Techniques and Instruments
RAS Techniques and Instruments Editorial Volume 1, Issue 1
Co-authored by Editor-in-Chief, Jonathan Tennyson and Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Anna Scaife, the inaugural editorial in our new open access journal RAS Techniques and Instruments was published on 25th May 2022. The editorial outlines the journal's...
Cover of the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
High Impact Papers in MNRAS (2020-2021)
MNRAS is pleased to present a collection of articles published during 2020 and 2021 that have made an impact in the journal. Free-to-read on the OUP MNRAS webpages the collection features 15 outstanding papers from the journal.
Image of Professor Mike Edmunds standing in front of trees and shrubs, smiling at the camera.
RAS Council Election Results 2022
The results of the 2022 council elections were announced at the 202nd AGM of the Royal Astronomical Society. After serving as President-Elect for the past year, Professor Mike Edmunds is now the President of the Royal Astronomical Society, and will...
The RAS logo in black on a white background.
RAS statement on girls in physics
The Royal Astronomical Society notes with dismay the comments this week by Katharine Birbalsingh CBE, the chair of the UK government social mobility commission, suggesting that girls do not choose to study physics as they dislike “hard maths”...
The galaxy HD1, a red object, appears at the centre of a zoom-in image.
Scientists have spotted the farthest galaxy ever
An international team of astronomers, including researchers at the Harvard & Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, has spotted the most distant astronomical object ever: a galaxy 13.5 billion light years away. Named HD1, the galaxy is described today...
Image of Prof. Dr Eva Grebel smiling against a white background.
Prof. Dr Eva Grebel wins first Caroline Herschel Medal
Prof. Dr Eva Grebel, an astrophysicist at Heidelberg University, is the first winner of the Caroline Herschel Medal, a new joint award from the Royal Astronomical Society and the German Astronomical Society (Astronomische Gesellschaft, AG), launched...
Becky Smethurst
Dr Rebecca Smethurst Wins 2022 RAS Research Fellowship
The Royal Astronomical Society is pleased to announce that Dr Rebecca Smethurst has been awarded the 2022 RAS Research Fellowship. The purpose of the RAS Research Fellowships is to enable outstanding candidates to pursue research in the UK in the...
Image of a pink and purple hued nebulous region in space overlaid with the RAS logo in the top right corner. Text in the centre reads "International Women's Day, Tuesday 8 March 2022"
International Women's Day 2022
Today, Tuesday 8 March, marks International Women's Day 2022. International Women's Day is a day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements and contributions of women all around the world. The Royal Astronomical Society is...