Katherine Blundell | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Katherine Blundell in 2015 | |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA, PhD) |
| Known for | Global Jet Watch[1] |
| Spouse | Stephen Blundell |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics Black holes Microquasars |
| Institutions | University of Oxford |
| Thesis | Asymmetries in radio galaxies and quasars (1995) |
| Website | www2 |
Katherine Mary BlundellOBE is aprofessor ofastrophysics at theUniversity of Oxford and asupernumeraryresearch fellow atSt John's College, Oxford.[2] Previously, she held aRoyal Society University Research Fellowship,[when?] andfellowships from theRoyal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 andBalliol College, Oxford.[3][4]
Blundell was educated at theUniversity of Cambridge[5] where she was awarded aBachelor of Arts degree[when?] followed by aPhD in 1995 for research onradio galaxies andquasars.[6][7]
Blundell's research[8] investigates the physics of active galaxies – such asquasars. She also studies objects in theMilky Way such asmicroquasars which produceastrophysical jets ofplasma that emitradio waves and move at speeds close to thespeed of light.[2]
Blundell is founder of the Global Jet Watch (GJW) project,[1] which recordsspectroscopic measurements of microquasars such asSS 433.[9][10] The project uses fiveRitchey–Chrétien telescopes separated inlongitude around theEarth so that at any time at least one of them is in night-time. Two of the telescopes are located in Australia (Western Australia andNew South Wales), with one each inIndia,South Africa andChile.[1]
Blundell's work has been funded by theScience and Technology Facilities Council (STFC),[11] theRoyal Society[5] and theRoyal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. Her collaborators have includedSteven Balbus,[11]Steven Rawlings,[12]Roger Llewelyn Davies,[11]Stephen Blundell[13] andFraser A. Armstrong.[14][15]
Blundell is the author or co-author of several books, includingBlack Holes : A Very Short Introduction,[16]Concepts in Thermal Physics[13] andEnergy... beyond Oil.[14]
Blundell is married toStephen Blundell.
Blundell was appointedOrder of the British Empire (OBE) in the2017 Birthday Honours for services to astronomy and the education of young people.[17] She was awarded thePhilip Leverhulme Prize in Astrophysics in 2005, theRosalind Franklin Award from theRoyal Society in 2010, theLawrence Bragg Medal and Prize from theInstitute of Physics (IOP) in 2012 and theGeorge Darwin Lectureship from theRoyal Astronomical Society (RAS) in 2015.[2][3]
