Andrew Fabian facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Andrew Fabian
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| 86th President of the Royal Astronomical Society | |
| In office 2008–2010 |
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| Preceded by | Michael Rowan-Robinson |
| Succeeded by | Roger Davies |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Andrew Christopher Fabian
20 February 1948 |
| Nationality | British |
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| Education | Daventry Grammar school |
| Alma mater | King's College London (BSc) University College, London (PhD) |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions | Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge University of Cambridge |
| Thesis | The small scale isotropy of the cosmic X-ray background (1972) |
| Doctoral advisor | Peter W. Sanford |
| Doctoral students |
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Andrew Christopher Fabian (born 20 February 1948) is a British astronomer and astrophysicist. This means he studies space, stars, and galaxies. He was the Director of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge from 2013 to 2018. He also led research as a Royal Society Research Professor at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, for many years. From 2008 to 2010, he was the president of the Royal Astronomical Society.
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Learning About Space
Andrew Fabian studied at King's College London, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. He then continued his studies at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London. There, he earned his PhD, which is a very high degree in a specific field of study.
Exploring the Universe
Andrew Fabian has had an exciting career exploring the universe. From 1982 to 1984, he was the Gresham Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College. In this role, he gave free public talks about astronomy in London. He also helped share new discoveries by being the editor-in-chief of an important astronomy magazine called Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society from 1994 to 2008.
What Does He Study?
Andrew Fabian's research focuses on some of the most amazing things in space. He studies huge groups of galaxies called galaxy clusters. He also looks at active galactic nuclei, which are the super bright centers of some galaxies. These bright centers are often powered by giant black holes.
He also researches the X-ray background, which is a glow of X-rays coming from all directions in space. In the past, he studied X-ray binaries, which are systems of two stars that give off X-rays. He also looked at neutron stars and supernova remnants, which are what's left after a huge star explodes.
Much of his work involves X-ray astronomy. This means he uses special telescopes that can see X-rays from space. These X-rays help scientists understand very hot and energetic events in the universe.
Big Discoveries
One of Andrew Fabian's most important discoveries was finding "broad iron lines" coming from active galactic nuclei. These are special signals that tell scientists about the extreme conditions around black holes. For this discovery, he won the Bruno Rossi Prize. He has written over 1,000 scientific articles and leads a team that studies X-rays from space at the Institute of Astronomy.
Awards and Recognition
Andrew Fabian has received many awards for his work:
- In 2008, he won the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics.
- In 2012, he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. This is a very high honor in astronomy.
- In 2016, he was chosen as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences. He also received the Bruce Medal from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
- In 2020, he was awarded the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics. This is a major international award for scientific excellence.
In August 2020, Andrew Fabian was a special guest on the BBC Radio 4 show 'The Life Scientific'.
