Stephen John Fossey is a British astronomer working at

UCL Observatory UCL Observatory (called the University of London Observatory until 2015) at Mill Hill in London is an astronomical teaching observatory. It is part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London. History The Observator ...

, which is part of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

(UCL). He is one of the three editors of ''The Observatory'' magazine. Fossey's research interests are in the

interstellar medium In astronomy, the interstellar medium is the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, as well as dust and cosmic rays. It fills interstella ...

exoplanets An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first possible evidence of an exoplanet was noted in 1917 but was not recognized as such. The first confirmation of detection occurred in 1992. A different planet, init ...

and

time-domain astronomy Time-domain astronomy is the study of how astronomical objects change with time. Though the study may be said to begin with Galileo's ''Letters on Sunspots'', the term now refers especially to variable objects beyond the Solar System. This may be d ...

. Along with Ingo Waldmann and David Kipping, Fossey discovered in 2009 that the exoplanet HD 80606b (previously known from

radial velocity The radial velocity or line-of-sight velocity, also known as radial speed or range rate, of a target with respect to an observer is the rate of change of the distance or range between the two points. It is equivalent to the vector projection ...

) transits its host star. Fossey also discovered supernova

SN 2014J SN 2014J was a type-Ia supernova in Messier 82 (the 'Cigar Galaxy', M82) discovered in mid-January 2014. It was the closest type-Ia supernova discovered for 42 years, and none have been closer . The supernova was discovered by chance during an ...

, the closest supernova for each for several decades, in January 2014.

Education

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 later became a member of staff at ULO (University of London Observatory).

Research and publications

The areas of research that Fossey takes most interest in are extrasolar planets, the

, and molecular astrophysics. He has authored over a dozen refereed scientific papers on these topics. His first scientific publication was a single-author letter in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

''. Fossey is an editor of ''The Observatory'' magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fossey, Steve Academics of University College London Alumni of University College London British physicists 21st-century British astronomers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)