The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) recently expressed deep regret at the decision of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to end support for two major astronomical telescopes.

Herschel has peered inside an unseen stellar nursery and revealed surprising amounts of activity.

Astronomers using the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) William Herschel Telescope (WHT) on La Palma have confirmed an effective way to search the atmospheres of planets for signs of life, vastly improving our chances of finding alien life outside our solar system.

By JUAN MANUEL PARDELLAS By Juan Manuel Pardellas

One of the world's largest and most powerful telescopes opened its shutters, turned its 34-foot wide mirror toward the skies and captured its first light at a mountaintop on one of Spain's Canary Islands on Saturday.