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Tantalising evidence has been uncovered for a mysterious population of “free-floating” planets, planets that may be alone in deep space, unbound to any host star. The results include four new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar...

A new prize will celebrate outstanding research by women astrophysicists in the UK and Germany. The Caroline Herschel Medal, announced today by the UK government to mark the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, celebrates the longstanding...

Congratulations to our Diversity Officer, Aine O'Brien, and our Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer, Dr Sheila Kanani, who have both won Sir Arthur Clarke Awards (or 'Arthurs') for their outstanding work in outreach. Dr Kanani won the Space...

The Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship was established in 2018 by what is now the Herschel Society, in association with the Royal Astronomical Society, to celebrate Caroline’s memory by supporting promising female astronomers early in their careers...

New observations of six of the most distant galaxies currently known have helped to pinpoint the moment of first light in the Universe, known as ‘cosmic dawn’. The new work is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and puts a...

A new analysis of known exoplanets has revealed that Earth-like conditions on potentially habitable planets may be much rarer than previously thought. The work focuses on the conditions required for oxygen-based photosynthesis to develop on a planet...

The RAS is pleased to announce the winners of its prizes for the best PhD theses completed in the UK during 2020. Prizes are awarded annually: the Michael Penston Prize for the best thesis in astronomy and astrophysics, the Keith Runcorn Prize for...

The Royal Astronomical Society congratulates Professor Catherine Heymans, an astrophysicist at the University of Edinburgh and Ruhr University Bochum on her appointment as Astronomer Royal for Scotland. Professor Heymans is the eleventh scientist and...

‘Net zero’ by 2050, and drastic cuts in CO2 emissions by 2030: these are the new commitments from the Royal Astronomical Society after signing the UN Climate Neutral Now pledge. The RAS joins organisations around the world in pledging rapid action in...

It's been 18 months since the launch of the RAS Bicentennial Quilt Project and although we haven't been able to complete the project by the original deadline (December 2020) we have reached an exciting milestone... A total of 100 squares have been...

The results of the 2021 RAS elections were announced at the Annual General Meeting of the Society on Friday 14 May. The following Fellows were elected to serve on Council, the governing body of the Society. Where indicated ‘A’ designates astronomy...

A curiously yellow pre-supernova star has caused astrophysicists to re-evaluate what’s possible at the deaths of our Universe’s most massive stars. The team describe the peculiar star and its resulting supernova in a new study published today in...