Katherine Blundell

Blundell was educated at the University of Cambridge[5] where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree followed by a PhD in 1995 for research on radio galaxies and quasars.[6][7]

Blundell's research[8] investigates the physics of active galaxies – such as quasars. She also studies objects in the Milky Way such as microquasars which produce astrophysical jets of plasma that emit radio waves and move at speeds close to the speed of light.[2]

Blundell is founder of the Global Jet Watch (GJW) project,[1] which records spectroscopic measurements of microquasars such as SS 433.[9][10] The project uses five Ritchey–Chrétien telescopes separated in longitude around the Earth so that at any time at least one of them is in night-time. Two of the telescopes are located in Australia (Western Australia and New South Wales), with one each in India, South Africa and Chile.[1]

Blundell's work has been funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC),[11] the Royal Society[5] and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. Her collaborators have included Steven Balbus,[11] Steven Rawlings,[12] Roger Llewelyn Davies,[11] Stephen Blundell[13] and Fraser A. Armstrong.[14][15]

Blundell is the author or co-author of several books including Black Holes : A Very Short Introduction,[16] Concepts in Thermal Physics[13] and Energy... beyond Oil.[14]