User:Starfellow
Pete Lawrence
Pete Lawrence is an astronomer based in Selsey, West Sussex, UK. His interest in astronomy began in the late 60's with the Apollo Moon landings and he has been an active observer of the night sky ever since.
Lawrence built his first telescope at the age of 15, grinding the 8.75-inch mirror by hand. He gained a BSc. honours degree in Physics with Astrophysics at the University of Leicester in 1983 and left the academic world to work as a technical author and software developer soon after. Lawrence continued his passion for observational astronomy throughout this time.
His direction of interest changed in the later 90's with the advent of affordable digital imaging. This technology provided a means for Lawrence to merge his interests in astronomy and computers. A keen eye, imaginative mind and excellent knowledge of the sky and digital technology allowed him to record and present many astronomical subjects in new and exciting ways. Amongst his first projects were the acclaimed Planets Animation, Lunar Parallax Demonstration Project and a project to capture the shadow cast by the planet Venus.
Currently, Lawrence writes and illustrates the monthly 12-page sky guide for the BBC Sky at Night Magazine as well as performing reviews and submitting various articles, mainly about imaging. He is also a presenter on the the BBC Sky at Night television series and has appeared on a number of other radio and television shows including Blue Peter in March 2009.
He remains a very active and highly regarded astronomical photographer. He images a complete range of astronomical objects from deep sky through to Solar System and many of his images appear in books, magazines as well as appearing in numerous high profile astronomical websites. To date (May 2009) h has had four Astronomy Pictures of the Day, one Astronomy Picture of the Year, numerous Lunar Pictures of the Day and nearly 200 images either linked to or published on the front page of www.spaceweather.com.
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