Steve Fossey

Last updated

Steve Fossey
NationalityBritish
Alma mater University of London
Known for SN 2014J, HD 80606b
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy
Institutions University College London, UCL Observatory
Thesis The diffuse interstellar features and interstellar relationships  (1990)
Website www.ucl.ac.uk/astrophysics/dr-steve-fossey-director-uclo

Stephen John Fossey is a British astronomer who is the director of UCL Observatory, part of University College London (UCL). He discovered the nearby supernova SN 2014J and is one of the three editors of The Observatory magazine.

Contents

Education

Fossey studied at University College London (UCL), receiving his Bachelor of Science with Honours in 1983. This was followed in 1990 by a PhD in Astronomy (also at UCL). [1] Fossey became a member of staff at ULO (University of London Observatory), which was later renamed UCL Observatory. [1]

Research and publications

Fossey's research interests are in the interstellar medium, exoplanets and time-domain astronomy. [2] He has authored two dozen refereed scientific papers on these topics. [3] His first scientific publication was a single-author letter in Nature . [4]

Along with Ingo Waldmann and David Kipping, Fossey discovered in 2009 that the exoplanet HD 80606b (previously known from radial velocity) transits its host star. [5] In January 2014, Fossey discovered supernova SN 2014J, the closest supernova for several decades. [6]

Fossey is an editor of The Observatory magazine. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messier 82</span> Starburst galaxy in the constellation Ursa Major

Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is a starburst galaxy approximately 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. It is the second-largest member of the M81 Group, with the D25 isophotal diameter of 12.52 kiloparsecs (40,800 light-years). It is about five times more luminous than the Milky Way and its central region is about one hundred times more luminous. The starburst activity is thought to have been triggered by interaction with neighboring galaxy M81. As one of the closest starburst galaxies to Earth, M82 is the prototypical example of this galaxy type. SN 2014J, a type Ia supernova, was discovered in the galaxy on 21 January 2014. In 2014, in studying M82, scientists discovered the brightest pulsar yet known, designated M82 X-2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Mayor</span> Swiss astrophysicist & Nobel laureate of Physics

Michel Gustave Édouard Mayor is a Swiss astrophysicist and professor emeritus at the University of Geneva's Department of Astronomy. He formally retired in 2007, but remains active as a researcher at the Observatory of Geneva. He is co-laureate of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics along with Jim Peebles and Didier Queloz, and the winner of the 2010 Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize and the 2015 Kyoto Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David C. Jewitt</span> British-American astronomer (born 1958)

David Clifford Jewitt is a British-American astronomer who studies the Solar System, especially its minor bodies. He is based at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is a Member of the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics, the Director of the Institute for Planets and Exoplanets, Professor of Astronomy in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Professor of Astronomy in the Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences. He is best known for being the first person to discover a body beyond Pluto and Charon in the Kuiper belt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didier Queloz</span> Swiss astronomer (born 1966)

Didier Patrick Queloz is a Swiss astronomer. He is the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where he is also a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as a professor at the University of Geneva. Together with Michel Mayor in 1995, he discovered 51 Pegasi b, the first extrasolar planet orbiting a Sun-like star, 51 Pegasi. For this discovery, he shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics with Mayor and Jim Peebles. In 2021, he was announced as the founding director of the Center for the Origin and Prevalence of Life at ETH Zurich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 1572</span> Supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia

SN 1572, or B Cassiopeiae, was a supernova of Type Ia in the constellation Cassiopeia, one of eight supernovae visible to the naked eye in historical records. It appeared in early November 1572 and was independently discovered by many individuals.

Glenn J. White is Professor of Astronomy at the Open University, UK, and Research Group Leader of the Astronomy Group at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. He carries out research on star formation and on exoplanets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope</span>

The Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) is an automated telescope used in the search for supernovae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of supernova observation</span> Ancient and modern recorded observations of supernovae explosions

The known history of supernova observation goes back to 1006 AD. All earlier proposals for supernova observations are speculations with many alternatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 2006gy</span> 2006 hypernova in constellation Perseus

SN 2006gy was an extremely energetic supernova, also referred to as a hypernova, that was discovered on September 18, 2006. It was first observed by Robert Quimby and P. Mondol, and then studied by several teams of astronomers using facilities that included the Chandra, Lick, and Keck Observatories. In May 2007, NASA and several of the astronomers announced the first detailed analyses of the supernova, describing it as the "brightest stellar explosion ever recorded". In October 2007, Quimby announced that SN 2005ap had broken SN 2006gy's record as the brightest-ever recorded supernova, and several subsequent discoveries are brighter still. Time magazine listed the discovery of SN 2006gy as third in its Top 10 Scientific Discoveries for 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puckett Observatory</span> Private observatory in Georgia, US

Puckett Observatory is a private astronomical observatory located in the state of Georgia. It is owned and operated by Tim Puckett. Its primary observation goals are the study of comets and the discovery of supernovae. To facilitate the latter goal it sponsors the Puckett Observatory World Supernova Search whose astronomers have discovered 369 supernovae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 2008ha</span> Supernova in the constellation Pegasus

SN 2008ha was a type Ia supernova which was first observed around November 7, 2008 in the galaxy UGC 12682, which lies in the constellation Pegasus at a distance of about 21.3 megaparsecs (69 Mly) from Earth.

SN 2010lt is a supernova located in the galaxy UGC 3378 in Camelopardalis. It was discovered by amateur astronomers Kathryn Aurora Gray, her father Paul Gray, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada and David J. Lane of Stillwater Lake, Nova Scotia, Canada. Upon discovery, Kathryn Aurora Gray became the youngest person to ever discover a supernova, being 10 years old when she did so. The previous record was held by the 14-year-old Caroline Moore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SN 2014J</span> Supernova in Messier 82

SN 2014J was a type-Ia supernova in Messier 82 discovered in mid-January 2014. It was the closest type-Ia supernova discovered for 42 years, and no subsequent supernova has been closer as of 2023. The supernova was discovered by chance during an undergraduate teaching session at the University of London Observatory. It peaked on 31 January 2014, reaching an apparent magnitude of 10.5. SN 2014J was the subject of an intense observing campaign by professional astronomers and was bright enough to be seen by amateur astronomers.

The All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) is an automated program to search for new supernovae and other astronomical transients, headed by astronomers from the Ohio State University, including Christopher Kochanek and Krzysztof Stanek. It has 20 robotic telescopes in both the northern and southern hemispheres. It can survey the entire sky approximately once every day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCL Observatory</span> Observatory

UCL Observatory at Mill Hill in London is an astronomical teaching observatory. It is part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen R. Kane</span>

Stephen Kane is a full professor of astronomy and planetary astrophysics at the University of California, Riverside who specializes in exoplanetary science. His work covers a broad range of exoplanet detection methods, including the microlensing, transit, radial velocity, and imaging techniques. He is a leading expert on the topic of planetary habitability and the habitable zone of planetary systems. He has published hundreds of peer reviewed scientific papers and has discovered/co-discovered several hundred planets orbiting other stars. He is a prolific advocate of interdisciplinarity science and studying Venus as an exoplanet analog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheila Kanani</span> British astronomer

Sheila Pearson is a British astronomer and the Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer at the Royal Astronomical Society.

Serena Viti is a professor at Leiden University and previously was a professor and the head of Astrophysics at University College London. In March 2019 she received an ERC Advanced Grant for her MOPPEX proposal.

References

  1. 1 2 "profile". Ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  2. "London's Global University". UCL. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  3. "Author query results for Fossey, S". NASA ADS . Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  4. Fossey, S. J. (1991). "Red Rectangle emission". Nature. 353 (6343): 393. Bibcode:1991Natur.353..393F. doi: 10.1038/353393b0 . S2CID   4329633.
  5. "European Week of Astronomy and Space Sciences - Press Releases". Star-www.herts.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  6. "Supernova in Messier 82 discovered by UCL students". Ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  7. "The Observatory Magazine: Contact Information" . Retrieved 21 May 2018.