Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
@cambridgeastro.bsky.social
News, public events, and research highlights from the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/
"Constraining the lives and times of exoplanets through evolutionary Bayesian retrievals", by @nichollsh.bsky.social (@cambridgeastro.bsky.social), @timlichtenberg.bsky.social, Ben Riegler, Robb Calder and @vincefort.eurosky.social. Submitted to The Astrophysical Journal.
Giorgia Busso is speaking at NAM26 on "Gaia DR4: a glimpse on the photometric content". Giorgia is a co-author on "CETRA: a fast, sensitive exoplanet transit detection algorithm implemented for GPUs" academic.oup.com/mnras/articl... #MNRAS @royalastrosoc.bsky.social
A cool new paper led by Stephanie Buttigieg (PhD Student @cambridgeastro.bsky.social) is on the arXiv! We compare GWB predictions from the FABLE simulation to NANOGrav's 15yr data, finding that they agree pretty well (1–2.5σ tension). Great work, Stephanie! 🎉 #astro #astrocoding
arXiv bot (astro-ph)@krxiv-astro-ph.bsky.social · last mo.Comparing gravitational wave background predictions from cosmological simulations to pulsar timing observations https://arxiv.org/pdf/2607.05208 Stephanie Buttigieg, Debora Sijacki, Christopher J. Moore, Martin A. Bourne, Alberto Sesana.
Read about IoA involvement in the LSST: www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/cambrid...
Cambridge astronomers play leading role as world's most ambitious sky survey begins | Institute of Astronomy
Astronomers at the University of Cambridge are celebrating the formal start of the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which began capturing data last night from a mountaintop ...
ast.cam.ac.uk
Read about IoA involvement in the LSST: www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/cambrid...
Cambridge astronomers play leading role as world's most ambitious sky survey begins | Institute of Astronomy
Astronomers at the University of Cambridge are celebrating the formal start of the Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which began capturing data last night from a mountaintop ...
ast.cam.ac.uk
Our latest blog is all about newly catalogued material in the Royal Greenwich Observatory archive. specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk?p=31753
www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/profess...
Professor Vasily Belokurov awarded 2026 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics | Institute of Astronomy
IoA Professor Vasily Belokurov has been jointly awarded the 2026 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics with Amina Helmi from the University of Groningen and Rodrigo Ibata from the University of Strasbourg “for ...
ast.cam.ac.uk
Congratulations to Cambridge researchers Prof Vasily Belokurov @cambridgeastro.bsky.social and Prof Christine Holt @pdncambridge.bsky.social on being awarded the 2026 #KavliPrize 👏 Read more about their achievements 👉 https://bit.ly/4a9KoUL @kavliprize.bsky.social
🌍 Are we alone in the universe? Join Prof Nikku Madhusudhan from @cambridgeastro.bsky.social for a Branching Out public talk on the search for life beyond the Solar System 🗓 Thu 4 June, 1pm BST 📍 Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge UK 💻 Also via Zoom More details: www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/events/searc...
Last week Thursday was my inaugural lecture here at @cambridgeastro.bsky.social (it's been a whirlwind with family in town so only posting about it now). The talk is about #blackholes 🧪🔭, pitched for non-experts, and you can follow it on Youtube (QR code on poster, or youtu.be/60hx7MXzxC4)!
The beans have been spilled 🫘Gaia DR4 date is released! 2 December 2026, mark the date for another overwhelmingly huge release www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dat...
A fully immersive pop-up planetarium experience is coming to schools across the East of England – completely free for pupils 🚀 Astronomers at @cambridgeastro.bsky.social say it will revolutionise how they inspire the next generation of scientists. Find out more 👇 https://bit.ly/4sBgEpW
Our 1909 Professor Hiranya Peiris has a new Nature article titled "Large language models are not the problem". If a Large Language Model (LLM) can replicate your scientific contribution, the problem is not the LLM. Perhaps it says we should be doing something better. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Large language models are not the problem - Nature Astronomy
If a Large Language Model (LLM) can replicate your scientific contribution, the problem is not the LLM. What does it say about our field that so much of the anxiety about AI comes down to the fear tha...
nature.com
Our 1909 Professor Hiranya Peiris appeared on The Life Scientific, talking to Jim Al-Khalili about pioneering the modern era of precision cosmology and revolutionising our understanding of the universe. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Hiranya Peiris on unravelling the story of the universe
Hiranya Peiris on discovering the origin and evolution of the universe.
bbc.co.uk
Our 1909 Professor Hiranya Peiris appeared on The Life Scientific, talking to Jim Al-Khalili about pioneering the modern era of precision cosmology and revolutionising our understanding of the universe. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - The Life Scientific, Hiranya Peiris on unravelling the story of the universe
Hiranya Peiris on discovering the origin and evolution of the universe.
bbc.co.uk
Our 1909 Professor Hiranya Peiris has a new Nature article titled "Large language models are not the problem". If a Large Language Model (LLM) can replicate your scientific contribution, the problem is not the LLM. Perhaps it says we should be doing something better. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Large language models are not the problem - Nature Astronomy
If a Large Language Model (LLM) can replicate your scientific contribution, the problem is not the LLM. What does it say about our field that so much of the anxiety about AI comes down to the fear tha...
nature.com
Our doors are open for the 2026 Cambridge Festival Open Day! Come along between 2-6pm to launch rockets, see yourself in invisible light, have your face painted like a galaxy, and more!
Our new Plumian Professor Sera Markoff joined the Quirks and Quarks podcast to talk about her work capturing the first video of a black hole. Listen here: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks... Plus, an accompanying article on this fascinating research: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...
Mar 7: Filming a black hole in action, and more… | CBC Radio
Astronomers are gathering footage for the first video of a black hole, sunlight can convert plastics into vinegar, giant ancient kangaroos could hop, monogamy is a key in termite societies and the "p...
cbc.ca
Plato is getting ready for launch! 🧪🔭
ESA Space Science@science.esa.int · 5mo agoWelcome to the Large Space Simulator! 🌌 Our terrestrial planet hunter, Plato, has been placed inside this ESA chamber for a series of vital tests under space‑like conditions. Discover how it is like inside Europe's largest cryovacuum chamber here 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪
Plato is getting ready for launch! 🧪🔭
ESA Space Science@science.esa.int · 5mo agoWelcome to the Large Space Simulator! 🌌 Our terrestrial planet hunter, Plato, has been placed inside this ESA chamber for a series of vital tests under space‑like conditions. Discover how it is like inside Europe's largest cryovacuum chamber here 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭 🧪
Our new Plumian Professor Sera Markoff joined the Quirks and Quarks podcast to talk about her work capturing the first video of a black hole. Listen here: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks... Plus, an accompanying article on this fascinating research: www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...
Mar 7: Filming a black hole in action, and more… | CBC Radio
Astronomers are gathering footage for the first video of a black hole, sunlight can convert plastics into vinegar, giant ancient kangaroos could hop, monogamy is a key in termite societies and the "p...
cbc.ca
www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/cheops-...
Cheops discovers late bloomer from another era | Institute of Astronomy
In brief Scientists -- including IoA astronomer Dr Nic Walton -- used the European Space Agency's Cheops satellite to discover that the planetary system around the star LHS 1903 challenges current pla...
ast.cam.ac.uk
Amazing moon photo, taken by PhD student Lily Duan Yi Ong through the IoA's 16" telescope! 🧪🔭
Everyone should see the moon with their own eyes through a telescope or binoculars at least once, and the IoA is a great place to do it! (Or at least, was when I went to their open evenings around 2008/09, and I assume still is!)
Amazing moon photo, taken by PhD student Lily Duan Yi Ong through the IoA's 16" telescope! 🧪🔭
We now have an orginal architects drawing of the Cambridge Observatory - hanging in the entrance to the Cambridge Observatory!
An unusual signal initially picked up by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors and subsequently by optical telescopes around the world may have been a “superkilonova” – that is, a kilonova that took place inside a supernova. 🧪⚛️🔭 physicsworld.com/a/unusual-as...
Unusual astronomical event might be a 'superkilonova' – Physics World
Merger of two neutron stars in the aftermath of a supernova may have been observed for the first time, though questions remain
physicsworld.com
