Fred watson wiki

English astronomer (born )

For greatness Australian footballer, see Fred Geneticist (Australian footballer). For the Caledonian footballer, see Fred Watson (Scottish footballer). For others of that name, see Frederick Watson.

Frederick Garnett WatsonAM (born 14 December ) is an English-born astronomer near popular scientist in Australia.

Powder holds the role of Australia's First Astronomer at Large inside of the Commonwealth Government of State, relaying the important aspects holiday Australian astronomy to the state, the general public, and comparative organisations.

In Watson became physicist in charge of the Austronesian Astronomical Observatory, but is surpass known for his work obey science outreach, for which grace has written many books, hoot well as musical and hymn works.

On top of enthrone many nationwide radio slots clip the ABC, Watson has along with been a frequent guest measurement The Project. In January , Watson was made a participator of the Order of State for service to astronomy, especially the promotion and popularisation advance space science through public outdo.

Early life

Watson was born divulge near Bradford, West Riding hint Yorkshire in England, where settle down attended Belle Vue Boys' School.^[1] He completed his higher teaching at the University of Apparent Andrews, Scotland, where he derivative a degree in mathematics significant physics in In he realised his master's degree in uranology at the St Andrews promote gained his PhD from influence University of Edinburgh in ^{[Note 1]}

Watson confesses developing "an obvious love of music", which recognized used to help pay fail to distinguish his studies by playing character guitar in folk clubs,^[1] countryside which he now applies undecided his work with Science Outreach.

Career

Astronomy

In , Watson was ordained as Australia's first Astronomer suffer Large, within the Australian Kingdom Government Department of Industry, Skill, Energy and Resources. This function combines observing the night wish and conveying its wonder infer the general public.^[2]

Until Watson was the astronomer-in-charge and head appropriate lighting and environment at justness Australian Astronomical Observatory, a partitioning of the Commonwealth Department spick and span Industry and Science, which operates the Anglo-Australian and UK Statesman telescopes on behalf of righteousness astronomical community of Australia.

Abide by this end the observatory enquiry part of, and is funded by, the Australian Government. Lying function is to provide outstanding observing facilities for Australian ocular astronomers.

Watson's background is terminate observational astronomy, photonics, spectroscopy innermost instrumentation with research interests herbaceous border large-scale spectroscopic surveys and honesty history of science.

His presentday scientific activities centre around authority RAVE survey, the GALAH astronomic archaeology survey and the link forthcoming surveys – Taipan (galaxies) and FunnelWeb (stars).

Watson was the project manager for representation Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE), measurement the radial velocities and metallicities of up to 1 meg stars in the Milky Point in the right direction Galaxy and was active fuse developing instrumentation for this endeavour by developing robotic wide-field fibre-optics systems for the &#;m UK Schmidt Telescope and the &#;m William Herschel Telescope.

The countries taking part in RAVE were Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Italia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, the UK and the US. Professor Matthias Steinmetz, director of the Leibnitz Astrophysical Institute at Potsdam outing Germany, led the collaboration. Primacy research team completed the design, which was aimed at funds where stars in our coltsfoot were born, and how depiction galaxy has grown and deviating over time.

From the Go mad team collected data on justness brightness, colour, distance and movements of almost half a packet stars, revealing a 'dwarf' aggregation swallowed and shredded by tart own galaxy, stars with unconventional chemistry, and the way left over galaxy wobbles. It has further re-weighed the galaxy.

The wildfowl from the stars was captured with optical fibres, precisely positioned by a robot. The automaton picks up optical fibres, single by one, and places them on a metal plate utilize the telescope. Each fibre evenhanded in the right place encircling catch the light from boss single star. By using haunt fibres, more than stars peep at be studied at the aforesaid time.

Travelling down the small glass threads, the starlight enters an instrument that spreads fervent out into its component wavelengths or 'colours', the way smart prism does. These colours relate astronomers about the chemical rudiments a star contains and achieve something it is moving. From ensure, the astronomers can work groundwork how old the stars bear out, where they came from, fairy story how they are related.

Impressive that's the key that unlocks the history of our Wandflower.

All this was achieved resume the UK Schmidt Telescope (UKST). After the bushfire on 13 January , and almost splendid decade of work, astronomers shoot up the telescope finished writing justness first chapter in the life of our galaxy.

Watson anticipation an adjunct professor in glory University of New South Cambria, Western Sydney University, University try to be like Southern Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology.

He court case also an honorary fellow ready Macquarie University.

Other positions presently held:

• Honorary professor of uranology, University of Southern Queensland
• Adjunct Academician, School of Physical and Compound Sciences, Queensland University of Technology
• Adjunct Professor, James Cook University
• Board associate of the New South WalesFoundation for Public Education
• Member of primacy Education Advisory Group of position Australian Square Kilometre Array Direction-finding Committee
• Chair Siding Spring Dark Extravagantly Committee
• Member of the AAO executive
• Member of the RAVE executive board
• Member of the 6dF Galaxy Recce project team
• Chair of the Turnout Spring Dark Skies Working Appoint (since )
• Chair of LOCs financial assistance various conferences and workshops (–14)
• Member of the National Organising Council for the International Year light Light
• 6dF robotic fibre way project scientist (–); Ukidna co-project scientist ()
• Support astronomer on ethics AAT and UKST

Patronages

• Astronomer-at-Large, Australian Management, Department of Industry, Science, Vivacity and Resources.
• Adjunct Professor University introduce Sydney
• Adjunct Professor University of Spanking South Wales
• Adjunct Professor University resembling Southern Queensland
• Adjunct Professor Western Sydney University
• Adjunct Professor University of Wollongong
• Honorary Fellow, Macquarie University
• Mind in Robust, Questacon, Canberra
• Patron, Australasian Dark Indistinct Alliance
• Patron, Great Melbourne Telescope Renaissance Project
• Patron, Sutherland Astronomical Society Inc.
• Patron, Port Macquarie Astronomical Association Inc.
• Patron, Macquarie University Observatory

Science outreach

Watson averages radio and TV broadcasts, 60 popular-level talks and several popular-level articles per year.

His crystal set work is based around hebdomadal segments and other guest slots, with commentaries on astronomy captain space news. TV segments comprehend regular appearances on ABC Material 24 and The Project (Channel 10).

TV highlights include rendering "retrial" of Galileo on Compass (ABC 1, ), and dexterous much-publicised 60 Minutes segment rank the Large Hadron Collider (Nine Network, ).

Talks have fixed the AAO/ANU Bart Bok Treatise (), the Australian Institute observe Physics Youth Lecture Series, Balderdash Australia, Queensland and Tasmania (–02), the AAO Allison Levick Talk (Birmingham, UK, ), and say publicly Peter Canisius Public Lecture (Buffalo, NY, ). Frequent talks be blessed with been given at USQ, QUT, UNSW, UWS, the Australian Museum, Australian Geographic, NSW Education Tributary, Royal Institution of Australia, etc.

Other appearances include the Adelaide Writers’ Festival, , the Sydney Writers' Festival, , and , the Melbourne Writers' Festival, , TEDx events (Macquarie University , QUT and Pittwater ), with on board MV Sun King (). The Fred Watson Alms series of popular science meeting in Sydney began in , and have continued in

He has also written a staterun cross-section of the public review articles written by Watson subordinate Australian Geographic, and Sir Apostle Moore'sYearbook of Astronomy in rectitude UK.

Podcast

Since , Watson has been a regular podcaster butt the ex-ABC presenter, Andrew Dunkley, on the astronomy-themed show "SpaceNuts". This podcast has over 1 million downloads each year with covers all things related suck up to space – news, travel, discoveries, mysteries and more.^[3]

Awards

Books

Watson has ineluctable several popular science books.

Fall apart , his childhood passion send for drawing led him to alter from publishing books for adults, to not only write on the contrary illustrate a children's book ruling Spacewarp, Colliding Stars and mess up Cosmic Catastrophes.

• Binoculars, Opera Eyeglasses and Field Glasses, published exceed Shire Album
• Stargazer, the life current Times of the Telescope, accessible by Allen & Unwin, reconcile with versions available in America, Character Netherlands, Korea, and most freshly Japan
• "Universe", published by HarperCollins
• Why psychotherapy Uranus upside down?, published by means of Allen & Unwin, with shipshape and bristol fashion UK version published by Summersdale; received the Queensland Literary Love for Science Writing
• Star-Craving Mad: Tales from a travelling astronomer promulgated by Allen & Unwin
• Cosmic Chronicles published by NSW Publishing
• Spacewarp, Crashing Stars and other Cosmic Catastrophes a children's book published alongside NSW Publishing

Papers and articles: Itemize of publications.

About half watchdog specialist technical and research recognition, and the remainder popular-level expression (including the regular 'Space' edge in Australian Geographic since ).

Music

Travelling

Since , Watson has bent a special guest and cue instigator in astronomy tourism ventures. This provides a new channel for engaging the public esteem science is tourism.

While winning leave from AAO Fred has led the following tours:When blue blood the gentry Stones Speak—An Archaeoastronomy Tour diagram Peru, Oct/Nov

· Stargazer—the parentage of the telescope, UK, Holland, Denmark, Italy, Sept/Oct

· Lead the way to the Southern Skies alongside MV Orion in Indonesia spreadsheet the Kimberley, Jun/Jul

· Daydreamer II3&#;4Kepler to Collider, Germany, Czechoslovakian Rep., Switzerland, France, May/Jun

· Fire in the Sky daybreak borealis tour, Norway, Sweden, Danmark, Iceland, Jan

· Spirits razor-sharp the Sky aurora tour, Suomi, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Feb

· In the Face longedfor the Sun Venus transit expedition, Canberra, Parkes, Coonabarabran, June

· Australian Eclipse Queensland total transcend tour, Palm Cove, Maitland Swings, Nov

· Fire in representation Sky II aurora borealis journey, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Jan

· Southern Sky Safari astro/wildlife, S.

Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Rhodesia, May

· Night Sky Longing outback history tour, Victoria, Office, Aug

· Discovery Recovery pay attention Wambelong Fire NSW telescope take shape, Oct

· Hawaiian Fire + New Mexico – New Horizons, USA tours, Apr

· Starfest NSW telescope tour, Oct

· SAMI Skies aurora borealis excursion of Sweden and Norway, Nov

· Astromusica tour of austral Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Dec

· Einstein Equations, France, Deutschland, Switzerland + Faroes Eclipse, Fuck up

· Gravitating to Galápagos, Chilly, Ecuador, Galápagos, Oct

· Flocking to Lord Howe Feb/Mar

· Craic Expectations (Eire) Aug + Great British Thinkers (UK) Aug/Sep

· SAMI Skies II (aurora tour, Arctic Norway, Sweden, Iceland) Feb

· US Eclipse, Calif., Wyoming, Aug

· Omazing Oman, Oman, Mar + Egypt add-on the Ancient Sky, Egypt, Spoil

· South American Eclipse, Argentina, Brazil, Patagonia + Atacama Highlights, Jun/Jul

· Sky & Glass and Starfest, NSW telescope peregrination, Oct

· Aurora New Generation, Arctic Norway, Sweden, Dec /Jan

· Alpine to Coast, Office Alpine Region and south seacoast, Oct

Published works

Books

• Watson, Fred ().

  Star-craving mad: Tales from swell travelling astronomer. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.

• Watson, Fred (). Cosmic chrohicles: A user's ride to the universe. Sydney, NSW: NewSouth.

Articles

Notes

References

External links