Research Highlights

A bright multicoloured array of swirls. The core of the Milky Way is depicted by the darkest red blobs and swirls, with orange eddies and flows visible around the darker areas. The rest of the image is varying shades of blue and green.
Astronomers create new microwave map of the Milky Way and beyond
An international team of scientists have successfully mapped the magnetic field of our galaxy, the Milky Way, using telescopes that observe the sky in the microwave range. The new research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical...
Image of a star field with a red square in the centre highlighting a small group of stars.
Astronomers discover eight new super-hot stars
An international team of astronomers has discovered eight of the hottest stars in the universe, all with surfaces hotter than 100,000 degrees Celsius. The work was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The paper is based on...
The Milky Way in the night sky. A silhouette of a telescope is visible in the foreground.
Three quarters of major observatories affected by light pollution
Researchers from Italy, Chile and Galicia have studied and compared the light pollution levels at major astronomical observatories across the world. The study shows that light is polluting the sky above most observatories and that immediate action is...
A world map scattered with different coloured circles. The circles are blue, orange and green and appear translucent against the map.
Hunga Volcano special issue of GJI: connection between atmosphere and Earth
A paper accepted for the special issue of Geophysical Journal International (GJI) on the 2022 January 15 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano examines the connection between the atmosphere and the solid Earth highlighted by this event...
The SDV tide gauge at Macau. A wall with very obvious water markings. Behind the wall are several buildings. Water beneath the wall and markings is dark and still.
Hunga Volcano special issue of GJI: analysis of tsunamis in Lingding Bay
The 2022 January 15 eruption of the Hunga volcano in Tonga caused tsunamis worldwide. A paper by Wang et al in the special issue of Geophysical Journal International (GJI) on the 2022 Hunga eruption highlights how atmospheric pressure waves created...
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...
Images showing the simulation - 3 different figures depict glowing pink and purple tendrils against the black background of space. In the third, 2 yellow-white orbs are labelled 'MW' for Milky Way and M31.
Scientists unveil most accurate virtual representation of the Universe
Scientists have produced the largest and most accurate virtual representation of the Universe to date. An international team of researchers, led by the University of Helsinki, and including members from Durham University in the UK, used supercomputer...
An illustration of a blue-white hued star in space surrounded by rings of orange and brown coloured planetary material. A small planet, blue in colour, lies just off the centre of the image.
Planetary bodies observed in habitable zone of dead star
A ring of planetary debris studded with moon-sized structures has been observed orbiting close to a white dwarf star, hinting at a nearby planet in the “habitable zone” where water and thus life could exist, according to a new study led by UCL...
A diffuse galaxy in green and blue hues. White and orange stars appear around the clouds of the galaxy.
Evidence emerges for dark-matter free galaxies
An international team of astronomers led by researchers from the Netherlands has found no trace of dark matter in the galaxy AGC 114905, despite taking detailed measurements over a course of fourty hours with state-of-the-art telescopes. They will...
A bright white galaxy that is round in shape, glowing against the darkness of space.
The last breaths of massive galaxies
A team of astronomers propose a scenario in which galaxies with active cores may undergo a period of rapid star birth before shutting down completely. The research, conducted by astronomers from the University of Southampton, the Institute of...
Cutaway of a star showing an artist's impression of a spinning yellow core
Magnetic fields implicated in the mysterious midlife crisis of stars
Middle-aged stars can experience their own kind of midlife crisis, experiencing dramatic breaks in their activity and rotation rates at about the same age as our Sun, according to new research published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal...
Close-up false colour image of the meteorite 'Block Island'
Meet the Martian meteorite hunters
A team at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London is paving the way for future rovers to search for meteorites on Mars. The scientists are using the NHM’s extensive meteorite collection to test the spectral instruments destined for the ExoMars rover...