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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...

Read more at: Last starlight for ground-breaking Gaia

Last starlight for ground-breaking Gaia

15 January 2025

The European Space Agency’s Milky Way-mapper Gaia has completed the sky-scanning phase of its mission, racking up more than three trillion observations of about two billion stars and other objects over the last decade to revolutionise the view of our home galaxy and cosmic neighbourhood. Launched on 19 December 2013, Gaia’...

Read more at: Sverre Aarseth (20 July 1934 – 28 December 2024)

Sverre Aarseth (20 July 1934 – 28 December 2024)

14 January 2025

Sverre Johannes Aarseth was born on 20th July 1934 on a small island in the spectacular Hardangerfjord region of Norway. The island had a population of fifty souls, no shops and no electricity. As the son of the local priest, he was at the centre of the local rural community where he travelled to school by boat, sometimes...

Read more at: Houshang Ardavan, 1942-2024

Houshang Ardavan, 1942-2024

8 January 2025

It is with great regret that we announce the recent death of one of our Emeritus Staff, Houshang Ardavan. Houshang, whose research focused on radiation mechanisms in pulsars, had a longstanding connection with the IoA since the 1970s. He was an emeritus Fellow of Murray Edwards College and formerly Director of Studies in...

Read more at: Professor George Efstathiou awarded honorary degree from Durham University

Professor George Efstathiou awarded honorary degree from Durham University

18 December 2024

Congratulations to Professor George Efstathiou, who has been awarded an honorary degree from Durham University. Honorary graduates exemplify the highest levels of achievement in their spheres of activity. Professor Karen O’Brien, Vice-Chancellor of Durham University, said: "Our honorary graduates are leaders in their...

Read more at: Researchers deal a blow to theory that Venus once had liquid water on its surface

Researchers deal a blow to theory that Venus once had liquid water on its surface

4 December 2024

A team of astronomers has found that Venus has never been habitable, despite decades of speculation that our closest planetary neighbour was once much more like Earth than it is today. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, studied the chemical composition of the Venusian atmosphere and inferred that its...

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