Fred Watson loves sharing his knowledge of the heavens and astronomical history, and makes complex astronomical topics easy to understand and entertaining for all.
Fred Watson loves sharing his knowledge of the heavens and astronomical history, and makes complex astronomical topics easy to understand and entertaining for all.
Fred Watson says he spent so many years working in large telescope domes that he has started to look like one. He is Astronomer in Charge of the Australian Astronomical Observatory at Coonabarabran, where his main scientific interest is gathering information on very large numbers of stars and galaxies. He is also an adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Southern Queensland and James Cook University.
Fred is well-known for his astronomy slots on ABC radio, and his recent books including "Stargazer - the Life and Times of the Telescope", "Why is Uranus Upside Down? and Other Questions About the Universe, (which won the 2008 Queensland Premier's Literary Prize for Science Writing) and the ABC's blockbuster, “Universe”, for which he was chief consultant.
In 2003, Fred received the David Allen Prize for communicating astronomy to the public, and in 2006 was the winner of the Australian Government Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science. Most recently in January 2010, Fred became a member of Australia for service to astronomy, particularly the promotion and popularisation of space science through public outreach
Fred has an asteroid named after him (5691 Fredwatson), but says that if it hits the Earth, it won't be his fault...
The telescope is literally the world's most far-reaching invention. It can unlock nature's secrets in the remotest corners of the Universe. It is a time machine, allowing us to look billions of years into the past for answers...
Why is Pluto not considered a planet anymore?
Its current status is that it is in a special class of dwarf planets called 'plutoids', of which there are three more known (Eris, Makemake and Haumea). The fifth dwarf planet, Ceres, is not a plutoid as it's in the main asteroid belt, rather than the distant Kuiper belt. So the bottom line is th...
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