Royal Astronomical Society


The Royal Astronomical Society, (RAS) was established in 1820. The RAS is headquartered in London. The primary mission of RAS is to encourage and promote the study of astronomy, solar-system science, geophysics, and closely related branches of science. RAS accomplishes this mission by publishing scientific studies in journals, the award of modest grants, educational activities and makes available a superior reference library. Membership to RAS is available to anyone with an interest in the fields of endeavors promoted by RAS. Primarily members are students, geophysicists, astronomers and related professionals.

Address

Burlington House,
Piccadilly,
London W1J 0BQ
United Kingdom

News Office

Email

rm [at] ras [dot] org [dot] uk

Phone

020 7734 4582

Fax

020-7494 0166

Contact




"Royal Astronomical Society" in the news:

results timeline

First black holes may have incubated in giant, starlike cocoons, says CU-Boulder study

First black holes may have incubated in giant, starlike cocoons

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created 17 hours ago | popularity 4.4 / 5 (10) | comments 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first large black holes in the universe likely formed and grew deep inside gigantic, starlike cocoons that smothered their powerful x-ray radiation and prevented surrounding gases from ...


Rapid star formation spotted in 'stellar nurseries' of infant galaxies

Rapid star formation spotted in 'stellar nurseries' of infant galaxies

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 1

The Universe's infant galaxies enjoyed rapid growth spurts forming stars like our sun at a rate of up to 50 stars a year, according to scientists at Durham University.


Scientists explain mystery of observed turbulent density fluctuations in interplanetary space

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville have developed a three-dimensional simulation model to understand behavior of interplanetary charged particles in space.


Detecting Life-Friendly Moons

Detecting Life-Friendly Moons

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (11) | comments 3

The search for life-friendly real estate around distant stars doesn't have to be limited to planets. New research shows that habitable exomoons can be detected with a new method using current technology.


Invading black holes explain cosmic flashes

Invading black holes explain cosmic flashes

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 18, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (25) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Black holes are invading stars, providing a radical explanation to bright flashes in the universe that are one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy today.


Will Kepler find habitable moons?

Will Kepler find habitable moons?

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (14) | comments 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Since the launch of the NASA Kepler Mission earlier this year, astronomers have been keenly awaiting the first detection of an Earth-like planet around another star. Now, in an echo of science ...


Giant Galaxy Hosts the Most Distant Supermassive Black Hole

Giant Galaxy Hosts the Most Distant Supermassive Black Hole

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Sep 02, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (15) | comments 26

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Hawaii (UH) astronomer Dr. Tomotsugu Goto and colleagues have discovered a giant galaxy surrounding the most distant supermassive black hole ever found. The galaxy, so distant ...


Super Planetary Nebulae

Super Planetary Nebulae

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Aug 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists in Australia and the United States, led by Associate Professor Miroslav Filipović from the University of Western Sydney, have discovered a new class of object which ...


Tweeting Shooting Stars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Aug 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Amateur astronomers across the UK are preparing to tweet the world’s first mass participation meteor star party, as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). Led by Newbury Astronomical Society, the Twitter ...


Galaxy Zoo hunters help astronomers discover rare 'Green Pea' galaxies

Galaxy Zoo Hunters Help Astronomers Discover Rare 'Green Pea' Galaxies

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 27, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (11) | comments 2

A team of astronomers has discovered a group of rare galaxies called the "Green Peas" with the help of citizen scientists working through an online project called Galaxy Zoo. The finding could lend unique ...


Turbulence responsible for black holes' balancing act

Turbulence responsible for black holes' balancing act

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 14, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 15

We live in a hierarchical Universe where small structures join into larger ones. Earth is a planet in our Solar System, the Solar System resides in the Milky Way Galaxy, and galaxies combine into groups and ...


Celebrating gravity’s light-bending landmark

Celebrating gravity’s light-bending landmark

Physics / General Physics

created May 29, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Today Oxford University scientists are joining in a special celebration of the first test of Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity on the remote African island where the ground-breaking experiment ...


Ghost remains after black hole eruption

Ghost remains after black hole eruption

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 28, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (17) | comments 15

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has found a cosmic "ghost" lurking around a distant supermassive black hole. This is the first detection of such a high-energy apparition, and scientists think it is evidence ...


Suzaku snaps first complete X-ray view of a galaxy cluster

Suzaku snaps first complete X-ray view of a galaxy cluster

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created May 28, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (8) | comments 3

The joint Japan-U.S. Suzaku mission is providing new insight into how assemblages of thousands of galaxies pull themselves together. For the first time, Suzaku has detected X-ray-emitting gas at a cluster's ...


Study plunges standard Theory of Cosmology into Crisis

Physics / General Physics

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (47) | comments 70

As modern cosmologists rely more and more on the ominous “dark matter” to explain otherwise inexplicable observations, much effort has gone into the detection of this mysterious substance in the last two decades, yet no direct ...