Strongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system
17 Apr 2025Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious.
News for the Institute of Astronomy.
Farewell, Gaia: spacecraft operations come to an end
27 Mar 2025The 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.
Students from across the country get a taste of studying at Cambridge at the Cambridge Festival
27 Mar 2025Over 500 KS2 and KS3 students from as far away as Warrington got the chance to experience studying at the University of Cambridge with a selection of lectures and workshops held as part of the Cambridge Festival.
Cambridge Festival celebrates pioneering women for International Women’s Day
07 Mar 2025For International Women’s Day (8 March), the Cambridge Festival (19 March – 4 April) is celebrating some of the remarkable contributions of women across diverse fields. From philosophy and music to AI and cosmology, the festival will highlight the pioneering work of women who have shaped our...
Cambridge Festival Speaker Spotlight: Professor Hiranya Peiris
06 Mar 2025Hiranya Peiris holds the Professorship of Astronomy (1909) at Cambridge, the first woman to do so in the 115-year history of this prestigious chair. As a cosmologist, she delves into cosmic mysteries at the edge of our understanding, reaching back to the very first moments of the Universe after...
Cambridge Festival Speaker Spotlight: Dr Matt Bothwell
12 Feb 2025Dr Matthew Bothwell is an astrophysicist, science communicator and author, and the current Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge. Part of Matt’s work is to deliver outreach to schools, run stargazing evenings, give public lectures, and write about all things...
Scientists reveal structure of 74 exocomet belts orbiting nearby stars
17 Jan 2025An international team of astrophysicists has imaged a large number of exocomet belts around nearby stars, and the tiny pebbles within them.
Last starlight for ground-breaking Gaia
15 Jan 2025The 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.
What was the Star of Bethlehem?
23 Dec 2024It’s a key feature of a school nativity play, but what’s the science behind the Star of Bethlehem?
Researchers deal a blow to theory that Venus once had liquid water on its surface
02 Dec 2024A 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.
