Institute of Astronomy Cambridge

21/09/2026

An evening with NASA astronaut Steve Swanson!

On Friday 13 November, we're welcoming former NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander Dr Steve Swanson to the Institute of Astronomy, in partnership with Pint of Science and the International Space School Trust (ISSET).

Steve started out as a software engineer before joining NASA. He has flown three missions: two Space Shuttle flights, STS-117 and STS-119, and Expedition 39 to the ISS aboard a Soyuz, which he commanded. He has spent nearly 200 days in space and completed five spacewalks totalling more than 28 hours.

The evening opens with a talk from the Institute of Astronomy, followed by Steve's talk and an extended audience Q&A.

The event will be at the Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA. Doors 6pm, talks 6:30–8:30pm.

Tickets are limited. Book here:

Have you ever wondered what it really takes to be an astronaut and what it's like to go into space? Well now's your chance with former NASA astronaut Steve…

10/09/2026

Our 1909 Professor Hiranya Peiris will appear on BBC Sky at Night next week, talking about her work to understand the physics of the early Universe through laboratory experiments here on Earth.

Tune in on BBC4, Monday 14th September at 10pm, or on iPlayer.

01/09/2026

There's just a few days left to secure a place at our special free public event -- Is Cosmology in Crisis? -- on Tuesday 8 September 2026, 6–7pm at the Ray Dolby Centre, Cambridge.

The Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge will host a public discussion with three world-leading cosmologists — Prof. George Efstathiou, Prof. Wendy Freedman, and Prof. Risa Wechsler — exploring the cutting-edge surveys that could resolve some of the biggest questions in the Universe.

Get tickets here:

Join three trailblazing scientists on a quest to uncover the nature of our Universe and discover whether our understanding is in crisis.

18/08/2026

Is Cosmology in Crisis? Public talk on the 8th September: more info here:https://sites.google.com/cam.ac.uk/kas2026/public-talk?authuser=0

28/07/2026

How well do we really understand the Universe?

95% of it — dark matter and dark energy — remains fundamentally unexplained, and a growing set of tensions in the data is prompting a serious question: is our standard model of cosmology beginning to break?

The Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge is delighted to host a public discussion with three world-leading cosmologists — Prof. George Efstathiou, Prof. Wendy Freedman, and Prof. Risa Wechsler — exploring the cutting-edge surveys that could resolve these puzzles, or deepen them.

📅 Tuesday 8 September 2026, 6–7pm
📍 Ray Dolby Centre, Cambridge
Free to attend. Booking via Eventbrite:

03/07/2026

Our 1909 Professor Hiranya Peiris brilliantly explains in Nature why the proposed cuts to particle physics and astronomy will be so damaging:

Restructuring research funding as a choice between discovery and application gets the economics wrong, the evidence wrong and the people wrong.

23/06/2026

IoA researchers have produced the most detailed study yet of the four planets orbiting Barnard's Star — our Sun's nearest neighbour after Alpha Centauri — finding them to be tidally locked, and rich in a mineral that makes them poor at retaining water, rendering them utterly uninhabitable.

https://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/news/astronomers-find-nearby-planets-be-small-strange-and-utterly-uninhabitable

19/06/2026

Next week, Cambridge cosmologists head to London for the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition!

From 30 June–5 July, the Kavli Institute for Cosmology will be at Carlton House Terrace with our Simons Observatory exhibit — exploring how we're using the Cosmic Microwave Background to uncover clues about the very first moments of the Universe.

Free and open to the public. Come say hello! 🔭

https://royalsociety.org/science-events-and-lectures/summer-science-exhibition/

18/06/2026

IoA postdoc Dr Emilie Hertig has been selected as runner-up for the 2025 RAS Michael Penston Thesis Prize for her PhD thesis 'Probes of cosmic inflation: from the CMB to quantum analogues'.

Congratulations Emilie!

drupal-media[data-view-mode=half_page_width] { display: inline-block; width: 50%; } The Royal Astronomical Society is delighted to announce the winners of its prizes...

02/06/2026

Professor of Astrophysics (1909) Hiranya Peiris has published a piece in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on a structural gap in current AI safety frameworks — one that Forbes this week paired with Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on AI as two defining texts on the moment we're in.

Prof. Peiris's article: https://thebulletin.org/2026/05/ai-can-chart-a-course-to-disaster-faster-than-humans-can-notice/

Piece in Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinwhittaker/2026/05/28/business-leaders-hold-the-pen-on-ais-next-chapter/

Leaders stand at an AI crossroads where their decisions will define the future, shaping innovation, risk and public trust in the years ahead.