Search Results for "astronomy"

Spectral presence

history of science
Katherine Marshall
29 April 2025
5 mins

Katherine Marshall looks at the life of Lady Margaret Huggins, and her significant work in spectroscopic astrophotography in the late nineteenth century.

The nearly man

history of science
Ainsley Vinall
18 February 2025
5 mins

Ainsley Vinall tells the story of the astronomer Alexander Aubert FRS, the subject of an oil painting recently purchased by the Royal Society.

Vida Milovanovic
06 August 2024
6 mins

How did a solar eclipse in May 1919 help to prove Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity? Vida Milovanovic tells the story.

Herschel, old and new

history of science
Keith Moore
13 June 2024
5 mins

The Royal Society’s Herschel collection is growing! Keith Moore describes how a new acquisition provides insights into the wider Herschel family and their scientific endeavours.

Eloise Barber
03 June 2024
4 mins

Sir John Herschel’s careful management of his correspondence, and his central position in nineteenth-century science, make the Royal Society’s Herschel letters an invaluable archival resource, as Eloise Barber discovers during a major new digitisation project. 

Magnetic Halley

history of science
Jon Bushell
16 October 2023
5 mins

Jon Bushell looks at the Royal Society's portraits of Edmond Halley, and a diagram of Halley's curious model for the internal structure of the Earth.

The power of sound

history of science
Alice Oates
22 May 2023
4 mins

Alice Oates explains how the technique known as sonification can enhance astronomers’ ability to analyse large, complex datasets, and can also facilitate access to space sciences for blind and partially sighted people.

The first lady’s comet

history of science
Dr Patricia Fara
08 May 2023
5 mins

Dr Patricia Fara tells the story of Caroline Herschel, concert soprano turned astronomer, unkindly caricatured in Georgian times as ‘The Female Philosopher, smelling out the Comet’.

Comet tales

history of science
Keith Moore
07 February 2023
4 mins

Keith Moore looks to the skies for comets past and present.

Paper machines

history of science
Louisiane Ferlier
30 May 2022
3 mins

Louisiane Ferlier marvels at the paper tools - including quadrants, dials and volvelles - hidden within some of the oldest astronomy books in the Royal Society Library.

Elephant on the Moon

history of science
Daniel Belteki
15 March 2022
4 mins

Inspired by a Samuel Butler poem, Daniel Belteki finds some curious tales of animals and insects within the history of astronomy.

Light and Airy

history of science
Daniel Belteki
27 September 2021
6 mins

Clues to the early life and scientific interests of Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy can be found in his portrait at the Royal Society, as Daniel Belteki explains.