Sometimes satellites can provide an unexpected view of events. On the 18th December 2018 a huge meteor entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the northern Pacific Ocean, an event that – due to its isolated location – attracted very little attention at the time. American military satellites that look for bright flashes detected the meteor as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere and this enabled scientists at NASA to calculate its trajectory[1].

Oliver Humphries and Sam Vinko from Oxford Physics were part of one of the first user experiments to take place at the European XFEL, the flagship x-ray free-electron laser facility currently being commissioned at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. The first user results were reported at the annual XFEL User meeting on 23 January.

Congratulations to Sir Alex Halliday who has been knighted for services to Science and Innovation in the New Year's Honours list for 2019.

Alexander Halliday FRS, Visiting Professor of Geochemistry at the Department of Earth Sciences and recently Head of Oxford’s Mathematical Physical and Life Sciences Division, is knighted for services to science and innovation.

To see the full list please click here

The Royal Astronomical Society has given the Galaxy Zoo team – including the volunteers who have made the project the success it is – their Group Achievement Award for 2019.

Citation for the 2019 RAS Group Achievement Award:

Congratulations to Prof. Michael Johnston who will be awarded the Harrie Massey Medal and Prize in December.

This is a silver medal from the Institute of Physics which is awarded in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Physics (http://www.iop.org/about/awards/bilateral/massey/page_38485.html).

The University of Oxford has marked the opening of the Beecroft Building, a new 8,950sqm building for experimental and theoretical physics.

World wide web pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee and donor Adrian Beecroft joined the Chancellor, Lord Patten of Barnes, and the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Louise Richardson, to officially open the new state-of-the-art facility located in Oxford University’s science area in Parks Road.