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Student Star Struck In Australia

Samuel Nathan Richards gives his insight into Astrophysics after studying the subject at the University of Hertfordshire.

Why Study Astronomy?

Samuel has been fascinated by astronomy and the unknown from a young age, often spending his spare time watching television repeats of “How Stuff Works”.

He said: “I cannot remember a time that I looked up at the night sky and was not taken back by the sheer wonder of the cosmos.”

He added: “As I grew older and went through the academic ranks before university, I discovered that at each step the teacher would question what had been previously taught and lead onto revealing that actually we do not have it all figured out.”

At this point, the concept of “dark matter & energy” had recently been widely accepted; this really hooked Samuel into the study of Astronomy. This particular concept unforgivingly exposed just how little is understood about the contents of the cosmos and motivated Samuel to pursue a career in astronomy.

A helpful degree programme

Samuel felt that the University of Hertfordshire gave him what he describes as the greatest gift from an academic institution: “opportunity”. He enjoyed having lecturers who were full time researchers at the top of their respective fields.

He said: “The lecturers enabled the class to be exposed to the latest Astronomy and have a chance to take on research projects.”

He added: “Everything from laboratory physics to observational astronomy at Bayfordbury Observatory, continued my passion and lead to even greater opportunities, in particular a research year abroad within the Astrophotonics department at the University of Sydney.”

Within the degree programme Samuel learnt all different aspects of astronomy, from understanding why stars twinkle (and why this is really annoying for astronomers), all the way to studying the hardest concepts of an expanding universe.

Current Role

Samuel currently works at the University of Sydney & Australian Astronomical Observatory, where he is working on a ground-breaking new telescope instrument called, “SAMI” for the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope, a role he undertook previously during a placement year.

Samuel said: “This instrument will greatly aid the pursuit in understanding the properties of galaxies, allowing astronomers to observe thirteen galaxies at once, whilst obtaining extremely detailed information of each galaxy; it is the main focus of my research now I have graduated.”

This instrument and another that Samuel built for the Bayfordbury Observatory (BASIS), has given him the opportunity to present at conferences around the world, building international collaborations which he hopes to utilise in the future.

He said: “This aspect of travelling definitely appeals to me as a perk of the job, especially when some of the world leading telescopes are in places such as Hawaii, Chile, La Palma and Antarctica.”

University experience and advice

Samuel felt the most valuable transferable skill learnt during his degree was that of problem solving. He said: “Problems exist in all aspects of life where astronomers, among physicists, are of the best in finding solutions, resulting in many who undertake the degree redirecting their skills in other disciplines such as finance.”

Samuel advises prospective students to be ready to work hard, with the intensity of the degree often leading to late nights working out complex equations across whiteboards.

He said: “It may seem to be a very difficult degree to undertake, but I would encourage anyone thinking about embarking upon on this subject not to shy away, as there is plenty of help at hand, from willing lecturers and researchers to your own peers, who are equally lost to some of the most complex concepts known to mankind.”

He concluded: “Coming out with the correct answer after hours of equations, is one of the most rewarding experiences. I guess you might just have to trust me on that one.”