Roger Davies (astrophysicist): Difference between revisions
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'''Roger Llewelyn Davies''' (born 1954) is a British astronomer and cosmologist, one of the so-called Seven Samurai collaboration who discovered an apparent concentration of mass in the Universe called the [[Great Attractor]]<ref>Lynden-Bell, D. et al, Spectroscopy and photometry of elliptical galaxies. V – Galaxy streaming toward the new supergalactic center, ''Astrophysical Journal'' vol. 326, March 1, 1988, p. 19–49. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1988ApJ...326...19L]</ref>. He is the Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics at [[Oxford University]]<ref>Oxford Astrophysics Members – Professor Roger Davies [http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/astro/people/RogerDavies.htm]</ref>. In May 2010 he became President of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]], a post he will hold for two years. |
'''Roger Llewelyn Davies''' (born 1954 January 13 in [[Scunthorpe]], Lincolnshire) is a British astronomer and cosmologist, one of the so-called Seven Samurai collaboration who discovered an apparent concentration of mass in the Universe called the [[Great Attractor]]<ref>Lynden-Bell, D. et al, Spectroscopy and photometry of elliptical galaxies. V – Galaxy streaming toward the new supergalactic center, ''Astrophysical Journal'' vol. 326, March 1, 1988, p. 19–49. [http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1988ApJ...326...19L]</ref>. He is the Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics at [[Oxford University]]<ref>Oxford Astrophysics Members – Professor Roger Davies [http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/astro/people/RogerDavies.htm]</ref>. In May 2010 he became President of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]], a post he will hold for two years. |
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==Early life and education== |
==Early life and education== |
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Davies grew up in Scunthorpe |
Davies grew up in Scunthorpe where he attended [[John Leggott College|John Leggott Grammar School]]. A school project fired his interest in astronomy, augmented by his parents’ purchase of a small telescope. As a teenager Davies also attended evening classes run by the [[Workers' Educational Association]], becoming a lifelong supporter of astronomy outreach work. |
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==Career and research== |
==Career and research== |
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Davies took his first degree at [[University College London]] and his PhD at the [[Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge|Institute of Astronomy]] and [[Churchill College, Cambridge]]. Posts at [[Lick Observatory]], then Cambridge and [[Kitt Peak National Observatory]] followed. While at Kitt Peak he became part of the Seven Samurai collaboration which surveyed the distances and velocities of 400 nearby elliptical galaxies, discovering the Great Attractor, at that time thought to be pulling the Milky Way and other galaxies in the direction of the constellations of Hydra and Centaurus. |
Davies took his first degree at [[University College London]] and his PhD at the [[Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge|Institute of Astronomy]] and [[Churchill College, Cambridge]]. Posts at [[Lick Observatory]], then Cambridge and [[Kitt Peak National Observatory]] followed. While at Kitt Peak he became part of the Seven Samurai collaboration which surveyed the distances and velocities of 400 nearby elliptical galaxies, discovering the Great Attractor, at that time thought to be pulling the Milky Way and other galaxies in the direction of the constellations of Hydra and Centaurus. |
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Revision as of 21:37, 27 September 2010
Roger Llewelyn Davies (born 1954 January 13 in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire) is a British astronomer and cosmologist, one of the so-called Seven Samurai collaboration who discovered an apparent concentration of mass in the Universe called the Great Attractor[1]. He is the Philip Wetton Professor of Astrophysics at Oxford University[2]. In May 2010 he became President of the Royal Astronomical Society, a post he will hold for two years.
Early life and education
Davies grew up in Scunthorpe where he attended John Leggott Grammar School. A school project fired his interest in astronomy, augmented by his parents’ purchase of a small telescope. As a teenager Davies also attended evening classes run by the Workers' Educational Association, becoming a lifelong supporter of astronomy outreach work.
Career and research
Davies took his first degree at University College London and his PhD at the Institute of Astronomy and Churchill College, Cambridge. Posts at Lick Observatory, then Cambridge and Kitt Peak National Observatory followed. While at Kitt Peak he became part of the Seven Samurai collaboration which surveyed the distances and velocities of 400 nearby elliptical galaxies, discovering the Great Attractor, at that time thought to be pulling the Milky Way and other galaxies in the direction of the constellations of Hydra and Centaurus. Returning to the UK, Davies worked at Durham and then Oxford, where he worked on instrumentation for the Gemini and William Herschel telescopes. Today he pursues research in cosmology and the evolution of galaxies. As President of the Royal Astronomical Society, Davies is working with the RAS community to make the continued case for astronomy and geophysics, an area in which the UK excels, against the backdrop of deep cuts in spending by the UK government.