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The Northern Lights as seen above Lewes in East Sussex last night (Thursday 10 October 2024).
Northern Lights once again put on a show across the UK
The Northern Lights have again lit up parts of the UK in the most stunning fashion, five months after doing the same following the most extreme geomagnetic storm in two decades. Such a show is rare, but not entirely unexpected given that the Sun is...
Artwork for the play The Lightest Element, about astronomer Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.
The Lightest Element: Unheralded astronomer the focus of new play
She changed how we see the Universe and the stars within it. But despite being one of the most eminent astronomers of the 20th Century, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin is not as widely known to the public as some of her peers. The reasons why are explored...
Comet A3: How and when to see Tsuchinshan-ATLAS
Stargazers will have the chance to spot what could be the most impressive comet of the year over the coming weeks. Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) has generated so much excitement about how bright and visible it might be that it has even been billed as...
The newly-discovered GS-NDG-9422 galaxy appears as a faint blur in this James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) image.
Webb discovers 'weird' galaxy with gas outshining its stars
The discovery of a "weird" and unprecedented galaxy in the early Universe could "help us understand how the cosmic story began", astronomers say. GS-NDG-9422 (9422) was found approximately one billion years after the Big Bang and stood out because it...
Images of actors playing Caroline and John Herschel, visitors looking at exhibits in the Royal Astronomical Society library, and queues of people outside New Burlington House.
Herschels join hundreds of people for RAS Open House
Hundreds of people joined the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) in celebrating 150 years at New Burlington House with a special Open House festival this past weekend. Members of the public were treated to guided tours of the Society’s London HQ in...
Gamma-ray bursts (like the one depicted in this artist’s impression) are the most violent explosions in the Universe, releasing more energy than the Sun would in 10 billion years.
Huge gamma-ray burst collection ‘rivals 250-year-old Messier catalogue’
Hundreds of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been recorded as part of an enormous global effort so extensive it "rivals the catalogue of deep-sky objects created by Messier 250 years ago", astronomers say. GRBs are the most violent explosions in the...
Satellite image showing a wadi crossing a road within part of the Zooniverse interface that allows the pictures to be marked.
From supernova-spotting to foiling floods
Astro-skills used to spot supernovas and spiral galaxies will soon be deployed in disaster relief efforts to help humanitarian aid workers in Sudan. The northeast African country endures recurring flooding which has killed hundreds of people and...
Dr Rosemary Fowler with her daughter Mary Fowler.
Physics pioneer, 98, honoured 75 years after discovery
A pioneering physicist who gave up her PhD 75 years ago to have a family has been made an honorary Doctor of Science by her old university. Dr Rosemary Fowler’s discoveries at the University of Bristol in 1948 helped change our understanding of...
Professor Gilles Chabrier (left) and Professor John-Michael Kendall (right) pick up their Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medals, along with other prize winners (inset).
Winners of 2024 RAS Awards receive their prizes at NAM
Winners of this year’s Royal Astronomical Society Awards were presented with their prizes at a special celebration at last week’s National Astronomy Meeting in Hull. They included Gold Medal winners Professor John-Michael Kendall - a geologist whose...
Scientists say it is now possible to predict the precise speed a coronal mass ejection (shown left in an artist's impression) is travelling at and when it will smash into Earth (bottom right moving in our direction) – even before it has fully erupted from the Sun (top right).
New dawn for space storm alerts could help shield Earth's tech
Space storms could soon be forecasted with greater accuracy than ever before thanks to a big leap forward in our understanding of exactly when a violent solar eruption may hit Earth. Scientists say it is now possible to predict the precise speed a...
Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) image of the big sunspot that occurred on 5 May 2024, in continuum intensity ('white light').
Early riser! The Sun is already starting its next solar cycle
The first rumblings of the Sun's next 11-year solar cycle have been detected in sound waves inside our home star – even though it is only halfway through its current one. This existing cycle is now at its peak, or 'solar maximum' - which is when the...
The transformers that are most ‘connected’ to the network throughout the storm and therefore may be locations of vulnerability when it comes to space weather.
Washington DC among US cities most vulnerable to space weather, scientists say
Several cities in the United States - including the nation's capital - have power grids particularly vulnerable to the threat of space weather – but experts are still trying to understand why. Researchers at the British Geological Survey (BGS) found...