What's Happening
Follow the links below for news and events on the course and within the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute!
JHI Public Lecture - How far is the Sun?
Event Date: 26 June 2025
Join us for a talk about the Sun and determining distances by our Emeritus Professor Don Kurtz!.
The lecture is given at the Darwen Lecture Theatre at UCLan on 26 June 2025 at 6:30pm (refreshments from 6pm)
Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.
Autumn Jeremiah Horrocks Lecture (1st Oct): How did the Universe come to look the way it does?
Event Date: 23 September 2024
Join us for a talk by Prof. Arif Babul from University of Victoria, Canada, about how the Universe came to look the way it does. The lecture is given at the Darwin Lecture Theatre at UCLan.
To book your free tickets visit Eventbrite.
Student Prizes 2023/2024
Posted: 18 July 2024
Each year the students with the best performance in the Entry Level modules and in the BSc (Hons) Astronomy are nominated for a prize. This year we have 8 Honours Graduates. Congratulations to them all.
Jeremiah Horrocks Lecture: The Extremely Large Telescope-The Biggest Eye on the Sky
Event Date: 30 April 2024
Join us for a talk by Ruben Sanchez-Janssen about the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is the world's most ambitious ground-based optical-infrared astronomical facility. The lecture is given at the Darwen Lecture Theatre at UCLan. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite
Winter Jeremiah Horrocks Lecture: Exploring the Dark Universe with the Euclid Space Telescope - 6 February 2024 6:30 pm
Event Date: 30 January 2024
Join us for a talk about the Euclid mission, where early results will be presented that showcase the stunning image quality of the telescope, with Dr Alex Hall. The lecture is given at the Darwen Lecture Theatre at UCLan. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.
JHI Public lecture – An Afterglow and a Dust Cloud – The Story of a Forming Planet Jeremiah – 4 December 2023 6:30 pm
Event Date: 1 December 2023
Join us for an awe-inspiring journey into the birth of a planet, filled with radiant afterglows and swirling dust clouds with Dr. Zoë M. Leinhardt. The lecture is given at the Darwen Lecture Theatre at UCLan. Book your free ticket on Eventbrite.
Student Prizes 2022/2023
Posted: 11 July 2023
Each year the students with the best performance in the Entry Level modules and in the BSc (Hons) Astronomy are nominated for a prize. This year we have 12 Honours Graduates. Congratulations to them all.
JHI Public lecture – From launch to first science, a JWST year to remember – 7 December 2021 6:30 pm
Event Date: 6 December 2022
We are holding our next JHI Public Lecture online on Wednesday the 7th December 2022 at 6.30pm on the new spaceborne telescope, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) The lecture is given at the Darwen Lecture Theatre at UCLan. If you would like to register for ticket(s), please click this eventbrite link.
Student Prizes 2021/2022
Posted: 8 July 2022
Each year the students with the best performance in the Entry Level modules and in the BSc (Hons) Astronomy are nominated for a prize. This year we have 10 Honours Graduates. Congratulations to them all.
JHI Public lecture - Weather in space: how to forecast a radiation storm - 19 October 2021 6:30 pm
Event Date: 6 October 2021
We are holding our next JHI Public Lecture online on Tuesday the 19th October 2021 at 6.30pm on Weather in Space!
Student Prizes 2021
Posted: 19 July 2021
Each year the students with the best performance in the Entry Level modules and in the BSc (Hons) Astronomy are nominated for a prize. This year we have 12 Honours Graduates. Congratulations to them all.
Polarised light image of M87 - new insights into its Black hole
Posted: 26 March 2021
Those of you who have been following the exciting developments of the EHT observations of the black hole of M87 will be thrilled to hear about the newly released image in polarised light.
JHI Spring Lecture - Hunting for the Ghosts of Galaxies
Posted: 8 March 2021
Event Date:: 22 April 2021 Understanding exactly where, when, and how galaxies formed or acquired their stars is a key goal of astrophysics. Dr. Mark Norris explores how a combination of computer simulations, large observational surveys and a few bright ideas are allowing us to pick apart the light of galaxies to work out how and when their stars were formed.
The blink of a cosmic eye: astronomy in the next 200 years
Event Date: 15 January 2021
JHI Winter 2020 Online Lecture - The Science of Superheroes! - 9 December 6.30 pm
Event Date: 4 December 2020
We are holding our next JHI Winter Lecture online on Wednesday the 9th December at 6.30pm on the Science of Superheroes!
Student Prizes 2019-2020
Posted: 29 June 2020
Each year the students with the best performance in the Entry Level modules and in the BSc (Hons) Astronomy are nominated for a prize. This year we have 13 Honours Graduates. Congratulations to them all.
Royal Astronomical Society celebrates 200th Anniversary
Posted: 14 February 2020
Two JHI staff members, Prof Derek Ward-Thompson and Dr Megan Argo, joined 250 other astronomers, geophysicists, and invited guests at the Langham Hotel in central London on January 23rd to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Royal Astronomical Society.
JHI astronomers find a way to form ‘fast and furious’ planets around tiny stars
Posted: 14 February 2020
New astronomy research from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) suggests giant planets could form around small stars much faster than previously thought. As published in Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal, Dr Anthony Mercer and Dr Dimitris Stamatellos’ new planet formation research challenges our understanding of planet formation.
Success for JHI researchers at the Royal Astronomical Society awards
Posted: 14 February 2020
Two members of the JHI, Dr Danielle Bewsher and Dr Daniel Brown have been named as part of the STEREO Heliospheric Imager group that have won the 2020 RAS Group Achievement Award for achievement by a large consortium in geophysics.
JHI Lecture - Cosmic Africa
Event Date: 9 January 2020
Professor Thebe Medupe, South Africa`s first black Astronomer & Astrophysics lecturer[s] in the department of Physics at the Mafikeng Campus will give a lecture on Africa's ancient astronomical history in the Harrington Lecture Theatre at the University of Central Lancashire on Friday 24 January 2020 at 18:30 – 19:30 GMT. This event is free. Bookings via Eventbrite website below. For more information: Email NJones@uclan.ac.uk
Distance Learning Alumni: Stephen Mercer talks about how his distance learning astronomy studies at UCLan
Posted: 9 January 2020
UCLan Astronomy graduate, Stephen Mercer, has put his scientific knowledge to great use as a Physics teacher in secondary education and to further his research in this area. Read from this link how he describes how studying Astronomy at UCLan has influenced his career: https://www.uclan.ac.uk/about_us/case_studies/stephen-mercer.php
Free astrophotography lessons at Alston Observatory
Event Date: 9 January 2020
The “Learn Astrophotography” is a free course running for keen amateur astronomers that are interested in taking their skills further. This event is specifically aimed at those who have always wanted to take astronomy further but have not yet had the opportunity. The project will consist of three workshop sessions, taking place at Alston observatory between January and March 2020, where you will be taught all there is to know about creating your own astronomy image, including how to choose a suitable object for imaging, the importance of image reduction, how to process your own images, as well as learning about the art and science behind taking images. For more information please download the application form. The deadline for applying for a place is 16/1/2020. For further enquires please contact Alexia Lopez at amlopez@uclan.ac.uk or Dr Joanne Pledger at JPledger@uclan.ac.uk
‘Oscars of sciences’ honours for JHI director D. Ward-Thompson
Posted: 8 November 2019
UCLan’s Professor Derek Ward-Thompson is one of the 347 world-leading scientists who formed the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration and who will share the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
International team with JHI astronomer Daniel Holdsworth discovers rapidly pulsating stars
Posted: 28 August 2019
Among the 32 thousand stars observed in short cadence in the first 2 months of science operations, asteroseismic data from the TESS space mission revealed 5 rare roAp stars, including the fastest pulsator in this class. 5th of June 2019 – Using asteroseismic techniques, an international team searched for pulsations in a Read More …
JHI MSc student makes impact at the National Astronomy Meeting
Posted: 15 August 2019
JHI MSc student Graham Fleming discusses his surprising discovery in the Taurus star-forming region with Helen Klus at the Royal Astronomical Society’s National Astronomy Meeting 2019. The annual meeting was hosted by Lancaster University.
Spring 2018 JHI Lecture - Comets Asteroid and Impacts
Event Date: 6 January 2019
It will take place at 6:30pm on 15 May 2018, in the Darwin Lecture Theatre at the University of Central Lancashire. This event is free. Bookings via Eventbrite website below. Information from : Email NJones@uclan.ac.uk
Student Prizes 2016/2017
Posted: 3 January 2019
Each year the students with the best performance in the Entry Level modules and in the BSc (Hons) Astronomy are nominated for a prize. This year we have a record number of Honours Graduates, ten in all. Congratulations to them all.