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Institute of Astronomy

 
Read more at: Professor George Efstathiou is awarded the Albert Einstein Medal 2024

Professor George Efstathiou is awarded the Albert Einstein Medal 2024

25 July 2024

We are pleased to announce that Professor George Efstathiou (IoA director 2004-2008) is awarded the Albert Einstein Medal 2024. The medal is awarded to deserving individuals for outstanding scientific findings, works, or publications related to Albert Einstein. The award ceremony will take place on October 9, 2024 during...


Read more at: Martin Rees is the 2024 Wolf Prize Laureate in Physics

Martin Rees is the 2024 Wolf Prize Laureate in Physics

9 July 2024

Lord Martin Rees (born in England in 1942) is one of the most distinguished theoretical physicists of our time, with seminal contributions in a large number of areas, from cosmology and the formation of the first stars and galaxies to high-energy astrophysics, to the formation and evolution of massive black holes in the...


Read more at: Simons Observatory Begins Hunt for Echoes of the Big Bang in Universe’s Oldest Light

Simons Observatory Begins Hunt for Echoes of the Big Bang in Universe’s Oldest Light

20 June 2024

From a vantage point high in the Chilean Andes, cosmologists with the Simons Observatory have begun searching for evidence of what happened in the minuscule fraction of a second that followed the Big Bang. The observatory, which just completed its main construction phase, will make some of the most precise measurements...


Read more at: Drawing a line back to the origin of life: Graphitization could provide simplicity scientists are looking for

Drawing a line back to the origin of life: Graphitization could provide simplicity scientists are looking for

25 April 2024

Scientists from the Cambridge University have suggested that molecules vital to the development of life could have formed from a process known as graphitisation. Once verified in the laboratory, the finding could allow scientists to recreate plausible conditions for life's emergence. It has long been debated how the...


Read more at: Groundbreaking survey reveals secrets of planet birth around dozens of stars

Groundbreaking survey reveals secrets of planet birth around dozens of stars

23 April 2024

In a series of studies, a team of astronomers (including IoA postdoc Álvaro Ribas) has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The stunning images, captured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, represent one of the largest ever surveys of...


Read more at: Sleeping giant surprises Gaia scientists

Sleeping giant surprises Gaia scientists

16 April 2024

Wading through the wealth of data from ESA’s Gaia mission , scientists have uncovered a ‘sleeping giant’. A large black hole, with a mass of nearly 33 times the mass of the Sun, was hiding in the constellation Aquila, less than 2000 light-years from Earth. This is the first time a black hole of stellar origin this big has...


Read more at: First ‘glory’ on hellish distant world?

First ‘glory’ on hellish distant world?

5 April 2024

In brief For the first time, a team of astronomers (including IoA astronomer Nic Walton) have spotted potential signs of a rainbow-like ‘glory effect’ on a planet outside our Solar System. Glory are colourful concentric rings of light that occur only under peculiar conditions. Data from ESA’s sensitive Characterising...


Read more at: Neon sign identified by JWST gives clue to planet formation

Neon sign identified by JWST gives clue to planet formation

5 March 2024

The winds that help to form planets in the gaseous discs of early solar systems have been imaged for the first time by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) using the noble gases neon and argon. Planetary systems like our Solar System seem to contain more rocky objects than gas-rich ones. Around our sun, these include the...


Read more at: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: the cosmic fertiliser that fuelled the origins of life

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust: the cosmic fertiliser that fuelled the origins of life

20 February 2024

The origin of life is an event so rare that, to the best of our knowledge, it has only happened once: here on Earth. The questions of how life developed and in what environments geochemical reactions took place are fundamental questions that span the fields of astrobiology, organic chemistry, and geology. One key...


Read more at: Insights into Dark Matter's 'Coldness' Open New Cosmic Frontiers

Insights into Dark Matter's 'Coldness' Open New Cosmic Frontiers

15 February 2024

cdm_2_copy.jpg In their latest research on dark matter scientists have collected vital clues about the ‘coldness’ of the mysterious component making up 80% of all matter, revealing a deep connection between dark matter and the formation of galaxies in the early Universe. With the help of powerful telescopes, the...