Professor Michele Dougherty has been approved by King Charles III to be the new Astronomer Royal for UK, and will be the first woman to hold this position since the role was first created 350 years ago.
The role of Astronomer Royal was created in 1675, with the goal of discovering how to determine longitude at sea when out of sight of land, and the holder of this position was based at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
Today, the role is an honourary one, awarded to a prominent astronomer who is expected to advise the Monarch on astronomical matters.
Professor Dougherty will hold the role alongside her current positions as Executive Chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, President-elect of the Institute of Physics and a Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London.
Speaking of her new appointment, she said, "I am absolutely delighted to be taking on the important role of Astronomer Royal. As a young child I never thought I’d end up working on planetary spacecraft missions and science, so I can’t quite believe I’m actually taking on this position."
"In this role I look forward to engaging the general public in how exciting astronomy is, and how important it and its outcomes are to our everyday life," she added.
Professor Dougherty was educated at the University of Natal in South Africa, where she was awarded a PhD in 1988 for research on wave-particle interactions in dispersive and anisotropic media.
She was Principal Investigator for the magnetometer instrument onboard the CASSINI-HUYGENS mission to Saturn and its moons and is the Principal Investigator of the magnetometer instrument for the European Space Agency mission, the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), which is enroute to Jupiter and its moons.
Media accreditation has opened for the 13th session of the World Urban Forum, the United Nations’ flagship conference on sustainable urban developme...
The European Union faced calls to implement a never-before-used range of economic countermeasures known as the 'Anti-Coercion Instrument' as part of ...
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev visited the Alley of Martyrs to honour the memory of those killed on 20 January....
Six people have been killed after a massive fire tore through a shopping centre in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, authorities said, as firefighte...
The world is entering a more unstable and fragmented phase as global cooperation declines and rivalry between major powers intensifies, the World Econ...
British Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy arrived in Ukraine’s capital on Friday to attend the 100-Year Partnership Forum and meet Ukrainian leaders, highlighting ongoing cooperation between London and Kyiv.
The UK economy grew more strongly than expected in November, according to official figures, offering signs of resilience after months of weak performance.
The U.S. and UK are reducing personnel at Qatar’s Al-Udeid air base as President Donald Trump weighs possible action against Iran over its violent crackdown on protesters.
The British embassy in Tehran has been temporarily closed, with services now operating remotely, the government announced Wednesday.
The Turkish Defence Ministry has voiced its support for recent military operations by Syrian government forces against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which enjoy the support of the United States.
Tens of thousands of users were left unable to access Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Friday, with outages reported across multiple countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday (17 January) that concerns over security in Greenland should be addressed within the framework of NATO, describing a ground military intervention as highly unlikely.
Ashley St. Clair, mother of one of Elon Musk’s children, has filed a lawsuit against Musk’s company xAI, alleging that its AI tool Grok generated explicit images of her, including one portraying her as underage.
The Kremlin has welcomed recent signals from several major European capitals suggesting a renewed openness to dialogue with Moscow, calling the shift a “positive evolution” in Europe’s stance towards Russia.
The European Union faced calls to implement a never-before-used range of economic countermeasures known as the 'Anti-Coercion Instrument' as part of the bloc's response U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on European countries in connection with Greenland.
Six people have been killed after a massive fire tore through a shopping centre in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, authorities said, as firefighters battled through the night to contain the blaze.
The world is entering a more unstable and fragmented phase as global cooperation declines and rivalry between major powers intensifies, the World Economic Forum has warned.
The Trump administration has denied a report that countries would be required to pay $1bn to join a proposed U.S.-backed peace initiative, after Bloomberg News said a draft charter set out a membership fee.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for 18 January, covering the latest developments you need to know.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment