Research Highlights

It is thought the Sun may have engulfed a super-Earth-sized planet early in its history. Now a new study has gone a step further by suggesting that such an event may have left behind detectable clues inside our star which could still be visible today...

UK astronomers have uncovered new clues about the origin of 3I/Atlas – only the third known object from beyond our Solar System ever spotted in our cosmic neighbourhood. In a new paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society...

UK astronomers are a step closer to playing a leading role in NASA's search for alien life in the coming decades, after receiving £3million to continue developing one of the core instruments of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The "exciting"...

Astronomers searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence may have been missing alien signals in part of the radio spectrum that has not recently been explored. Most radio SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) surveys have focused on...

Millions of people across the UK marvelled at the spectacular Northern Lights that lit up the night sky in May 2024. But while the display captivated skywatchers, the geomagnetic storm behind it also served as the biggest test in a generation of the...

Mysterious high-speed "bullets" – clumps of possibly oxygen-rich gas travelling at up to 20 million miles per hour – have been discovered shooting out of the rarest stellar explosion in our galaxy. They were spotted after a dust of debris surrounding...

The Milky Way may have undergone a dramatic change in orientation during its history, according to new research that helps explain a long-standing mystery about our galaxy. Using supercomputer simulations of galaxies like the Milky Way, a team of...

Solar storms may affect weather on Mars when they strike at the same time as major Martian dust storms, a new study has suggested for the first time. Researchers found evidence of rising temperatures in the Red Planet's lower atmosphere when the two...

Space weather warnings could be received hours before Earth is hit rather than minutes with the help of a miniature UK-built instrument soon to be stationed in deep space. MAGIC (MAGnetometer from Imperial College) is part of the European Space...

Scientists have developed a new way to predict the strength of the Sun's next activity cycle up to seven years before it reaches its peak. The new method uses the number of sunspots at a newly-identified 'switch-off' point in the solar cycle, when...

Astrophysicists working tirelessly to tackle the growing impact of satellite constellations have pioneered a new ultra-black coating as one possible way to mitigate the problem. The team of researchers at the University of Surrey rigorously tested...

Astronomers have discovered a “remarkable” bow-and-arrow-shaped radio galaxy with an enormous arc-like structure extending nearly 1.8 million light-years across. The newly-identified system, detailed in a new paper published today in Monthly Notices...