| Job: | Post-doctoral Research Assistant, Cambridge University |
| Born: | Northumberland, 1971 |
Peter, when did you first get interested in ``outer space''?
I've been interested in astronomy since I was about 8 or 9. As I got older at school and found out that my main talents were in maths and science, I realised there was a chance of becoming an astronomer.
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So what did you do to become an astronomer? After taking A-levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry, I went to Cambridge University to study Maths. There wasn't a particular field of astronomy that especially interested me, but when the chance came for me to study the Sun for my PhD at Cambridge, I took it. |
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Tell us about a typical day in the working life of Peter Young. My particular bit of research involves studying light from the Sun's atmosphere at a range of wavelengths and most of my time is taken up with analysing data obtained by satellites and rockets (for example, SOHO). Nowadays, all data is stored in computers and you'll most often find me in front of my computer terminal. Click here to find out what computer equipment I use.This is the mathematical bridge in Cambridge. It is made of wood and was finely balanced without any bolts. It was taken apart to clean, but they couldn't get it back together again - now it has bolts to hold it in place! |
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Do you ever get away from Cambridge?