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Institute of Astronomy

 
Read more at: Three Decades of Discovery: Celebrating 30 Years of the Undergraduate Astronomy Course at Cambridge

Three Decades of Discovery: Celebrating 30 Years of the Undergraduate Astronomy Course at Cambridge

9 July 2025

In 2025, the University of Cambridge celebrates a significant milestone: the 30th anniversary of the undergraduate astronomy course at the Institute of Astronomy. First introduced in the Michaelmas Term of 1995, the course offers students a unique opportunity to explore the universe through rigorous academic training...


Read more at: Three Decades of Discovery: Celebrating 30 Years of the Undergraduate Astronomy Course at Cambridge

Three Decades of Discovery: Celebrating 30 Years of the Undergraduate Astronomy Course at Cambridge

9 July 2025

In 2025, the University of Cambridge celebrates a significant milestone: the 30th anniversary of the undergraduate astronomy course at the Institute of Astronomy. First introduced in the Michaelmas Term of 1995, the course offers students a unique opportunity to explore the universe through rigorous academic training...


Read more at: Rubin Observatory reveals first images

Rubin Observatory reveals first images

25 June 2025

The Vera C Rubin Observatory, a new scientific facility that will bring the night sky to life like never before using the largest camera ever built, has revealed its ‘first look’ images at the start of its 10-year survey of the cosmos. The Rubin Observatory , jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the US...


Read more at: Cosmic signal from the very early universe will help astronomers detect the first stars

Cosmic signal from the very early universe will help astronomers detect the first stars

20 June 2025

Understanding how the universe transitioned from darkness to light with the formation of the first stars and galaxies is a key turning point in the universe’s development, known as the Cosmic Dawn. However, even with the most powerful telescopes, we can’t directly observe these earliest stars, so determining their...


Read more at: 2025 Shaw Prize in Astronomy awarded to George Efstathiou and John Richard Bond

2025 Shaw Prize in Astronomy awarded to George Efstathiou and John Richard Bond

27 May 2025

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2025 is awarded in equal shares to John Richard Bond, Professor of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics and University Professor at the University of Toronto, Canada and George Efstathiou, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, UK for their pioneering research...


Read more at: 2025 Gruber Cosmology Prize awarded to Max Pettini and Ryan Cooke

2025 Gruber Cosmology Prize awarded to Max Pettini and Ryan Cooke

15 May 2025

The 2025 Gruber Cosmology Prize has been awarded to Professor Max Pettini (IoA) and Professor Ryan Cooke (who is currently faculty at Durham, and was an IoA PhD student 2008-2011). The collaboration that would eventually receive the 2025 Gruber Cosmology Prize coalesced over the course of a short car ride. In early 2009...


Read more at: Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system

Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system

18 April 2025

Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious. Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or...


Read more at: Jeremiah Ostriker (April 13, 1937 – April 6, 2025)

Jeremiah Ostriker (April 13, 1937 – April 6, 2025)

9 April 2025

Jeremiah Ostriker, one of the most influential astrophysicists of the 20th century, has died at the age of 87. His work reshaped our understanding of the Universe, revealing it to be dominated not just by stars and galaxies, but also by mysterious dark matter and dark energy. From 2001 to 2004, Ostriker held the Plumian...


Read more at: Farewell, Gaia: spacecraft operations come to an end

Farewell, Gaia: spacecraft operations come to an end

27 March 2025

The European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft has been powered down, after more than a decade spent gathering data that are now being used to unravel the secrets of our home galaxy. On 27 March 2025, Gaia’s control team at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre switched off the spacecraft’s subsystems and sent it into a ‘...


Read more at: Scientists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars

Scientists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars

17 January 2025

An international team of astrophysicists has imaged a large number of exocomet belts around nearby stars, and the tiny pebbles within them. The crystal-clear images show light being emitted from these millimetre-sized pebbles within the belts that orbit 74 nearby stars of a wide variety of ages – from those that are just...