Francis Hickenbottom
I studied Mathematical Physics at the University of Birmingham before working for British Aerospace (Hatfield) and Yarrow Shipbuilders (Glasgow) for several years. Since then, I have been teaching Physics in secondary schools and I have been Head of Physics at Ackworth School – an independent quaker school – for about 20 years. As a teenager, I had an interest in astronomy. I bought a 6” Newtonian reflector from Fullerscopes and my interest was encouraged by a visit to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, when a friend of the family who worked there as an astronomer gave me an after-hours tour of the observatory. I am not an active astronomer today but I do run stargazing sessions – indoor and outdoor – to introduce students and parents to the night sky and I like to photograph the night sky when I have the time. I was pleased recently when I found that the BBC had decided to use a couple of my pictures on its website:http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zgwpcdm. (You will notice an accidental capture of an Iridium satellite in one of the images.)