Research Highlights

An artist’s impression of the UK-led CosmoCube spacecraft, which would orbit be tasked with listening out for an “ancient whisper” from the early universe on the far side of the Moon.
Probing the cosmic Dark Ages from the far side of the Moon
Astronomers want to unlock the secrets of the 'Cosmic Dawn' by sending a miniature spacecraft to listen out for an "ancient whisper" on the far side of the Moon. The proposed mission will study the very early universe, right after the Big Bang, when...
Artificial solar eclipses in space could shed light on Sun
Recreating artificial solar eclipses in space could help astronomers decipher the inner workings of our Sun much quicker than if they had to wait for the celestial show on Earth. The plan, part of a UK-led space mission to be unveiled at the Royal...
How airports like Heathrow and Gatwick could help aliens spot Earth
Radar systems used by civilian airports and military operations are inadvertently revealing our existence to potential advanced alien civilisations, new research shows. The study explored how hidden electromagnetic leakage might look to...
If we are located in a region with below-average density such as the green dot, then matter would flow away from us due to stronger gravity from the surrounding denser regions, as shown by the red arrows.
Is Earth inside a huge void? 'Sound of Big Bang' hints so
Earth and our entire Milky Way galaxy may sit inside a mysterious giant hole which makes the cosmos expand faster here than in neighbouring regions of the universe, astronomers say. Their theory is a potential solution to the 'Hubble tension' and...
An artist’s impression of dust and tiny grains in a protoplanetary disc surrounding a young star (left) alongside an e-MERLIN map showing the tilted disc structure around the young star DG Tauri (top right) and the HL Tau disc captured by e-MERLIN is shown overlaid on an ALMA image, revealing both the compact emission from the central region of the disc and the larger scale dust rings (bottom right).
The birth of a solar system revealed by planet 'pebbles'
A fascinating glimpse into how a solar system like our own is born has been revealed with the detection of planet-forming 'pebbles' around two young stars. These seeds to make new worlds are thought to gradually clump together over time, in much the...
Astronomers pulled from James Webb Space Telescope’s data to analyse a sample of 111 disc galaxies, like the ones shown here.
JWST digs into structural origins of disk galaxies
Astronomers are a step closer to deciphering the origins of disk galaxies like our own Milky Way thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. Through the eyes of Webb they were able to study 111 single-disk and double-disk galaxies across a large span...
The final SPIRE Dark Field image map created by combining the Blue (250 micrometres), Green (350 micrometres) and Red (500 micrometres) SPIRE camera channels together, each channel stacking a total of 141 individual images on top of each other.
'Hidden galaxies' could be smoking gun in universe riddle
Astronomers have peered back in time to find what looks like a population of 'hidden' galaxies that could hold the key to unlocking some of the universe's secrets. If their existence is confirmed it would "effectively break current models of galaxy...
New research suggests at least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were caused by a nearby supernova. Pictured is an example of one of these stellar explosions, Supernova 1987a (centre), within a neighbouring galaxy to our Milky Way called the Large Magellanic Cloud.
Violent supernovae 'triggered at least two Earth extinctions'
At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the "devastating" effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers at Keele University say these super-powerful blasts – caused by the death of a...
The "remarkable" XRT 200515 cosmic explosion observed by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Mystery of 'remarkable' cosmic explosion that lay hidden for years
The "needle in the haystack" discovery of a powerful explosion from a mysterious unknown object outside our galaxy has excited astronomers. It went unnoticed for years within a vast, two decade-long archive of observations by NASA's Chandra X-ray...
Fibre optic cable.
Global internet grid could better detect earthquakes with new algorithm
Early detection of earthquakes could be vastly improved by tapping into the world's internet network with a groundbreaking new algorithm, researchers say. Fibre optic cables used for cable television, telephone systems and the global web matrix now...
The newly-discovered giant radio galaxy ‘Inkathazo’. The glowing plasma jets, as seen by the MeerKAT telescope, are shown in red and yellow. The starlight from other surrounding galaxies can be seen in the background.
'Troublesome' radio galaxy 32 times size of Milky Way spotted
Astronomers have discovered an extraordinary new giant radio galaxy with plasma jets 32 times the size of our Milky Way. Measuring 3.3 million light-years from end-to-end, the cosmic megastructure was spotted by South Africa's MeerKAT telescope and...
Image of Arp220 from the Hubble Space Telescope showing the large scale structure of the merging system.
Clever trick to cook stars like Christmas puds detected for first time
The missing ingredient for cooking up stars in the same way you might steam your Christmas pudding has been spotted for the first time by astronomers. Much like a pressure cooker has a weight on top of its lid to keep the pressure in and get your...