Scientists release the most detailed analysis yet on the expansion of the Universe
Scientists at the Dark Energy Survey have published their most detailed explanation yet of how the universe has expanded over the last six billion years, thanks to an unprecedented combination of cosmic measurements. The international group of researchers, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, is led by...
ALMA Reveals Teenage Years of New Worlds
New astronomical survey captures previously unknown growing pains in the lives of planets A team of astronomers (including Professor Mark Wyatt from the IoA) have, for the first time, captured a detailed snapshot of planetary systems in an era long shrouded in mystery. The ALMA survey to Resolve exoKuiper belt...
Professor Debora Sijacki Awarded RAS Eddington Medal
Professor Debora Sijacki has made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the role Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) play in the evolution of galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the Universe. She pioneered the development of computational techniques and physical models to understand the complex interactions between...
Hubble sees asteroids colliding at nearby star for first time
In a historical milestone, catastrophic collisions in a nearby planetary system were witnessed for the first time by astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. As they observed the bright star Fomalhaut, the scientists saw the impact of massive objects around the star. The Fomalhaut system appears to be in a...
UK’s largest astronomy instrument begins journey to Chile
The University of Cambridge – through the Cavendish Laboratory, the Institute of Astronomy, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology – has played a central role in the development of MOONS, the UK’s most complex astronomy instrument, now en route to Chile for installation on the Very Large Telescope. MOONS, the Multi-Object...
Professor Sera Markoff appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at University of Cambridge
Professor Sera Markoff has been appointed Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. One of the oldest named professorships in the world – founded in 1704 after Sir Isaac Newton oversaw its creation – previous Plumian Professors include distinguished astronomers Sir Arthur...
Astronomers spot one of the largest spinning structures ever found in the Universe
Astronomers have identified one of the largest rotating structures ever reported: a “razor-thin” string of galaxies embedded in a giant spinning cosmic filament, 140 million light-years away. Their findings, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , could offer valuable new insights into how...
Institute of Astronomy researcher awarded Schmidt Sciences fellowship to ensure AI benefits society
Institute of Astronomy researcher Dr Miles Cranmer is one of 28 researchers worldwide to receive an AI2050 fellowship from Schmidt Sciences, awarded to researchers studying how to fulfil AI’s potential to benefit humankind. The fellows will pursue efforts to solve challenging problems in AI by building AI scientists...
New telescope opens a window to the southern sky
A powerful new telescope has captured its first glimpse of the cosmos, and could transform our understanding of how stars, galaxies and black holes evolve. The 4MOST (4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope), mounted on the European Southern Observatory’s VISTA telescope in Chile, achieved its ‘first light’ on 18...
Astronomers shed new light on the way galaxies shape the cosmos
A new study led by an international team, including researchers at the Institute of Astronomy, has been selected as an Editor’s Suggestion in Physical Review D -- a distinction awarded to only a small fraction of papers judged by the journal to be particularly important, interesting, and well written. The research explores...
Massive stars in metal-poor environment often have a close partner
Massive stars in distant, metal-poor galaxies are just as likely to have close companions as their counterparts in our own Milky Way, according to new research published today in Nature Astronomy. An international team of seventy astronomers, including researchers at the University of Cambridge, used the European Southern...
Dr Valeriya Korol awarded prestigious Ernest Rutherford Fellowship
Dr Valeriya Korol will join the Institute of Astronomy on a prestigious Ernest Rutherford Fellowship, awarded by UKRI’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to explore how the Milky Way was assembled—using not just light, but also gravitational waves. She is one of seven early-career UK physicists to receive...
Astronomers find new evidence for planet around our closest solar twin
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found strong evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the stellar system closest to our own Sun. At just four light-years away from Earth, the Alpha Centauri triple star system has long been a target in the search for worlds beyond our solar system...
Astronomers find a giant hiding in the ‘fog’ around a young star
Astronomers have detected a giant exoplanet – between three and ten times the size of Jupiter – hiding in the swirling disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star. Earlier observations of this star, called MP Mus, suggested that it was all alone without any planets in orbit around it, surrounded by a featureless cloud of...
Cyril Hazard (18 March 1928 – 14 June 2025)
We are saddened to report the passing of Cyril Hazard (18 March 1928 – 14 June 2025). Cyril was a pioneering radio astronomer whose work on quasars helped transform our understanding of the Universe. Cyril began his career at Jodrell Bank and went on to work across three continents -- including positions at Cambridge (from...
Three Decades of Discovery: Celebrating 30 Years of the Undergraduate Astronomy Course at Cambridge
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...
Three Decades of Discovery: Celebrating 30 Years of the Undergraduate Astronomy Course at Cambridge
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...
Rubin Observatory reveals first images
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...
Cosmic signal from the very early universe will help astronomers detect the first stars
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...
2025 Shaw Prize in Astronomy awarded to George Efstathiou and John Richard Bond
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...