Physics & Astronomy
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SVOM has left the building
An update on the X-ray optic for the Chinese-French satellite SVOM, by Charly Feldman. Further to the post published by Julian Osborne in October, the SVOM FM optic has now completed all its X-ray and environmental testing. It has been shaked and baked and survived all with no noticeable changes! This has been confirmed by in […]
Announcing the 2020 Yearbook
Twelve months ago, as the Leicester Physics News Team were pulling together stories for our first-ever Yearbook 2019, we could never have imagined the strange world we find ourselves in at the end of 2020. After a mere ten weeks of normality, life began to change immeasurably for the entire Physics and Astronomy family. Some […]
Physics & Astronomy students crack mystery of Rudolph’s red nose
Of all Santa Claus’ reindeer, Rudolph is best known for his bright red nose. But just how fast would he need to travel for his nose to shine its famous scarlet colour? Our Physics and Astronomy students have published their findings in our Journal of Special Topics. As part of their physics degrees, five Leicester […]
Mission Control Flight Director Gerry Griffin – National Space Centre Live Q&A
Join the National Space Centre for a live Q&A session with Apollo 17 Mission Control Flight Director Gerry Griffin, as part of their LIVE Space Q&A sessions this Friday December 11th. Join the National Space centre on Facebook Live on Friday 11 December at 19:00 GMT for a Q&A with the man in the driving […]
November Digest
As the end of 2020 draws near, we’d like to share some of the stories from the Physics and Astronomy Community from the past month. The Physics Community team is busy compiling our 2020 yearbook, so please send any late-breaking stories to phys.community@le.ac.uk by Monday December 14th at the latest, using the normal instructions […]
Hayabusa 2: Asteroid Samples Return this Weekend
Professor John Bridges discusses the importance of the Hayabusa 2 mission, returning samples of asteroid Ryugu to Earth this weekend, in a blog for theConversation. What is your idea of an asteroid? Many people think of them as potato-shaped, inert and perhaps rather dull, pock-marked objects – far away in deep space. But over the […]
Jason-Flor Sisante – National Space Centre Live Q&A
Join special NASA guest, Jason-Flor Sisante, as the National Space Centre hosts a free live Space Q&A to answer your questions regarding the past, present and future NASA space missions, as we once again focus on the moon, Mars and beyond! Jason is a cerebrovascular scientist who is curious to unravel the role of the […]
The Great Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction of 2020
A spectacular event is unfolding in the night skies this December, as Jupiter and Saturn appear closer in the sky than at any time in the past four centuries. Not to be missed! Look towards the west on a clear December night, just after sunset, and it will be hard to miss the sight of […]
National Space Centre’s Women in Space Series
Leicester Space Scientists have been included in a series of interviews by the National Space Centre focussing on Women in Space and careers in STEM. Dr Sarah Casewell is an Observational Astronomer and STFC Ernest Rutherford fellow within the School of Physics and Astronomy specialising in understanding the mysteries of distant Brown Dwarfs. Dr Charly […]
Leicester Planetary Science on BBC Sky at Night
Dr. Leigh Fletcher appeared as a guest on November’s Sky at Night to discuss the potential for life across the Solar System. In the late summer of 2020, the news of potential biomarker gases at the cloud tops of Venus caused tremendous excitement in the planetary community and beyond. Could this be evidence of lifeforms […]
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