Nationality British Alma mater University of London Role Astronomer | Name Steve Fossey Known for SN 2014J, HD 80606b Fields Astronomy | |
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Institutions University College London, University of London Observatory Thesis The diffuse interstellar features and interstellar relationships (1990) Institution University College London, University of London Observatory | ||
On supernovae and serendipity (7 Oct 2014)
Stephen John Fossey is a British astronomer at UCL Observatory, which is part of University College London (UCL). He is known as co-discoverer of the transit of planet HD 80606b (along with Ingo Waldmann and David Kipping). The transit of this Jupiter-sized planet, with its distinctive elliptical orbit around HD 80606, its parent star, was first sighted in February 2009. Fossey also discovered supernova SN 2014J, the closest supernova for each for several decades, in January 2014.
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Education
Steve 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). Fossey joined UCL on 01/04/1992 and became part of the Research Group at ULO (University of London Observatory).
Research and publications
The areas of research that Fossey takes most interest in are Extrasolar Planets, Interstellar Medium, Molecular Astrophysics, and Diffuse Interstellar Bands. He has authored over a dozen refereed scientific papers on these topics. His first scientific paper was a single-author letter in Nature, one of the world's most prestigious academic journals.
Fossey's "Pathways towards Habitable Moons" - written along with co-authors David Kipping (also co-discoverer of planet HD 80606b), G. Campanella, J. Schneider, and G. Tinetti - combines his scientific and philosophical passions stating reasons why the search for life outside our solar system should not be restricted to planetary bodies, but should also include the moons (exomoons) of extrasolar planets. Fossey is now an editor of The Observatory magazine founded 1877. Well known by astronomers in the UK, professional as well as amateur, it has served as a journal of scientific notes and papers, old and new, as well as reporting the meetings of the Royal Astronomical Society.