Meet Fred Watson, an astronomer who writes books, co-hosts a podcast, talks on radio and TV, and is Australia’s Astronomer-at-large! His new book, Spacewarp: Colliding Comets and Other Cosmic Catastrophes, is out now!
K-Z: Hi Fred! What did you do before being Australia’s Astronomer-at-large?
F: I’ve been an astronomer all my working life, and knew that was what I wanted to be while I was at school in England. I went to university, worked for a company that built big telescopes for astronomers, worked at both of Britain’s Royal Observatories, and then came to Australia in 1982 to work at Siding Spring Observatory, near Coonabarabran in north-western NSW. In 1995, I became Astronomer-in-charge there, which was like being manager of a lolly shop for me. I became the nation’s Astronomer-at-large…
