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Latest news and comment

Attendees with phones and telescopes observing moon at Department of Physics

Celebrating International Observe the Moon Night 2025

On 6 November, the Department of Physics hosted its annual International Observe the Moon Night, inviting members of the public to explore our nearest celestial neighbour through telescopes, experiments, and conversations with planetary scientists.
10 November 2025
The same transient event shown in three surveys, with rows corresponding to Pan-STARRS (top), MeerLICHT (middle), and ATLAS (bottom).

AI breakthrough helps astronomers spot cosmic events with just a handful of examples

A new study co-led by the University of Oxford and Google Cloud has shown how general-purpose AI can accurately classify real changes in the night sky.
8 October 2025
The MeerKAT radio telescope

First evidence of black hole and astrophysical jets alignment

Scientists have found direct evidence that the fastest and most powerful astrophysical jets are locked to the spin of the black hole that launches them. The results have been published in Nature Astronomy.
23 September 2025
Image of MeerKAT radio telescope during daytime.

Distant galaxies reveal hidden effect from Big Bang

Physicists at the University of Oxford have found the first compelling observational evidence that the Cosmic Microwave Background – the faint afterglow of the Big Bang – affects radio signals from distant galaxies.
15 September 2025
Professor Stephen Smartt and Dr Heloise Stevance

AI tool helps astronomers find supernovae in a sky full of noise

A new AI-powered tool has reduced astronomers’ workload by 85% filtering through thousands of data alerts to identify the few genuine signals caused by supernovae – powerful explosions from dying stars.
11 September 2025
Insight into rare pulsar

New insights into rare pulsar

Physicists from the University of Oxford have been part of an international team who have uncovered new insights into the behaviour of a rare transitional millisecond pulsar.
15 July 2025
An estimation of the orbit of 3I (red, dashed) relative to the orbit of the Sun (yellow, dotted) through the Milky Way.

Third ever detection of interstellar object

The discovery of 3I/ATLAS – an interstellar comet shooting through the Solar System – sent astronomers scrambling last week, excited for only their third chance to study a small body from another star.
11 July 2025
NSF-DOE Rubin Trifid and Lagoon nebulas

First look: the trailer for Rubin’s movie of the sky

The first images from the extraordinary NSF-DOE Vera C Rubin Observatory have been made public today.
23 June 2025
Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell CH

Jocelyn Bell Burnell appointed Companion of Honour

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been appointed Companion of Honour in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2025 for her services to astronomy and physics and to diversity.
14 June 2025
Deaglan Bartlett

Meet...Deaglan Bartlett

We work among extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; get to know some of them by reading these quick-fire interviews.
9 June 2025
One of the Simons Observatory small aperture telescopes (SAT)

Commentary: Professor Alonso on unlocking secrets of the universe with the Simons Observatory

A consortium across six UK universities has been awarded an STFC Astronomy Large Award to fund their work analysing data from the Simons Observatory; Professor David Alonso explains how it could shed light on dark matter, dark energy and the Big Bang.
2 June 2025
Members of the partnership standing around the phased array feed (PAF).

New Breakthrough Listen partnership to monitor the skies

Breakthrough Listen is partnering with ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, and the University of Manchester, to deploy a new all-sky monitor at the Westerbork Observatory in the Netherlands.
14 May 2025
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