Tim O'Brien (physicist)

Timothy John O'Brien (born 31 March 1964) is a British astronomer, currently working at the University of Manchester as Professor of Astrophysics. He often appears on the BBC.[5][6]

Tim O'Brien
Tim on stage at Jodrell Bank Live in 2011
Born
Timothy John O'Brien

(1964-03-31) 31 March 1964
Alma materUniversity College London (BSc)
University of Manchester (PhD)
Known forMulti-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN)[1]
Bluedot Festival
SpouseTeresa Anderson[2]
AwardsKelvin Prize (2014)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Manchester
Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics
Liverpool John Moores University
ThesisA model for the remnant of the recurrent nova RS Ophiuchi (1985) (1990)
Doctoral advisorFranz Daniel Kahn[3][4]
Websiteproftimobrien.com

Early life and education

He was born in Littleborough, Greater Manchester. He grew up in Castleton, Greater Manchester in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale.[7] He attended school in Rochdale.[2] He studied Physics and Astrophysics at University College London and completed his PhD at the University of Manchester between 1985 and 1988.

Career and research

He taught at the University of Liverpool in the 1990s. He began working at the University of Manchester in 1999 where he is currently associate director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. He is also Director of Teaching & Learning in the University's School of Physics & Astronomy. From 2009–2015, he taught the first year undergraduate course in Astrophysics.[8]

His research is primarily in the area of novae (thermonuclear explosions on white dwarf stars in binary star systems) and includes both theoretical work and observations using telescopes around the world and in space working across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Broadcasting

He has appeared on Stargazing Live on BBC Two and The Infinite Monkey Cage on BBC Radio 4.[9][10]

Personal life

O'Brien is married to Professor Teresa Anderson (born 1 December 1962).[11] He lived for a time in Macclesfield and currently lives in south Manchester. He has a younger sister (born 1965) and a younger brother (born 1967).

References
  1. Healy, F.; O'Brien, T. J.; Beswick, R. (2016). "eMERLIN imaging of γ-ray nova V959 Mon's surprising evolution". Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 728 (4): 042002. Bibcode:2016JPhCS.728d2002H. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/728/4/042002. ISSN 1742-6588.
  2. Anglesey, Natalie (26 August 2016). "THE SCIENCE INTERVIEW: 'AWESOME ASTROPHYSICIST' PROFESSOR TIM O'BRIEN". thecheshiremagazine.co.uk. Cheshire Magazine. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016.
  3. Dyson, James E.; Lynden Bell, Donald (1999). "Franz Daniel Kahn. 13 May 1926 -- 8 February 1998: Elected F.R.S. 1993". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 45: 255–267. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1999.0017. ISSN 0080-4606. S2CID 71566659.
  4. Tim O'Brien at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  5. Newsround February 2016
  6. BBC Inside Science February 2016
  7. Rochdale January 2014
  8. Astrophysics
  9. EuroScience Open Forum 2016
  10. Newsround February 2017
  11. Wife
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