Skip to main content
School of Physical and Chemical Sciences

News

Radiation from massive stars shapes planetary systems
29 February 2024

Astronomy unit members are part of a team that has discovered a unique planetary system where a young star is being stripped bare of its planet-forming material at an astonishing rate

New research journal launched by Astronomy Unit member
8 December 2023

Dr Enrico Camporeale, Senior Lecturer in QMUL’s Astronomy Unit, has become the founding editor-in-chief of the new journal Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Machine Learning and Computation

New James Webb Space Telescope observations reveal potential for earth-like planets in harsh environments
30 November 2023

A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters suggests that planets like Earth, including those with water, could form even in the harshest known star-forming environments. These environments, drenched in intense ultraviolet radiation from massive stars, were previously thought to be too hostile for planet formation.

Astronomy Unit win SEPnet award for public engagement
28 September 2023

The Astronomy Unit has jointly topped the Research Group category at the biennial SEPnet Public Engagement awards, being one of only two groups chosen as “Highly Commended”.

Astronomy Unit member receives €1.5 million European Research Council Grant to study exoplanet evolution
5 September 2023

Dr Ed Gillen, from Queen Mary's Astronomy Unit, has been awarded €1.5 million from the European Research Council to support a team to investigate how exoplanetary systems evolve into potentially habitable environments

QMUL's Astronomy Unit members deliver a series of talks at the Royal Institution
31 August 2023

Five academics from QMUL, including four from the Astronomy Unit, have delivered a series of talks at the Royal Institution, covering topics in Astronomy from stars, to gravitational waves and cosmology.

Queen Mary Astronomy Unit Part of New Leverhulme Grant for Astrobiology
13 July 2023

Queen Mary's new inter-school astrobiology initiative has been awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Research Project grant.

A new Tatooine-like multi-planetary system identified
13 June 2023

Researchers in QMUL’s Astronomy Unit were involved in the discovery of a new multi-planetary system orbiting two stars, only the second such system known to exist

AU academic awarded €2m from European Research Council to investigate planet forming discs
3 February 2023

Dr Thomas Haworth from QMUL's Astronomy Unit has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant worth €2m to investigate how planet forming discs evolve in different environments.

AU members, together with NASA and Edinburgh scientists, use James Webb Space Telescope data to unveil young stars in early stages of formation
15 December 2022

James Webb Space Telescope infrared capabilities pierce through dust clouds to make rare find.

QMUL Astronomy Unit member Dr Andrea Larosa awarded the AGU Fred L. Scarf Award
6 September 2022

Dr Andrea Larosa has been awarded the AGU Fred L. Scarf Award for his work on magnetic switchbacks and Langmuir waves with the NASA Parker Solar Probe mission

Observatory QMUL Astronomical Observatory undergoes significant upgrade
11 August 2022

The QMUL Astronomical Observatory is undergoing a major upgrade to allow full remote operation of the dome and telescopes. This will greatly expand the range of projects that students will be able to carry out as part of their final-year projects.

Atrial Digital Twins. Credit: Caroline Roney. Queen Mary Science and Engineering researchers awarded UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships to tackle heart irregular heart rhythms and explore turbulence in space plasma
15 June 2022

Dr Caroline Roney and Dr Christopher Chen are among 84 promising leaders awarded fellowships totalling £98 million.

Physics and Astronomy at the Festival of Communities
12 June 2022

Members of the Department of Physics and Astronomy took part in QMUL's Festival of Communities to showcase our work to the public.

Astronomy Unit academic awarded ERC grant to investigate how planets are formed from dust
27 April 2022

Dr Sijme-Jan Paardekooper has been awarded € 2,314,680 from the European Research Council (ERC) to study how dust distribution impacts the formation of planets.

AU researchers join the LIGO Scientific Collaboration
24 January 2022

A team of researchers from the QMUL Cosmology & Relativity group have been admitted to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the global organisation leading the detection and interpretation of gravitational wave events.

Parker Solar Probe enters the magnetic atmosphere of the Sun
14 December 2021

The NASA Parker Solar Probe mission has become the first spacecraft to enter the solar corona – the magnetically dominated atmosphere of the Sun. Researchers from the AU played a key role in the research confirming this historic event in space exploration.

Christopher Chen American Geophysical Union’s James B. Macelwane Medal Dr Christopher Chen awarded medal for outstanding contributions to space science
15 September 2021

Dr Christopher Chen from Queen Mary University of London has won American Geophysical Union’s James B. Macelwane Medal for his significant contributions to the geophysical sciences as an early career scientist.

QMUL's Astronomical Observatory Captures Solar Eclipse
11 June 2021

Members of the Astronomy Unit gathered at the School of Physics and Astronomy's Observatory to witness the recent partial solar eclipse.

Important plasma waves in the solar atmosphere identified by AU researchers
11 May 2021

AU researchers have confirmed the existence of magnetic plasma waves, known as Alfvén waves, in the Sun’s photosphere.

QMUL's Astronomy Unit Celebrates International Women's Day
8 March 2021

On Monday 8th March 2021, QMUL's Astronomy Unit celebrated International Women's Day by showcasing current staff, alumni, and eminent astrophysicists. A selection of tweets celebrating this day can be found below.

Research led by the AU finds black holes could reach ‘stupendously large’ sizes
20 January 2021

A recent study suggests the possible existence of ‘stupendously large black holes’ or SLABS, even larger than the supermassive black holes already observed in the centres of galaxies.

Tessa Baker and Phil Bull AU researchers win prestigious European Research Council grants
14 September 2020

Two cosmologists in the Astronomy Unit in the School of Physics and Astronomy have been awarded prestigious Starting Grants from the European Research Council.

Comet NEOWISE (close-up), seen by Dr Thomas Haworth from Cheltenham on 10th July Rare naked-eye comet NEOWISE lights up the sky
19 July 2020

A recently-discovered comet has become visible to the naked eye during twilight. QMUL astronomer Thomas Haworth has been making the most of this rare opportunity by taking some photos!

Artist's impression of Gliese 887 V2b (RedDots collaboration) Super-Earths discovered orbiting nearby star
26 June 2020

A system of super-Earth planets has been detected orbiting one of closest stars to the Sun, Gliese 887. An international team of astronomers, including Professor Richard Nelson and Dr Gavin Coleman of Queen Mary University of London, made the discovery as part of Red Dots, a project to detect terrestrial planets orbiting stars close to the Sun.

Cassini image of Saturn and Titan Saturn's Moon Titan Drifting Away Faster Than Previously Thought
8 June 2020

Research involving scientists from Queen Mary University of London has shown that the moons of Saturn are moving outwards faster than first estimated, providing new insights into how the Saturn system formed. 

Image of the observatory with the QMSPEC experimental set-up (the instrument is under the black ‘cloth’ which is used to block stray light). (Clark Baker) Innovative spectrometer sees first light (and breaks a record)
1 June 2020

Astronomers at QMUL have developed an extremely high-resolution spectrometer for exoplanet studies that is many times smaller, lighter, and cheaper than current alternatives. Its first-light spectrum is thought to be the highest resolution ever taken from the UK!

Queen Mary astronomer makes the connection to Data Science
11 May 2020

The QMUL School of Physics and Astronomy is a member of the Data Intensive Science Centre in the South East Physics Network (DISCnet). DISCnet is an STFC funded Centre for Doctoral Training, aimed at training a new generation scientists in data science. Paula Soares, a cosmology PhD student in the Astronomy Unit being supervised by Dr Alkistis Pourtsidou, is part of DISCnet and undertook a 3-month long data science internship in the summer of 2019.

Sunset over the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (credit: D. Storer) Queen Mary astronomers celebrate funding success
30 April 2020

Astronomers at QMUL are celebrating a bumper research funding award from the UK Government's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).

Astronomy Unit hosts the Parker Solar Probe FIELDS team meeting
16 March 2020

The QMUL Astronomy Unit hosts a meeting for the team that designed and operates the FIELDS suite of instruments onbaord NASA's Parker Solar Probe spacecraft.

The MeerKAT radio telescope. Courtesy: SARAO. Astronomy Unit researchers help usher in a new era of radio cosmology
6 March 2020

Researchers at Queen Mary are leading the way as a new generation of cosmic surveys with radio telescopes begin.

An artists impression of Alpha Cen B, discovered as part of the pale red dots programme Updates from the Planets group at Queen Mary
5 March 2020

The Planets group at Queen Mary has had another busy year! Here are some recent highlights.

Parker Solar Probe. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben Researchers uncover intense chaotic motions of the solar wind
3 February 2020

New research from Queen Mary University of London has observed the chaotic behaviour of the solar wind at distances closer to the Sun than ever before.

Queen Mary researcher awarded prestigious Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship
6 January 2020

Dr Julian Adamek, a senior postdoctoral researcher in the Astronomy Unit, has been awarded a prestigious Eccellenza Professorial Fellowship by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Closest-ever approach to the Sun reveals dynamic origins of solar wind
5 December 2019

Queen Mary researchers were part of an international team interpreting ground-breaking results from the Parker Solar Probespacecraft, which has flown closer to the Sun than ever before.

Astronomy Unit Members Attend the Les Houches School on Plasma Physics
27 May 2019

Members of the QMUL Astronomy Unit attended the Les Houches Physics School on "The multiple approaches to plasma physics from laboratory to astrophysics" and PhD student Alice Giroul won first prize for best poster presentation at the school.

Dr Alkistis Pourtsidou to explore the universe as a Future Leaders Fellow
9 May 2019

A Queen Mary cosmologist has been announced as a Future Leaders Fellow as part of a new government initiative to give leading researchers an opportunity to deliver global impact.

Spacecraft measurements reveal mechanism of solar wind heating
14 February 2019

Queen Mary University of London has led a study which describes the first direct measurement of how energy is transferred from the chaotic electromagnetic fields in space to the particles that make up the solar wind, leading to the heating of interplanetary space.

Astronomers find a super-Earth at Barnard's star
15 November 2018

Astronomers from the School of Physics and Astronomy are members of an international team that has found a planet in orbit around the second-closest star to the Sun, known as Barnard's star. 

Thermosphere Aurora_100x100 Queen Mary astronomer to play key role in ESA’s Ariel exoplanet mission
27 March 2018

Dr James Cho of the School of Physics and Astronomy is a member of the UK-led international team that will develop the European Space Agency’s Ariel mission, dedicated to observing and characterising planets in orbit around other stars (exoplanets).

Small ESO Release NGC3201_100x100 QMUL Astronomer helps to find Dormant Black Hole
17 January 2018

Queen Mary astronomer Dr Guillem Anglada Escudé is a member of an international team of astronomers who have used a novel method to find a black hole hiding in a nearby group of stars.

Back to top