Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard (born 6 May 1966) is a Norwegian

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

formerly employed as a media contact at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

's Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics. He was the leader of the

Norwegian Astronomical Society The Norwegian Astronomical Society () is a Norwegian organization active in astronomy research, education and outreach. The society was founded on 25 February 1938 in Oslo and initiated by Svein Rosseland, who also founded the Institute of Theo ...

(2005–2008), and is also manager of the Harestua Solar Observatory. His enthusiasm for

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

has made him a popular interview object in Norwegian media for events such as the

2004 Transit of Venus A transit of Venus was observed from Earth on 8 June 2004. The event received significant attention, since it was the first Venus transit after the invention of broadcast media. No human alive at the time had witnessed a previous Venus transit s ...

and the 2005 landing of the

Huygens probe ''Huygens'' ( ) was an atmospheric entry robotic space probe that landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005. Built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), launched by NASA, it was part of the ''Cassini–Huygens'' mission and ...

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

, and for astronomy in general towards the general population.

References

* 1966 births Living people 20th-century astronomers 21st-century astronomers Norwegian astrophysicists Norwegian science writers Academic staff of the University of Oslo People from Oppland {{Norway-scientist-stub