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RAS Library and Archives

@astrolibrarian.bsky.social
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We look after the astronomy and geophysics collections in the library and archive of the Royal Astronomical Society. ras.ac.uk/library

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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
An interesting space weather detective story drawing on historical records at @royalastrosoc.bsky.social @exeterunispeccoll.bsky.social and BT Group!
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
These original negatives of the 1875 eclipse, loaned to us by the Royal Society, have now been returned. We are grateful to the @royalsociety.org for not fining us!
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The Royal Astronomical Society is shocked and dismayed to hear that the UK's iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory is at risk of closure amid a slew of catastrophic budget cuts. Read our full statement here: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
William Herschel observed 'a curious either nebulous star or perhaps a comet' #OnThisDay 13 March 1781. If you turn the pages of his observation journal held at @royalastrosoc.bsky.social you will see that this new celestial body was confirmed to be a new planet, now known as Uranus.
A detail from a page of one of William Herschel's observation journals (RAS MSS Herschel W 2/1.2), showing his observations carried out on the night of 13 March 1781. The text relevant to the discovery of Uranus reads:  "Tuesday March 13. Pollux is followed by 3 small stars at about 2' and 3' distance. M as usual. p H. In the quartile near ζ Tauri the lowest of two is a curious either nebulous star or perhaps a comet. A small star follows the comet at 2/3 of the field's distance."
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Dr Katy Barrett FSA @spoonsontrays.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Myriad ways of showing us the wonders of the cosmos. Finally managed a blog post about #Cosmos at #RoyalWestofEnglandAcademy
spoonsontrays.com
Cosmos: the art (and science) of observing space — Spoons on Trays | Katy Barrett
Both artists and scientists are fascinated by the world around us. Both observe and interrogate the world and show it back to us in new ways. Both use images not only to illustrate but also to produce...
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
On #WorldBookDay here is the first printed edition of Euclid's 'Elements' (1482). There is also a connection with William Morris - the printer, Erhard Ratdolt, was an innovative printer whose designs influenced Morris's approach to typographical arts.
The first page or 'incipit' of the 1482 printed edition of Euclid's elements. The page is decorated with a three-sided woodcut border, featuring intertwined foliage and vines, and it's been hand-coloured in crimson, blue, indigo, brown and ochre pigment.  The right hand margin of the page features diagrams of rectangles, triangles and divided circles.
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Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Nicolaus Copernicus was born 19 February 1473. @karlgalle.bsky.social's biographical sketch of his life & work #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/p...
thonyc.wordpress.com
Publish and Perish
As I announced yesterday I am playing away this week with a tasty post on astrology and astronomy on the excellent Forbidden Histories blog site. However the substitute bank here at The Renaissance…
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
RAS archivist Kate Bond spoke to CNN about her discovery of Richard Carrington's portrait: www.cnn.com/2026/02/12/s...
cnn.com
The largest solar storm was named after a 19th century astronomer. His only portrait has been found | CNN
Richard Carrington’s name has long been connected with the most intense solar storm ever recorded, but his face was unknown until a lost portrait surfaced.
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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
Fun astronomy/archives story - Kate Bond @royalastrosoc.bsky.social has tracked down the only photograph of 19th century astronomer Richard Carrington, who spotted the first recorded solar flare. academic.oup.com/astrogeo/art...
academic.oup.com
Capturing Carrington
A speculative search in the right place at the right time turned up what is thought to be the only image of the eponymous solar observer.
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Dr Allan Chapman was a great friend to the RAS Library and very generous with his knowledge - we will miss him.
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
The web image used for the meeting on machine learning in solid earth science shows seismicity at Campi Flegrei volcanic field in Naples, Italy. Meeting delegates also had the chance to see Athanasius Kircher's engraving of this area from his 1638 visit in 'Mundus subterraneus' (1678).
An engraving of the Campi Flegrei (the Phlegraean Fields) in Athanasius Kircher's book 'Mundus subterraneus' (1678). The Jesuit priest and polymath Kircher visited Vesuvius and the Campi Flegrei in 1638 and described and illustrated the region in this engraving, which looks east across the landscape towards the town of Pozzuoli and the craters and cinder cones which feature in this region, such as Monte Nuovo, which emerged after the earthquake of 1538. Kircher illustrates smoke and gas erupting from vents in the ground. The picture is labelled in the lower right hand corner as 'Fori vulcani sive Camporum Phlegreiorum Typus'.A group of ten people (meeting delegates for a solid earth geophysics meeting) standing behind a desk in the library of the Royal Astronomical Society. On the desk is a very large book placed on a book support (a bean bag). The book is open to show an engraving of Mount Vesuvius. The book is Mundus Subterraneus (1678) puglished by Athanasius Kircher. In it he recorded his observations of natural phenomena like volcanic activity in the region of Naples, which he visited in 1638, and put forward his explanations for earthquakes, eruptions, tides etc.
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
The Agnes Mary Clerke Medal, awarded every three years to an individual who has achieved outstanding personal research into the history of astronomy or geophysics, goes to Prof Clemency Montelle, of the University of Canterbury, NZ. She said she was "delighted and honoured" to receive the prize. ⤵️
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
@lfrench.bsky.social Hi Linda, I hope all's well, good to see you here. A reader has a question about Goodricke, would you be able to help?
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
🧑💻 Job vacancy 🧑💻 We're looking for a part-time Assistant Librarian to join our team and would love to hear from anyone with the necessary skills and experience! Want to apply or find out more? Visit: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Good to finally see the plaque dedicated to pioneering astronomers Willam and Margaret Huggins in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral this evening. Installed in 1917. There aren't many other women commemorated in the 500 or so monuments here, but this post reveals more: lookup.london/women-of-st-....
White marble depicting William Huggins and Margaret Lindsay Huggins.
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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Sky at Night - BBC 4 tonight at 21.50 - celebrates the 350th birthday of Royal Observatory Greenwich, and we get to talk about time and black holes. It's genuinely a great episode - please watch. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Four - The Sky at Night, Greenwich: A Journey Through Space and Time
The team celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Observatory.
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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Left to right: Sian Prosser, Pam Rowden and Adam Boal, ready for visitors at the RAS @royalastrosoc.bsky.social stand at the Lambeth Country Show. @astrolibrarian.bsky.social @oxfordacademic.bsky.social Come and meet us to learn more about the RAS and engage in some fun activities.
Left to right: Sean Prosser, Pam Rowden  Adam Boal.
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Amazing #histastro acquisition of a rare catalogue annotated by Flamsteed himself! Congratulations to @jasonwdean.com and the Linda Hall Library.
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Karen Masters @karenlmasters.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Something a bit different for me today - attending this event on “Libraries of Science” talking later about my “Astronomers Library” book. 🔭👩‍🔬🎢
Cover of a program for “Libraries of Science” at the Royal Society” with a picture of lots of old book spines.
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Karen Masters @karenlmasters.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Nice visit to the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social today - got to see my book in the library (and some other books) meet my editor, Roland Hall, in person and see the famous quilt. 🔭👩‍🔬
A woman in front of a stone building with the label “R. Astronomical Soc.” Book plate saying “Presenter to the Royal Astronomical Society by Karen Masters” A woman standing by a quilt in a library. The quilt is Astronomy themed patchwork. A man and a woman standing in a library holding a book called “The Astronomers Library”
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The Linnean Society of London @linneansociety.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
This #InternationalWomensDay, watch our fascinating talk from Gem Toes-Crichton on her visual research exploring pioneering women in botany. She features Elizabeth Blackwell, Anna Atkins, and the 1994 winner of our Jill Smythies prize, Rosemary Wise. Watch: www.youtube.com/watc... #IWD2025
youtube.com
Interstices | The Hidden Histories of Women in Botany
“Individual contributions are all too often forgotten, overshadowed, or never acknowledged; lost in the gaps among objects.” - Professor Stephen A. Harris, Druce Curator of Oxford University Herbaria. (Adapted from the foreword to Gem Toes-Crichton’s book.)” In this talk, Gem Toes-Crichton shares h
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The Society of Antiquaries of London @antiquaries.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
On #IWD2025 we're celebrating the lives and legacies of four remarkable female scholars: Gertrude Bell, Beatrice de Cardi, Joan Evans, and Margaret Stokes. #AccelerateAction
A photo portrait of Beatrice de CardiA photo of Gertrude Bell seated at an excavation site with male colleagues. A photo of Margaret Stokes recording archaeological observations outside. A profile photo portrait of Joan Evans.
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
See the whole thread for stories of women and (history of) astronomy for #IWD2025 - but nota bene historians of science: nominations sought for the 2026 RAS prize for historical research #histsci
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Thanks to @rhiggitt.bsky.social for contributing Agnes M. Clerke posts forn #IWD2025 - you can read a fuller tribute here: www.pascal-theatre.com/biographies/...
pascal-theatre.com
Agnes Mary Clerke 1842 – 1907 - Pascal Theatre Company
Astronomer, author, historian of astronomy. 10 February 1842 – 20 January 1907 Agnes Mary Clerke 1905 Hector Macpherson, Public domain, […]
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
As women gained increasing access to education in the late 1900s, they played an influential role in institutions like Liverpool Astronomical Society, which was founded in 1881. Seven of 49 members depicted in an 1888 multiple portrait photograph were women.
Seven women members of the Liverpool Astronomical Society in an 1888 photograph.
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Happy International Women’s Day! 👩🏾‍🔬👩🏼‍🚀👩🏻‍🔧 To mark #IWD2025, the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social is celebrating some of the women who helped shape the history of astronomy. Follow this thread to find out more… ⤵️
Graphic celebrating International Women's Day on a colourful galaxy background.
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CSIRO Publishing @csiropublishing.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Ahead of #WomensDay tomorrow, we spoke with historian Toner Stevenson who recently co-authored an #OpenAccess article in Historical Records of Australian Science about gender diversity in Australian astronomy. blog.publish.csiro.au/gender-diver... #HistoricalRecordsAS #IWD #WomenInSTEM
blog.publish.csiro.au
"The Job Is Not Done": Gender diversity in Australian astronomy - CSIRO PUBLISHING
Toner Stevenson, author of an open access research article in Historical Records of Australian Science, sheds light on the challenges faced by women in astronomy between 1966-2023.
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Museums Association @museumsassociation.org · 11/02/2025
News | Science Museum to open three new galleries in next five years – transformation includes closure of Exploring Space gallery after four decades
museumsassociation.org
Science Museum to open three new galleries in next five years - Museums Association
Transformation includes closure of Exploring Space gallery after four decades
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Jason W. Dean @jasonwdean.com · 12/02/2025
The video of my talk @illinoisrbml.bsky.social about Flamsteed's 1712 "Historia Coelestis" is now up! Thanks to @lynnemthomas.com for the invite and @hillemmalouise.bsky.social for the collab on our man, JF. Enjoy, and share! #HistSci 📜 📚 #histSTM #astronomy #histastro 🗃️🔭 youtu.be/E0ofUoEv4cc?...
youtu.be
Sacrifice to Truth: John Flamsteed, Isaac Newton & the destruction of the 1712 "Historia Coelestis"
YouTube video by IllinoisRBML
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Rebekah Higgitt @rhiggitt.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
For #WomeninScienceDay, here's a listicle of women linked to @ntlmuseumsscot.bsky.social collections and stories #histstm www.nms.ac.uk/discover-cat...
nms.ac.uk
8 women in Scotland who shaped the history of science | National Museums Scotland
Many of the scientific endeavours featured in our collections are the work of women with a connection to Scotland. Below, we've highlighted key contributio
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Science Magazine @science.org · 11/02/2025
When asked to draw a scientist, school-age kids in the United States are increasingly sketching women, according to a study from 2018. Read more on #WomenInScienceDay: scim.ag/4hOUuvx
SCIENCESHOTS What does a scientist look like? Children are drawing women more than ever before
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
We're at European AstroFest 2025 in Kensington, west London, today! 👋 🚀 @royalastrosoc.bsky.social President Mike Lockwood opened the two-day conference, which is one of the biggest astronomy shows of its kind in the UK. ⤵️
Royal Astronomical Society President Professor Mike Lockwood opens European AstroFest 2025.Professor Mike Lockwood addresses the audience.A crowd of people listening to Professor Mike Lockwood at the opening of the European AstroFest conference.
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Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
The Danzig astronomer Johannes Hevelius was born 28 January 1611 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/t...
thonyc.wordpress.com
The last great naked-eye astronomer.
Anybody cognizant with the history of astronomy in the Early Modern Period almost certainly thinks that the tittle of this post alludes to Tycho Brahe but in fact it refers to a man born ten years …
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
📝 Job vacancy 📝 The Royal Astronomical Society wishes to appoint an Editor for its flagship members' magazine Astronomy & Geophysics. Want to apply or find out more? Visit: ras.ac.uk/news-and-press/news/job-v…
The RAS logo with text reading "Join us! Apply now".
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Nilanjan P. Choudhury will be one of the speakers at the January A&G Highlights Meeting. His play about S. Chandrasekhar and Arthur Eddington has inspired archivist Kate Bond to curate a display relating to the 90th anniversary of the clash between the two astronomers ras.ac.uk/events-and-m...
The buff-coloured cover of a manuscript inscribed with the name S. Chandrasekhar and the title 'Tabulation of ϕ and the Auxiliary-functions (see M.N. 95.3 1935)'. This manuscript was deposited in the Royal Astronomical Society library and archive by Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. The tables accompanied Chandrasekhar’s paper “The Highly Collapsed Configurations of a Stellar Mass (Second Paper)” which was published in Volume 95, Number 3, of Monthly Notices of the RAS, in January 1935. The paper was read at a meeting of the Society on 11th January 1935.
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Dr Ella Hawkins @ellamchawk.bsky.social · 05/12/2024
Centuries ago, many astronomical books included moving parts to help readers interpret the world around them. This biscuit recreates a diagram from Sacrobosco’s ‘De Sphaera’ (c.1550). It could be used to calculate the changing length of daylight hours through the year. 🍪
Two biscuits stacked on top of one another, designed to look like a rotating diagram from an early modern astronomical book. The lower biscuit is circular and features a series of horizontal lines and tiny numbers in an early modern font. The top biscuit is roughly in the shape of boat: the 'mast' area reads 'zenith'; the main body of the shape features tiny figures in historical dress holding astronomical instruments and a Latin motto reading 'Nulla dies sine linea'.
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Thanks to everyone who took part in our tour this evening! Deborah Kent will be talking about the events of 1874 at the next A&G highlights meeting on Friday 13/12/24 - to book tour free ticket (in person online) go to ras.ac.uk/events-and-m... - more details will be added soon.
ras.ac.uk
December A&G Highlight's Meeting
RAS Meetings | Friday, 13 of December 2024 - 16:00 | December A&G Highlight's Meeting
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 29/11/2024
Our Archivist Kate Bond kicks off our anniversary tour of @royalastrosoc.bsky.social
A woman standing at a lectern with a projector screen behind her displaying the original 1874 layout proposed by the architects for the RAS lecture theatre in New Burlington House
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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Have you booked your ticket for this year's John Brown Memorial Lecture? The talk, held in honour of the late Astronomer Royal for Scotland and past winner of an Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal, will take place on Wednesday 4 December. (1/2)
Late Astronomer Royal for Scotland and past winner of an RAS Gold Medal Professor John Brown.
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RAS Library and Archives @astrolibrarian.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
To accompany Professor Ian Crawford's lecture on the Fermi Paradox, we've put together a display of 17th- and 18th-century speculations about life on the Moon, including lunar maps by Riccioli, Grimaldi and Hevelius.
Giovanni Battista Riccioli was an astronomer and Jesuit priest. This book contains one of the most accurate maps of the Moon available during the mid-seventeenth century, drawn by fellow Jesuit F. M. Grimaldi.

In contrast to his contemporary, Johannes Hevelius, who believed that the Moon was inhabited, this map shows Riccioli’s position on the possibility of life on the Moon: above the map he proclaims that ‘Neither do men dwell on the Moon, nor do souls migrate to the Moon’. Riccioli’s system of naming lunar features after famous astronomers became widely adopted, and many of the names remain in use today.
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