Marek Janusz Kukula (born 1969) is a British astronomer and an author of works on popular science. After gaining a PhD in radio astronomy from the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
in 1994, he specialised in studying distant galaxies. As his research reached the limits of telescopes, he moved into the field of public engagement. In 2008 he was appointed Public Astronomer at the
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
.
Early life and education
Kukula credits his father as the person who "first ignited and then encouraged my interest in the natural world", and a trip with his parents to the
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 astron ...
at age 14 for his decision to focus on astronomy.
He graduated in physics with astrophysics from the
University of Manchester
, mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity
, established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
in 1990 and in 1994 was awarded a PhD in
radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming f ...
from the same university with a thesis on ''The radio properties of Seyfert nuclei'',
based on research carried out at
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 astron ...
.
Career
Research
Kukula's field is distant galaxies.
After completing his PhD, Kukula subsequently worked as a postdoctoral research assistant at
Liverpool John Moores University, the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
's Institute for Astronomy (based at the
Royal Observatory Edinburgh
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an astronomical institution located on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK&nbs ...
) and the
Space Telescope Science Institute
The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for th ...
in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
. This was followed by a
PPARC
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) was one of a number of research councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK. Its head office wa ...
Advanced Fellowship held at the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
.
His research interests include
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 ...
(particularly
Seyfert galaxy
Seyfert galaxies are one of the two largest groups of active galaxies, along with quasars. They have quasar-like nuclei (very luminous, distant and bright sources of electromagnetic radiation) with very high surface brightnesses whose spectra ...
,
Radio galaxy
A radio galaxy is a galaxy with giant regions of radio emission extending well beyond its visible structure. These energetic radio lobes are powered by jets from its active galactic nucleus. They have luminosities up to 1039 W at radio wa ...
and
quasars
A quasar is an extremely luminous active galactic nucleus (AGN). It is pronounced , and sometimes known as a quasi-stellar object, abbreviated QSO. This emission from a galaxy nucleus is powered by a supermassive black hole with a mass ranging ...
) and the ways in which large
galaxies
A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...
and their central
supermassive black hole
A supermassive black hole (SMBH or sometimes SBH) is the largest type of black hole, with its mass being on the order of hundreds of thousands, or millions to billions of times the mass of the Sun (). Black holes are a class of astronomical obj ...
s have changed and evolved throughout
cosmological time
Cosmic time, or cosmological time, is the time coordinate commonly used in the Big Bang models of physical cosmology. Such time coordinate may be defined for a homogeneous, expanding universe so that the universe has the same density everywhere at ...
. This research has involved the use of a variety of telescopes, including 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 versa ...
, the
Very Large Array
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, ~ west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twen ...
,
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 ...
, the
William Herschel Telescope
The William Herschel Telescope (WHT) is a optical/near-infrared reflecting telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. The telescope, which is named after William Herschel, ...
, and the
Very Large Telescope
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m across, ...
.
Public engagement
Kukula's interest in public engagement work was sparked when he enjoyed doing these activities in addition to his main role as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh.
As his work began to reach the limits of what was achievable with Hubble and the VLT, Kukula decided to move away from research, and instead explore the possibility of pursuing a career in the developing field of outreach.
After his Fellowship, Kukula was appointed Course Organiser for Science and Nature in the University of Edinburgh's Office of Lifelong Learning, delivering a programme of science course for the general public.
Kukula worked with the
Researchers in Residence
Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
programme.
Kukula was a member of the
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astro ...
's Small Awards funding panel for public engagement in astronomy, particle and nuclear physics.
In August 2008 he was appointed to the new post of Public Astronomer at the
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
where his role was to engage the UK public and media with all aspects of
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
,
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 h ...
,
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...
and
planetary science
Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their f ...
.
The role included provision for a return to performing his own research, but Kukula initially doubt he would take this up, due to the time and enjoyment he got out of effectively researching a much larger body of science than just his research area.
In 2013, in his role as Public Astronomer he curated the ''Visions of the Universe'' temporary exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Having attracted 72,000 visitors and been given a five star review by ''The Guardians art critic, Marek credited this as his greatest achievement so far, in a 2016 interview with ''The Guardian''.
Popular science
In 2015 he co-authored ''The scientific secrets of Doctor Who'' with
Simon Guerrier
Simon Guerrier (born June 1976) is a British science fiction author and dramatist, closely associated with the fictional universe of ''Doctor Who'' and its spinoffs. Although he has written three ''Doctor Who'' novels, for the BBC Books range, ...
, and described it as " a book which used ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' to explore science in the real world".
From 2015 to 2017, Kukula reviewed science books for ''The Spectator''.
Awards and honours
In 2017 he was the first recipient of the
Royal Astronomical Society
(Whatever shines should be observed)
, predecessor =
, successor =
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, type = NGO ...
's Annie Maunder Medal for Outreach.
Selected publications
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kukula, Marek
21st-century British astronomers
Living people
1969 births