Cuts to UK Astronomy? It's all about the base(line). A short post on LinkedIn highlighting that the effective cuts to UK Astronomy funding are not some far off possibility - they have already started. www.linkedin.com/posts/profji...

I was lucky enough to get a personal tour from Max Alexander around the wonderful Our Fragile Space exhibition installed in the courtyard of the Royal Astronomical Society. Thank you Max! @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

Finally got my @royalastrosoc.bsky.social Save UK Astronomy sticker! #astro

Celebrating the spring equinox with a sunny lunchtime campus run ☀️🏃🌍

"Research funding cuts threaten a whole generation of scientists". Op-ed in Research Professional News today by Mike Lockwood and me. #STFCcuts #SaveUKAstronomy www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

"This is not straightforward... and the STFC thing is particularly difficult" Understatement 😬 A thread with quotes from Lord Vallance and his thoughts on the "STFC thing"

The RAS will be sending these to astro groups across the UK... They look great on every laptop, particularly in meetings with UKRI and DSIT staff...

Excited to have come away from my trip to London for Royal Astronomical Society Council with a batch of newly-printed “Save Astronomy” stickers! 🔭 @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

The Science, Innovation & Tech committee have written the most amazing letter to DSIT/UKRI/STFC: "What is clear is that, despite your assertions to the contrary... widespread cuts have been proposed before adequate consultation with those affected was undertaken. This is wholly unacceptable" 💪🔭⚛️🧪

🚨Announcement🚨 Want to learn more about the growing threat of space debris? 🛰️💥 We're delighted to be welcoming the ground-breaking photography exhibition 'Our Fragile Space' to the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social. ⤵️

What better day to promote this than #internationalwomensday?

Astronomers for Planet Earth are submitting a statement about some of the proposed megaconstellations that would ruin ground-based astronomy to the FCC. You can read the statement below: 🔭☄️

Great summary of today's Science, Information & Technology Committee hearing (House of Commons) from @astroroyalscot.bsky.social. It seems pretty clear that there have been serious structural and governance failures at STFC that have led to the current crisis.

Bravo to the scientists, @astroroyalscot.bsky.social, @jonbutterworth.bsky.social and Simon Williams who gave such compelling and clear evidence to the House of Commons SIT Committee this morning 👏 committees.parliament.uk/event/26683/...

Here is my run-down of today's Science and Technology Committee hearing (House of Lords) where "considerable disquiet in the science community" was raised with Sir Patrick Vallance. Really great to see the public gallery packed with physicists!

Universities use QR funding for a wide array of costs to support their research. The idea that it all goes to “curiosity driven research” is totally wrong. Either UKRI knows this and is deliberately misleading Parliament, or, perhaps worse, it doesn’t. 🧪 committees.parliament.uk/publications...

I'm sure we'll all agree that everything is now super clear 😵‍💫 High res version here: committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Just published: Professor Sir Ian Chapman, Chief Executive of UKRI, has written to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee Chair, Dame Chi Onwurah, to provide previously unavailable information about its new 'bucket'-led approach to funding research. committees.parliament.uk/committee/13...

Well, it's been a busy day prepping for my upcoming appearance in Westminster👇. The chocolate is all gone. This thread contains evidenced statistics to support the continued (not cut) funding for UK particle, astro and nuclear physics (PPAN). Thanks to everyone who contributed today! 🧵

Astronomers take note: The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee are having another session on Wednesday, taking evidence from (among others) the Prof Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social and STFC Executive Chait Prof Michele Dougherty. committees.parliament.uk/event/26683/...

STFC CEO responds to @jonbutterworth.bsky.social "it is important for all of our ... programmes ... to contribute to us making savings across our entire portfolio" No mention that *all* is disproportionately falling on the particle-astro-nuclear programme 🤷‍♀️😡 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Shocking from UKRI: no more aircraft observations, investing in "land-based capabilities and remote sensing equipment." The atmosphere is not land-based(!) and remote sensing can only provide an approximation of what FAAM could do. And I say that as someone who should gain from such a pivot.

Some great advice from Lancaster’s @jim-wild.bsky.social on how to get the best view of the Northern Lights in 2026, as told to BBC News Online 🌌 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

We have written to Science Minister Lord Patrick Vallance urging him to step him and help reverse the cuts to astronomy and space science proposed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council last month. Read the letter in full 👉️ ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

Today the astro-community discussed the devastating proposed 30% cuts to our research funding, cuts that will be offsetting (some of the) rising costs at UK facilities that we don't use. Hard not to feel victimised when those same facilities make a fanfare announcement about an expensive facelift. 🔭

Photocall: the recently rediscovered portrait of British astronomer Richard Carrington (the father of #spaceweather), legendary space physicist and President of the Royal Astronomical Society Prof Mike Lockwood, and me 😁@royalastrosoc.bsky.social #astronomy #space

“it's the same science that explains how stoves and fridges work, and I have never met a single person who believed that stoves and fridges were a myth”

In the first of a new series of Deeper Dive YouTube exclusives, Alex Deakin had an in-depth discussion with Professor Craig Rodger from the University of Otago, an expert on space weather and its impacts on the electricity network. Read more: www.metoffice.gov.uk/blog/2026/de...

The RAS was saddened to hear of the passing of our former President, Professor Mike Cruise, who has died aged 78. "Kind, thoughtful and honourable", Mike was a "stalwart of the RAS". Our thoughts are with his family, friends and all who had the privilege to know him. ras.ac.uk/news-and-pre...

spot on Professor Rice

Start your weekend with @iansample.bsky.social’s coverage of the financial problems faced by UK astronomers, with contributions from RAS President Mike Lockwood and Astronomer Royal for Scotland Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

If you are an early-career researcher worried about the threats to funding in Astronomy, nuclear and particle physics, you should consider signing this open letter👇

Thanks to @iansample.bsky.social at the Guardian for covering the devastating funding cuts that are being proposed for UK (astro)physics, and the dire impact these would have on young researchers. Will UKRI/STFC reconsider? Will the UKGov step in?🤞👩‍🔬🧪⚛️🔭 www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

Given recent UKRI and STFC announcements, looking back at this 2008-vintage BBC Newsnight report about the crisis arising from the formation of STFC, it’s hard not to (a) feel a sense of Déjà vu and (b) that lasting lessons were not learned. youtu.be/Ot60dIdI1Ds?...

Amazing! We can finally see what Richard Carrington looked like. Brilliant work by the RAS's Kate Bond (plus a bit of serendipity) has un-Earthed this photograph of the #spaceweather legend.

Really troubling news on astronomy funding from the UK's Science & Technology Facilities Council.

Do you know of a recent PhD thesis in astronomy or geophysics that should be recognised? The nomination deadline for the @royalastrosoc.bsky.social thesis prizes is Friday 31 January! #astronomy #geophysics #PhD #thesis

Back at the Royal Astronomical Society today for a meeting of the independent Space Environment Impact Experts Group. Although the meeting has been in the diary for months, there will no doubt be plenty of discussion about this week’s solar storm! #spaceweather @royalastrosoc.bsky.social

Exactly this. Thanks @plasmanerd.bsky.social We had a “near miss” in the last 24h. The Earth’s magnetosphere effectively shielded us from a #spaceweather event. But a similar coronal mass ejection with an opposite polarity magnetic field would almost certainly have been much more geoeffective.

The #auroraborealis seen widely across the UK and mid-latitudes last night were triggered by the arrival of a strongly magnetised Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun. The interplanetary magnetic field strength rose to more than 90nT (normally ~5nT). Great images @carldw.bsky.social 😍

Brightening nicely - shame about the cloud!

I spoke too soon! Snatching a glimpse of the aurora from the back garden in Lancaster during a break in the clouds! #aurora #northernlights #uk #spaceweather

Aurora borealis alert! There’s a powerful geomagnetic storm taking place, with the possibility of seeing the aurora as far south as Wales, the Midlands and East Anglia. Unfortunately, cloud breaks are quite limited at the moment. Look north in the sky. Image: Aurora Watch UK

Some amazing pictures of the Aurora Borealis coming in from across the UK and Ireland. Sadly too cloudy here in Lancaster ☁️ (Great pics Ally 😍) #aurora #uk #northernlights #spaceweather

But now you’re here Brighten my Northern Sky.

Aurora over Edinburgh just now. #aurora #northernlights #astrophotography

Aurora over North Wales. Llanfairfechan. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

MAJOR naked-eye aurora visible through cloud gaps from Dartmoor in Devon right now. Vibrant red and green colours easily visible to the eye with direct vision. Here’s back of DSLR view from a few moments ago.

Fresh out on the fells this morning!

Another day trip to Piccadilly for Royal Astronomical Society Council and a fantastic A&G meeting 🎄