University of Leicester, Physics & Astronomy

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Milky Way with an orbit shown. Credit: P. McMillan, adapted from NASA/JPL/R. Hurt image
Picture illustartes SMILE's operations. SMILE! Taking the first pictures of the magnetosphere Dr Jenny Carter School or Physics and Astronomy & Space Park Leicester 9th March 2026 Launching in spring 2026, SMILE is going to take X-ray images of the region of near Earth space where the solar wind first encounters the Earth's magnetic field. SMILE will also take pictures of the northern hemisphere aurora, using an ultraviolet camera. This simultaneous view of cause and effect has never been done before, and promises to tell us a lot about how the Sun and Earth interact, helping a research field known as space weather.
Land Surface Temperature (LST) view of London, UK, on 30 July 2024 from Sentinel 3a. The LST data have been downscaled using Vis/SWIR inputs from Landsat 9 and Sentinel 2a and a bottom-of-atmosphere optimal estimation methodology to refine the estimates from 1 km data to 100 m. Global Climate Chapter Cover Image from the “BAMS State of the Climate, 2024”. Image produced by the Land Surface Temperature Group in NCEO-Leicester.
IR spectrum of COS from the Coblentz Society's evaluated infrared reference spectra collection. https://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/inchi?ID=C463581&Type=IR-SPEC&Index=0
Thawing permafrost can result in the loss of terrain, as seen in this image where part of the coastal bluff along Drew Point, Alaska, has collapsed into the ocean. Credit: Benjamin Jones, USGS
Ship tracks are one of the clearest signs of how human aerosol emission can alter the properties of clouds and, thereby, the Earth's energy budget. Credit: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/20248/ship-tracks-in-the-northern-pacific
The Uranus and Neptune systems as seen by JWST/NIRCam (Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale). Uranus and its classical satellites are shown on the left against a background of galaxies; Uranus and Neptune are shown on the right replete with reflective rings and clouds. NIRSpec and MIRI will be used to provide full spectroscopy of the Uranus and Neptune atmospheres.
SMILE will have two imagers; the SXI with a view of the dayside magnetopause (purple), and the UVI with a view of the Northern Hemisphere aurora (green). The University of Leicester led the build of the SXI, shown in the inset. Credit: Composite by J. A. Carter, background NASA.
The NGTS telescopes operating in their shed at ESO’s Paranal Observatory, Chile Credit: ESO/G. Lambert
The environments and internal structure of example HotDOGs. The left panel shows an ALMA image of structure in the distribution of cosmic dust around HotDOG W2246, see Diaz-Santos et al. (2018) above in Science. The right panel shows gas around another HotDOG in the background, with ALMA velocity information highlighted in the centre, see the space.com reference above.
Stickney crater on martian moon Phobos as observed by HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Artist’s impression of a disc wind dispersing a planet-forming disc around a young star. Credit ESO / M. Kornmesser.
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Student giving talk
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Students busy solving maths problems
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SXI being built
Prof Leigh Fletcher presenting results of JWST observations of Saturn
Staff and students from Physics at University of Leicester at the 4th year project poster day, 2025
Students study physics at the University of Leicester
A centenary of the School of Physics & Astronomy in Leicester
Group photo of UoL scientists at the celebration