Autor/-in: Paul Murdin

Paul Murdin is Senior Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy and a member of Wolfson College. From 1963 he was a research scientist studying supernovae, black holes and neutron stars. He is identified as the co-discoverer of the first stellar black hole found in our Galaxy, Cygnus X-1. From 1981 he worked to organize observatories in the Canary Islands, England and Scotland, becoming a science policy maker for the UK government. In 1988 he was awarded an OBE and in 2011 he received the Royal Astronomical Society’s Award for Services to Astronomy. In a parallel career he has been, and remains, a broadcaster and commentator about astronomy for the BBC and other media outlets. He is the author of many books, including Secrets of the Universe. and The Secret Lives of Planets.