Dr Becky Smethurst

Don’t have any eclipse glasses? Here’s how to view the partial solar eclipse on 12th August safely using just two pieces of paper! Turn your back to the Sun and poke a hole through one piece of paper and use it to project the image of the eclipse down onto the other piece. Anything you can find with holes like this will work, including a kitchen colander! Maximum eclipse on Wednesday 12th August is around 7pm UK time, with just over 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon for those of us in the UK #

Don’t have any eclipse glasses? Here’s how to view the partial solar eclipse on 12th August safely using a colander! Turn your back to the Sun and use the colander to project the image of the eclipse down onto the ground. Anything you can find with holes like this will work! Maximum eclipse on 12th August is around 7pm UK time, with just over 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon for those of us in the UK #eclipse #eclipse2026 #astrotok #sun #moon

The closest thing to Starfall in ACOTAR is coming up on Wednesday 12th August - it’s the peak of the best meteor shower of the year! The one with the chance to see the most shooting stars, and it’s the perfect night for a date night picnic, or a picnic with friends, or a starfall party! Trust me, I’m a romantasy loving astrophysicist ✨ 💖 🪐 You don’t need any equipment, just somewhere comfy to lie down and look directly up at a clear sky and give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust to the da

I recently filmed with the BBC for Sky at Night for their section on what you can see in the night sky in August. We filmed on location at Flamsteed Observatory, run by the Derby and District Astronomical Society #astronomy #skyatnight #stargazing Watch Sky at Night live on BBC Four at 10pm on 10th August or on BBC iPlayer 👩🏽‍💻 I'm Dr. Becky Smethurst, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. I love making videos about science with an unnatural level of enthusiasm. I like to focus on how w

The fact that the Perseids Meteor Shower 2026 is the same evening as the sunset eclipse, I just don’t think there’s a better night this year to take a picnic somewhere in the countryside, maybe as a date night or a family night, or with a group of friends, and just enjoy the wonders of the night sky. 12th August 2026 is the peak of the Perseids, which are visible wherever you are in the world. Plus we have perfect conditions for viewing the shooting stars of the Perseids this year, because the s

What’s one thing that non-experts get wrong about astrophysics? I chatted to my fellow astrophysicists at the National Astronomy Meeting 2026 to find out what people always get wrong about their field of science research! From galaxies, to black holes, to Earth-like planets #voxpop #astronomy #science #scienceresearch #astrophysics

700 astrophysicists 🔭 Unlimited coffee ☕️ And a whole load of science ✨ This is the National Astronomy Meeting, the UK's largest gathering of astrophysicists and astronomers, and this year, I'm not just attending. I'm presenting! And you’re coming with me... Over the next two days, I’ll take you into the big plenary talks, and the parallel science sessions, including the one where I’ll give my talk, and support my PhD student giving hers. Plus I’ll take you behind the scenes for the bits you don

While you’re out watching the Perseids, or walking back from the pub this month, look out for Saturn rising in the East at around 11pm 🪐 It will rise earlier and earlier as August goes on, so that by the start of September it will rise at 9pm Saturn has that yellowish tinge to it that helps you pick it out from the background stars. But if you’re not sure what you’re looking for I’ve got two tricks for you to spot Saturn. The first trick is to know that stars twinkle but planets don’t. That’s be

The iconic Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank is set to shut down. There is a petition to try and save Jodrell Bank, which needs £2.8 million per year to keep operating, for comparison the catering budget for the House of Commons is just under £7.5 million a year. *sigh* that’s just one of many cuts to science funding coming in, and the community is still reeling from the announcement but let’s talk about it. This comes off the back of the science funding body announcing in January to expect up to

An astrophysicist’s live reaction to the brand new JWST images #jameswebbtelescope #jwst #nasa #esa #unfoldtheuniverse #space #astronomy #science #sciencetok #spacetok #astrotok

Can’t wait to share this with you all. Link in bio to pre-order! #astronomy #blackholes #astrophysics #science #space #physics #books #youtuber #booktok #sciencebook #scitok #astrotok #eventhorizon

Telescope application season: every astrophysicist’s favourite time of year… NOT! HST is 8 times oversubscribed so it’s very competitive! #astrophysics #astronomy #space #hubble #hubbletelescope #jameswebb #jwst #hst #hubblespacetelescope #NASA #ESA #womeninstem #womeninscience #femalescientist #cosmos #sciencetok