Ian Morison

FRAS FRAS may refer to: * Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, post-nominal letters * Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Fellows of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland are individuals who have bee ...

(born 22 November 1943) is an

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

and astrophysicist who served as the 35th

Gresham Professor of Astronomy The Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1597, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to ten and in addition the ...

Life

Morison was born in

Felpham Felpham (, sometimes pronounced locally as ''Felf-fm'') is a village and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. Although sometimes considered part of the urban area of greater Bognor Regis, it is a village and civil parish in ...

, England. He attended Chichester High School before going on to study Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy at

Hertford College Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The coll ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

. He lives in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its e ...

, England with his wife Judy.

Career and recognition

Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

Morison joined the University of Manchester's

Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astr ...

as a research student in 1965 before becoming a staff member in 1970. Initially working on data acquisition systems for the observatory's own instruments including the Lovell and Mk II radio telescopes, he went on to play a key role in the development of

MERLIN Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

, an array of radio telescopes with a resolution in the radio spectrum comparable to that of the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most ver ...

in the optical.

Gresham College

On 1 August 2007 Morison was appointed as the 35th

, a position previously held by

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churc ...

. He followed John D. Barrow and preceded

Carolin Crawford Carolin Susan Crawford is a British communicator of science and astrophysicist. She is an emeritus member of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge and an emeritus fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Education Crawford studied the Mathem ...

. In this role he delivered a series of 25 public lectures on astronomy and astrophysics. The four-year period of Gresham Professorship came to an end in August 2011.

Association with Astronomical Societies

Morison is a founding member and now patron of Macclesfield Astronomical Society. He is a former council member and president of the

Society for Popular Astronomy The Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA) is a national astronomical society based in the United Kingdom for beginners to amateur astronomy. History and overview It was founded in 1953 as the Junior Astronomical Society by experienced amateur astr ...

and patron of Ewell Astronomical Society.

Asteroid

Main belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, called ...

asteroid

15727 Ianmorison Year 157 ( CLVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Civica and Aquillus (or, less frequently, year 910 ''Ab urbe condi ...

was named after Morison.JPL Small-Body Database Browser on 15727 Ianmorison
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Journals

* * * * Lyne, A. G.; Morison, I (2017). "The Lovell Telescope and its role in pulsar astronomy". Nature Astronomy. Volume 1 835–840

Bibliography

* ''Astronomy'' (2004, w. Margaret Penston) * ''Pocket Guide to Stars and Planets'' (2005, w. Margaret Penston) * ''Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology'' (2008) * ''An Amateur's Guide to Observing and Imaging the Heavens '' (2014) * ''A Journey through the Universe: Gresham Lectures on Astronomy'' (2014) * ''The Art of Astrophotography'' (2017)

References

External links

The Night Sky
- Jodrell Bank Observatory's monthly guide to the moon, stars and planets compiled by Ian Morison {{DEFAULTSORT:Morison, Ian Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of Gresham College Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford 1943 births Living people 20th-century British astronomers 21st-century British astronomers Jodrell Bank Observatory Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society People from Felpham