Andrew Christopher Fabian (born 20 February 1948) is a British

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. He was Director of the Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge from 2013 to 2018. He was a

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

Research Professor at the Institute of Astronomy,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

from 1982 to 2013, and Vice-Master of Darwin College, Cambridge from 1997 to 2012. He served as president of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NG ...

from May 2008 through to 2010.

Education

Fabian was educated at King's College London (BSc, Physics) and the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at

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

(PhD).

Career and research

Fabian was Gresham Professor of Astronomy at

Gresham College Gresham College is an institution of higher learning located at Barnard's Inn Hall off Holborn in Central London, England. It does not enroll students or award degrees. It was founded in 1596 under the will of Sir Thomas Gresham, and hosts ...

, a position in which he delivered free public lectures within the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

between 1982 and 1984. He was

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of the astronomy journal ''

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'' (MNRAS) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in astronomy and astrophysics. It has been in continuous existence since 1827 and publishes letters and papers reporting origina ...

'' from 1994–2008. His areas of research include galaxy clusters,

active galactic nuclei An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...

, strong

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the str ...

, black holes and the X-ray background. He has also worked on X-ray binaries, neutron stars and supernova remnants in the past. Much of his research involves X-ray astronomy and high energy

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the he ...

. His notable achievements include his involvement in the discovery of broad iron lines emitted from

, for which he was jointly awarded the Bruno Rossi Prize. He is author of over 1000 refereed articles and head of the X-ray astronomy group at the Institute of Astronomy.

Awards and honours

Fabian was awarded the

Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics The Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics is jointly awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society and American Institute of Physics for outstanding work in astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and princi ...

by the American Astronomical Society in 2008, the

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awa ...

in 2012, and the Kavli Prize for Astrophysics in 2020. In 2016 he was elected as a foreign associate of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

and awarded the Bruce Gold Medal by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. In August 2020 Fabian was a guest on the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

programme ' The Life Scientific'.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fabian, Andrew 1948 births Living people People from Daventry Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of King's College London Alumni of University College London 21st-century British astronomers Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Officers of the Order of the British Empire Professors of Gresham College Presidents of the Royal Astronomical Society Winners of the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics Kavli Prize laureates in Astrophysics Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society