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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

🚨Reminder🚨 There's still time to sign up for our book showcase evening exploring the future of the Northern Lights. The special event marks the publication of the expanded second edition of a book by author and 'aurora chaser' Tom Kerss. 📅 28 September ⏰ 6-8pm 🎟️ £15 @ ras.ac.uk/events-and-m...

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Are formal conference proceedings still a valuable use of the astronomical community’s time and resources? That's what the IAU would like to get feedback about by inviting the global astronomical community to participate in an online survey. Take part here 👉️ iau.secure-platform.com/site/solicit...

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Oxford Academic @academic.oup.com · 21/09/2026

To support the Habitable Worlds Observatory mission, RASTI are launching a special issue exploring: 🔭 The creation of software tools 🔭 Opportunities in applying advanced statistical methodologies 🔭 Development of data analysis tools oxford.ly/4he1Iuj @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

Call for papers on Habitable World Observatory development: software, tools and methods. Royal Astronomical Society. OUP.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Stargazing news! ✨🌃 From 1-4 October stargazing beginners in the UK and Ireland can take part in an initiative called '100 Hours Under One Sky'. It features four simple challenges, with the chance to win badges and put your mark on a shared map. Find out more at: 100hours.online

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

What does the Open House tour of the RAS include? 🪐🚀 Learn more about what we do with a film in the lecture theatre exploring our history 🎥 📺️ Browse fascinating artefacts on display in our library 📚️🔭 And on the top floor, meet astronomers from a bygone era Caroline Herschel and her nephew John ☄️🎭️

An actress playing Caroline Herschel greets visitors to the RAS.

People enjoy a self-guided tour of the RAS.

A film about the RAS and its history playing in the lecture theatre.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Come and explore the Royal Astronomical Society! 💫🚀🪐 Today we've thrown open our doors as part of Open House festival, offering self-guided tours for members of the public to find out more about what we do and how we began. Join us any time between now and 1pm, or from 2-5pm (last entry 4.30pm) 👋

Members of the public explore the RAS library as part of the Open House festival.

People outside the RAS waiting to explore the Society's HQ.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Calling all early-career scientists!🧑‍🔬 We're delighted to announce that we're now accepting applications for two RAS Research Fellowships. The fellowships provide up to three years of support, with an expected start date of 1 October 2027. Find out more at www.ras.ac.uk

Graphic promoting the RAS Research Fellowships with text on a starry background.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Visiting London this weekend? Why not come and tour the RAS! 🔭🪐 We'll be open tomorrow for self-guided tours as part of Open House festival, giving visitors the chance to learn about the history of astronomy. Morning: 10am-1pm (last entry 12.30pm) Afternoon: 2pm-5pm (last entry 4.30pm)

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Prof Jim Wild @jim-wild.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Calling all astro-photographers - enter the Royal Astronomical Society’s photo competition 📸

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

🔊Calling my #astrophotography friends. Look see! An exciting new competition from @royalastrosoc.bsky.social sponsored by First Light Optics. The judging panel will be in for an absolute treat, based on all the amazing images you already post on my timeline. 🔭 Sign-up ✍️: www.rastrophoto.ras.ac.uk

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Are you a keen astrophotographer? 🪐🔭📸 In November we're launching a new photography competition called RAStroPhoto to mark the 200th anniversary of our journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. It's free to enter and open to everybody! Scan the QR code to register your interest.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Research news 🪐🔭 Astronomers have previously said our Sun may have swallowed a super-Earth-sized planet early in its history. But a new study has gone a step further by suggesting that such an event may have left behind detectable clues inside our star which could still be visible today. 🔍️☀️ ⤵️

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

🚨Announcement from this week's European Seismological Commission🚨 Reminder that today the GJI Author Workshop will take place from 5.30pm-6.30pm. In addition, Editor-in-Chief of GJI, Dr Margarita Segou, will be at the GJI booth tomorrow from 10am-12noon to greet and talk with delegates.

Editor-in-Chief of Geophysical Journal International Dr Margarita Segou.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

🎟️📕 Book showcase 🎟️📕 Join us for an evening exploring the future of the Northern Lights later this month to mark the publication of the expanded second edition of a book by astronomer, author and 'aurora chaser' Tom Kerss. 📅 28 September ⏰ 6-8pm 🎟️ £15 ℹ️ @ ras.ac.uk/events-and-m...

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

This week we're at the 40th General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission in Istanbul 🛬😀 If you're here, why not come and visit the Geophysical Journal International stand between 9am and 6pm from Monday to Friday. Find out more at: www.esc2026.org

Fern Storey, of the RAS, at the GJI stand at the European Seismological Commission Meeting in Istanbul.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The RAS welcomes the support of MPs and the powerful statements made during discussions in Parliament yesterday about cuts to research funding for fundamental physics and astronomy. Read more about the Westminster Hall debate and the latest funding cuts developments here: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

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Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Good start. Next up, realising that the penny pinching cuts are killing twenty more projects in astronomy, often for tiny amounts. The fix is simple…and cheap.

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Prof Jim Wild @jim-wild.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Jodrell may be the symbol, but it's not the whole story. Welcome as the PM's intervention on Jodrell Bank is, debate earlier today showed MPs have concerns over a wide range of facilities, experiments and capabilities underpinning UK research strength. Nevertheless, the politics seem to be shifting.

bbc.co.uk

Andy Burnham says "We'll find a way to save Jodrell Bank"

Burnham said "there is no way that we can see its demise, and it won't happen under my Government".

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

That was a v fast-paced debate on the STFC funding cuts! Good things: * The minister did not trot out the infuriating "there are no cuts" line * Lots of MPs there passionately standing up for their constituents who are directly impacted * Everyone there seemed to genuinely love the work we do!

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

🚨 Astronomy cuts update 🚨 Next Tuesday (1 September) a debate about the ongoing funding crisis will take place in Westminster Hall from 1-1.30pm. 🗣️🔭 The RAS welcomes the debate and is encouraging all Fellows to contact their MPs to urge them to attend. ✍️ Find out more 👉️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Who doesn't want to see a #LegoHypercar!? 🧱🚘️ We were delighted to have Top Gear come and film the life-size Lego Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear outside our offices at Burlington House earlier this week. The fastest full-size Lego car ever, it can do 69mph and is made up of over 327,000 pieces!

The Lego Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear outside the RAS offices at Burlington House.

A BBC film crew outside the RAS offices shooting the Lego Koenigsegg Sadair's Spear.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Want to learn more about the history of astronomy? Come and join us for our free RAS Open House event next month! 🔭🪐 Morning opening will be from 10am-1pm (with last entry at 12.30pm) and afternoon opening from 2pm-5pm (with last entry at 4.30pm). No need to book, just turn up on the day!

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Published in #MNRAS: "Twin Impact Lunar Telescope network: lunar impact flash observations of the 2025 Geminids", Sheward et al. This is Fig. 1: please visit academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... to read the paper. @royalastrosoc.bsky.social @academic.oup.com

Illuminated hemisphere of the Moon at 2025-12-13 01:00:00 UTC, with the Geminid-seeing hemisphere of the Moon shaded blue. Orange crosses denote unconfirmed impact flashes observed by TILT1, and green crosses denote the confirmed events. Due to the observations taking place over two nights, this configuration drifts over the course of observations.

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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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Dr James Firman @james.wsocial.eu · 13/08/2026

This was mine.

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The Dark Sky Ambassador @darkskyambassador.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Caught this still from my timelapse last evening at Sherwood Observatory 😎

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Elana Resnick 💫 @resnickphysics.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

These are from Valencia, Spain.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

What a spectacular show the Sun and the Moon put on last night! ☀️🌒 Did you get a picture of the solar eclipse? Or perhaps some of you watching it? We'd love to feature the best ones on our website here 👉️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

The eclipse is almost here! ☀️🌒 Want to know how to view it safely but don't have certified solar eclipse glasses? 😎 Find out more about using kitchen colanders, pinhole viewers, mirrors or how to create projections with binoculars or a telescope 👉️ ras.ac.uk/sites/defaul...

A woman uses solar eclipse glasses to view the eclipse. Credit: Darren Baskill.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

While we count down to this evening's eclipse, let's step back in time more than 150 years to one in 1875... 😎 We rediscovered some photographic glass plates of that eclipse, made during a Royal Society expedition to Siam [Thailand], which will now be returned to our old neighbours. ⤵️

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Happy solar eclipse day! ☀️🌒 This evening people across the UK will be treated to the country's fullest solar eclipse since 1999. Around 90-96% of the Sun will be obscured by the Moon at the peak, which will take place at around 19:00 BST, depending on where you are. Are you going to watch it? 😎

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Beatriz Sánchez-Cano @bscredrojo.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

What a pleasure to chat with Sue Bowler for the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social about my career so far, the people and missions that have inspired me, and the excitement of exploring our Solar System. 🌍➡️🔴 academic.oup.com/astrogeo/art...

academic.oup.com

Q&A Beatriz Sánchez-Cano, Leading interplanetary scientist

The leading interplanetary scientist discusses the importance of joined-up solar-system science – and what Halley's Comet means to her

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Next Wednesday we'll be treated to the most impressive solar eclipse visible from the UK in almost 30 years! ☀️🌒 Don't forget though, you'll need your certified eclipse glasses to view it safely! 😎 Find out more about what you need and how best to view the eclipse 👉️ www.ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

A new special collection from #GJI Geophysical Journal International: "Marmara and North Anatolian Fault Zones: recent advances and scientific legacy". You can find the collection and its featured papers here: academic.oup.com/gji/pages/ma... @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

academic.oup.com

Marmara and North Anatolian Fault Zones

To celebrate the General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission taking place this coming September in Istanbul, GJI has compiled this colle

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Published in #MNRAS: "Hunting the first cosmic giants: formation and detectability of direct collapse black holes around high-redshift quasars", Trinca et al. This is Fig. 5: please visit academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... to read the paper. @royalastrosoc.bsky.social @academic.oup.com

Projection of the simulated overdensity at ⁠z ≈ 7.5, with distance from the centre of the structure marked in physical kpc and arcseconds. Please see the paper for the full caption.

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Published in #GJI Geophysical Journal International: "Lithospheric structure of central Brazil revealed by combined 3-D electromagnetic and seismic tomography: relationship to intraplate magmatism and seismicity", Maurya et al. academic.oup.com/gji/article/... @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

Map showing the topography, key geological features and the distribution of our MT and GDS stations in central Brazil. Azimuth 125° is a belt of Permo-Triassic and Cretaceous alkaline magmatism (G.M. Gonzaga & L.A. Tompkins 1991; M. Muniswamy 2015; U.G. Cordani et al. 2016). AmC, PBC, SFC and SLC are Amazonian, Paranapanema Block, São Francisco and São Luís cratons, respectively. TBL is the Trans-Brazilian lineament. Inset map shows the location of our current study within South America. The regional geological map is shown in Fig. S1(Supplementary Material).

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Simon Williams @si-wills.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Proud to finally have one of these brilliant badges from the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social. The cuts to PPAN science are shortsighted and nonsensical. We have world-leading researchers, facilities and international collaborations. I hope the new government changes course before lasting damage is done.

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Published in #MNRAS: "Numerical simulations of η Carinae–II. Reconsidering the Great Eruption of the 19th century", González et al. This is Fig. 1: please visit academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... to read the paper. @royalastrosoc.bsky.social @astrolibrarian.bsky.social @academic.oup.com

Logarithmic density map of η Car’s nebula. The numerical simulation corresponds to an evolutionary time of t = 161 yr since the Great Eruption of the 1840s. The colour bar on the right is given in units of g cm⁠^(-3), and the axes of the computational domain are in units of cm. A physical description of the figure is provided in the text.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

🚨 Last chance! 🚨 The deadline for nominations for our 2027 Awards closes on Friday (31 July). 🏅🏆️ Find out more about the awards, which recognise significant achievement in the fields of astronomy and geophysics, by scanning the QR code or visiting ras.ac.uk

Promotional graphic for the 2027 RAS Awards.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

We are saddened to hear of the death of Professor Ralph A.M.J. Wijers, who was a member of the Editorial Board of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Read more about Professor Wijers' career here: ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

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Prof Jim Wild @jim-wild.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Like many colleagues across our community, I’m dismayed by these cuts. The UK should be building on its scientific strengths, not retreating from them, especially as a new government and new science minister seek to define the country’s future ambitions.

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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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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

That's it for NAM2026 🚀🔭 Thank you so much to the organising committee, to our hosts the @unibirmingham.bsky.social and to everyone who came along or joined us online. Next year's NAM will be hosted by the @universityofleeds.bsky.social - we look forward to seeing you there! 👋

The NAM2026 conference photo at the University of Birmingham.

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Our final scientific update from NAM2026 concerns NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory, which will search for Earth-like planets when it launches in the 2040s. UK astronomers are a step closer to playing a leading role in the mission, after receiving £3m from the @ukspaceagency.bsky.social. 1/2 ⤵️

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for last night's NAM2026 Conference Dinner & RAS Awards Ceremony in the University of Birmingham's stunning Great Hall. Congratulations again to all of this year's award winners 🏆️🏅

The 2026 Royal Astronomical Society award winners in the University of Birmingham's Great Hall.

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Dr Vicky Fawcett @astrofawcett.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Another great conference this week at the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social National Astronomy Meeting (#NAM) in Birmingham ✨🐂 I am also honoured to have received the RAS best postdoc poster prize!

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

The final plenary speaker at NAM 26 is Marcia Rieke, speaking online from Arizona on "Finding the Most Distant Galaxies Using the James Webb Space Telescope". Marcia is a co-author on academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... #MNRAS @royalastrosoc.bsky.social …

academic.oup.com

Beyond the stars: Linking H α sizes, kinematics, and star formation in galaxies at z ≈ 4−6 with JWST grism surveys and geko

ABSTRACT. Understanding how galaxies assemble their mass during the first billion years of cosmic time is a central goal of extragalactic astrophysics, yet

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RAS Journals @rasjournals.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Leah K Morabito is our first plenary speaker at NAM today, speaking on "Active Galactic Nuclei: breaking new ground with high resolution radio surveys". Leah is first author of academic.oup.com/mnrasl/artic... #MNRAS @royalastrosoc.bsky.social …

academic.oup.com

A hidden active galactic nucleus population: the first radio luminosity functions constructed by physical process

ABSTRACT. Both star formation (SF) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs) play an important role in galaxy evolution. Statistically quantifying their relative i

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