Paul G. Abel

As an amateur astronomer, I am mainly interested in lunar and planetary work.  I am a visual observer, and my observations consist of colour drawings which I make of the Moon, planets .  I also make regular visual magnitude estimates of a number of variable stars and bright supernovae when they occur. My observatory in Leicester houses a 203mm Newtonian Reflector and a 300mm Newtonian Reflector, and I occasionally do solar work with a 40mm PST.  By profession, I am a theoretical physicst.  My area of interest is general relativity, quantum field theory in curved spacetime backgrounds and black hole thermodynamics.  I have appeared on television and radio popularising astronomy and black holes, and I have written three books and numerous articles on popular science. I am the Director of the Mercury and Venus Section which you can find more about on the Section website.