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Vicky Fawcett

    • About Me:

      I live in Newcastle and work at Newcastle University researching Astronomy ✨🔭.
      I love surfing 🏄🏻‍♀️, music festivals 🎸, and space 🚀

    • Read more

      I study quasars, which are extremely bright galaxies powered by supermassive black holes ✨🔭.
      As an astronomer, I get to travel the world visiting telescopes and collaborating with other black hole physicists ✈️.

      I studied Maths and Physics at Warwick University where I did a masters project in exoplanets, which are planets that orbit stars other than our sun 🪐.
      I did a PhD in quasars at Durham University, exploring how quasars may be an important link in the evolution of galaxies.
      I am not at Newcastle University as a postdoc (full time researcher) where I am part of international astronomy collaborations.

      I am bisexual 🏳️‍🌈, love cats 🐈, enjoy cocktail making 🍸, and love to travel and visit friends 🚊.

    • My pronouns are:

      She/Her

    • My Work:

      I am an Astronomer studying quasars which are extremely bright galaxies powered by supermassive black holes.
      Quasars are the brightest objects in the Universe! ✨

    • Read more

      At the centre of every galaxy is a supermassive black hole, which are extremely massive black holes (~billions times the mass of our sun!! See right image). Black holes are incredibly dense objects that have such intense gravity that not even light can escape (which is why they are called black!).
      In some galaxies, the material surrounding and falling into this supermassive black hole is so hot and so bright, that it outshines the entire galaxy. The brightest of these galaxies are called quasars (see image below), which are what I study. Quasars are some of the brightest objects in the Universe!

      In my work I use different wavelengths of light to explore quasars and whether they could be important in the evolution of galaxies. In particular, I am interested in dusty quasars which appear much more red than typical quasars (which look very blue).

    • My Typical Day:

      I wake up and have breakfast and a coffee ☕️. I get to work around 9am where I read some astronomy papers. I spend most of my day coding and writing up my research 👩🏻‍💻. I have lunch with my friends.
      Some days I give astronomy talks, presenting my work to other astronomers to get their thoughts on my results.
      I also some times go to schools to talk about space with students.
      I go home at 6pm where I have dinner with my sister.

    • Read more

      I spend most of my days writing code to plot graphs using data from various telescopes.
      I code in Python, which is the coding language that the majority of astronomers use.
      I use radio data and analyse light at different wavelengths (called “spectroscopy”).

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I would use the money to create “sonification” or “tactile” materials for astronomy outreach aimed at blind/vision impaired children. This might include 3D printed tactile models of galaxies or the purchase of bluetooth speakers for astronomy school outreach looking at how we can “listen” to images from space.

      For example:
      https://www.audiouniverse.org/

      https://tactileuniverse.org/

    My CV

    • Education:

      I went to school at Furze Platt Senior school in Maidenhead, where I did Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry A levels.

      I studied Maths and Physics at Warwick University where I did a masters project in exoplanets, which are planets that orbit stars other than our sun 🪐.

      I did a PhD in quasars at Durham University, exploring how quasars may be an important link in the evolution of galaxies.

      I am not at Newcastle University as a postdoc (full time researcher) where I am part of international astronomy collaborations.

    • Qualifications:

      GCSEs: 11 A*-As including Music, Geography, Art and French.

      A levels: A* Maths, A* Further Maths, A* Physics, A Chemistry

      Masters in Maths and Physics: First class

      PhD in Astronomy

    • Employer:

      Newcastle University

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        Mathematician

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Only a few times for being late!

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        Data scientist

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Radiohead

        What's your favourite food?

        Indian curry!

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        Go to space 🚀, visit Japan 🇯🇵, get a cat 🐈

        Tell us a joke.

        How do astronomers organise a party? They planet

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