RAS appoints new communications officer
The Royal Astronomical Society has appointed Anita Heward to replace Dr. Jacqueline Mitton, who recently retired after 15 years as the RAS Press Officer. view more (2004-08-26)
Royal Society Summer Exhibition - Take Part In The Cassini-Huygens Mission
UK space scientists are involved in a plethora of spacecraft that are currently exploring the planets, moons and comets in our Solar System. The UK Goes to the Planets exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition provides an opportunity to find out about these missions direct from the scientists. Within the last couple of years we have... view more... (2004-06-30)
Space Technology And Dental Techniques Combine In New Cancer Detector
A new generation of gamma cameras is on the horizon, thanks to a collaboration between the BioImaging Unit of the Space Research Centre at the University of Leicester, the Institute for Cancer Research at the Royal Marsden Hospital (Surrey) and medical physicists at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Dr John Lees, who leads the BioImaging Unit, is... view more... (2004-06-24)
A New 3-D Animated Map Of Our Cosmic Hometown
For the first time, we now have a three-dimensional map of our closest cosmic neighbourhood which shows not only how our nearest neighbour stars are distributed today - it also shows precisely how fast each of them moves, and in which direction. Astronomers have measured the velocities of many thousands of stars and computed both where they were... view more... (2004-04-06)
Celebrating 5 years of the Very Large Telescope
From Sombreros to the Centre of the Milky Way Celebrating 5 years of the Very Large Telescope One of the world's most advanced telescope facilities, Very Large Telescope (VLT), situated in the Atacama Desert in Chile, celebrates its 5th birthday today (1st April 2004). During its short history the telescope has captured some breathtaking images... view more... (2004-03-31)
Human exploration of the Moon and Mars
These are exciting times for space exploration. For the first time in a generation, human missions beyond Earth orbit are being seriously considered by space agencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Europe has initiated the Aurora programme, with the ultimate aim of landing people on Mars by 2033, while the U.S. has recently redirected its human... view more... (2004-03-24)
Builders of ancient tombs and temples followed Sun and stars
Two studies of ancient monuments in southwest Europe reveal the influence the Sun and stars had on their builders according to Dr Michael Hoskin, a historian of astronomy at Cambridge University. In the Archeoastronomy session of the RAS National Astronomy Meeting at the Open University, he will argue that the orientation of about 30 Bronze Age... view more... (2004-03-23)
School kids get their own research-class telescopes
School children throughout the UK will be able to see the most amazing astronomical images in the sky from the comfort of their classrooms by controlling two, remotely operated research-class telescopes. British Entrepreneur Dill Faulkes and the Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Rees have today (March 16th) launched the Faulkes Telescope Project - a... view more... (2004-03-17)
Quatratran - Helping to make The World a safer place
Since the development of superconducting electronic devices there has been a need to develop a three terminal transistor like device sensitive enough to measure small voltage and current signals typical of those associated with single electron and photon events. A group of researchers in the Department of Particle & Nuclear Physics at Oxford... view more... (2004-02-19)
Experts from University of Leicester in Beagle 2 project
The University of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy has one of the largest space research centres of its kind in Europe. The University was co-founder of the £52million National Space Centre and is one of the principal partners in the Beagle 2 Project. For background information related to the Beagle 2 mission, the University is... view more... (2003-12-23)
Information Note: PPARC Funding for the Linear Collider
Recent articles in The Sunday Times [23 November 2003] and Research Fortnight [26 November 2003] stated that the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council [PPARC] has received £700M from government for the Linear Collider, the next generation particle physics accelerator. This statement is incorrect. PPARC has not received funding for... view more... (2003-11-26)
Media Invitation - Cosmology Prize to be awarded at IAU General Assembly, Tuesday 15 July
Two thousand astronomers from 65 countries will converge on the Darling Harbour Convention Centre in Sydney this coming week for the 25th triennial General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The meeting kicks off on Sunday 13 July and runs for two weeks. It will be officially opened at the Sydney Opera House at 6 pm on... view more... (2003-07-12)
Media alert: "United Nations" of astronomy to meet in Sydney, Australia, in July
More than 1600 astronomers from around the world will meet in Sydney, Australia, during 13-26 July at the 25th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union. The International Astronomical Union is the world's largest professional body for astronomers, representing almost 8700 people from 66 countries. Run once every three years, the... view more... (2003-06-04)
HRH The Prince of Wales to visit Jodrell Bank Observatory
HRH The Prince of Wales will visit The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire on Monday, 28 April 2003, to commemorate the re-birth of its flagship Lovell Telescope following a major upgrade. The £2.5 million three-year upgrade saw the replacement of the 76-metre radio telescope's reflecting surface, which is now in... view more... (2003-04-25)
Gresham College appoints Professor John Barrow to address the "Big Questions" of the Universe
Professor John Barrow, who has delivered lectures on cosmology at the Venice Film Festival, 10 Downing Street, Windsor Castle and the Vatican Palace, will begin a series of lectures on major developments in astronomy at Gresham College this autumn. Professor Barrow has been appointed by the Council of Gresham College as Gresham Professor of... view more... (2003-04-24)
Cosmic dust in farthest quasar clue to early star formation
UK astronomers using the 15-m James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii have discovered enormous quantities of cosmic dust in the most distant quasar yet observed. The quasar, called SDSS J1148+5251 is at a redshift (z) of 6.43, and is found in the direction of the constellation of Ursa Major. It is some 13 billion light years away, and we are... view more... (2003-04-02)
Galaxies of stars shrouded in dust found in the early universe
A team of astronomers based in the UK and the US has for the first time measured the redshifts of a significant sample of puzzling "submillimetre galaxies", discovered by some members of the team in 1997. Dr Ian Smail of the University of Durham will tell the UK/Ireland National Astronomy Meeting that these are remote galaxies with high redshifts,... view more... (2003-03-31)
A Try To Revise The Age Of The Turin Shroud Failed
The Shroud of Turin is a famous catholic church relic. Christians consider it as a sacred thing. Authenticity of the Shroud was always in doubt. First it was mentioned in historical sources only in the middle of 14th century and this dating was confirmed by radiocarbon dating. In 1998 three laboratories at Oxford (UK), Arizona (USA) and Zurich... view more... (2002-11-10)
Magnetism shapes beauty in the heavens
Using a technique based on the work of the 1902 Nobel Prizewinner, Pieter Zeeman, an international team of astronomers have, for the first time, provided conclusive proof that the magnetic field close to a number of aging stars is 10 to 100 times stronger than that of our own Sun. These observations suggest a solution to the long outstanding... view more... (2002-11-01)
Ghosts found in space
For Halloween this year, watch out for some real ghosts cruising through space, destined never to `cross over` to the other side. These ghosts are scientific satellites that have reached the end of their mission and experts have turned off all their instruments. Other satellites cross over into the Earth`s atmosphere to be burned up on reentry,... view more... (2002-10-31)
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