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A composite image made of two images. The image on the left is a 3D model of the Cat's Eye Nebula, a nebula made of tendrils of blue and light orange hued gas. The image on the left is an image of the Cat's Eye Nebula in 2D, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Cat’s Eye Nebula seen in 3D
Researchers have created the first computer-generated three-dimensional model of the Cat's Eye Nebula, revealing a pair of symmetric rings encircling the nebula’s outer shell. The rings’ symmetry suggests they were formed by a precessing jet...
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second in March 2015
Statement on the death of Queen Elizabeth II
The Royal Astronomical Society offers its sincere condolences to His Majesty the King and the members of the Royal Family following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. We were very grateful to have her as our patron throughout her reign. The thoughts of...
A silhouette of a skygazer against a green-hued night sky, with the Milky Way visible.
Hidden gems from 1926 found in Geophysical journal archive
Hidden treasures can be found in the archive of the Geophysical Supplement to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (1922-1957) including, for example, detailed observations of a meteor which descended over Yorkshire in 1926. In the...
An image of the Earth on the left hand side, accompanied by the RAS logo and text on the right hand side that reads "RAS Techniques and Instruments."
First paper published in RAS Techniques and Instruments
The first paper in our new open access journal, RAS Techniques and Instruments (RASTI), has now been published online: https://academic.oup.com/rasti/article/1/1/3/6651147 The paper, by Lugo-Aranda et al, describes a new code, PYHIIEXTRACTOR, which...
Image shows the surface of a rocky planet in the foreground in the lower half of the picture, a starry sky above with a red dwarf star. Material from the star is being pulled on to a small white dwarf star in a curving path.
A New Method to Detect Exoplanets
In recent years, a large number of exoplanets have been found around single ‘normal’ stars. New research shows that there may be exceptions to this trend. Researchers from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL), the National Autonomous...
A map of the Earth with the locations of plasma bubble events superimposed on it.
Predicting equatorial plasma bubbles with SWARM
Changes in atmospheric density after sunset can cause hot pockets of gas called ‘plasma bubbles’ to form over the Earth’s equator, resulting in communication disruptions between satellites and the Earth. New AI models are now helping scientists to...
A still picture from an animation of the build up of dust looking out from the Earth into the Milky Way galaxy
Deep dive into the dusty Milky Way
An animated dive into the dusty Milky Way reveals the outlines of our galaxy taking shape as we look out further and further from Earth. Based on new data from an interactive tool that exploits data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission and...
Stills from Rebecca Nealon protoplanetary disk simulation
Rocking shadows in protoplanetary discs
Astronomers from the University of Warwick reveal a new phenomenon dubbed the “rocking shadow” effect that describes how discs in forming planetary systems are oriented, and how they move around their host star. The effect also gives clues as to how...
A side by side composite of a patient's back showing a few moles (right), and the same moles in white on a black background (left), looking like stellar objects.
MoleGazer: Applying astronomy ideas to mole identification
Scientists are applying astronomical techniques to identify moles that may develop into the skin cancer melanoma. Astronomers regularly take images of the sky, producing software to map set targets over time. This technology is now being adapted to...
Image shows a grid of 35 different galaxies in ring like shapes, in faint blue colours.
Cyborg collaboration finds 40,000 ring galaxies
Human and machine intelligence worked together to find 40,000 ring galaxies, scientists at the National Astronomy Meeting will announce this week. Dr Mike Walmsley of the University of Manchester and the Galaxy Zoo collaboration will present the new...
Image of the Magellanic Cloud, a faint loosely bound galaxy in light blue colours.
Beyond the Clouds: Finding Galaxies Behind Galaxies
There are hundreds of billions of galaxies in the Universe, each containing billions of stars, and found in every part of the sky. But in some directions, nearby galaxies block the view of the more distant cosmos. Now a team from the University of...
The image shows the Earth and Sun in space, with the Earth surrounded by purple hued radiation belts.
Space weather will delay your trains
Fluctuations in space weather are disrupting train signals and causing significant delays. A project investigating the effect of solar storms on railway signals will be presented this week at the National Astronomy Meeting (NAM 2022) by Cameron...