Stuart Nigel Henbest (born 6 May 1951) is a British astronomer and science communicator. Born in Manchester and educated in Belfast and at Leicester University, Henbest researched in radio astronomy at the University of Cambridge before becoming a freelance author, television producer and astronomy lecturer. Asteroid 3795 Nigel is named after him. Henbest has written around 50 books and over 1,000 articles on astronomy and space for the popular market, including The New Astronomy and The Guide to the Galaxy. Among his award-winning television productions are On Jupiter, Black Holes and Journey to the Edge of the Universe. As well as lecturing on cruises, Henbest has given astronomy presentations on all seven continents (including Antarctica). He also leads tours to view total eclipses of the Sun. Formerly Astronomy Consultant to New Scientist magazine, editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association and media consultant to the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Henbest is now a Future Astronaut with Virgin Galactic. Married with two stepdaughters, Henbest lives in Hampstead, North Carolina and Loosley Row, Buckinghamshire, UK.

Early life and education

Nigel Henbest was born in West Didsbury, Manchester, where he lived for the first five years of his life. His father, Bernard Henbest, was an organic chemist and his mother, Rosalind (née James) a psychiatrist. In 1958, his father was appointed Professor of Organic Chemistry at Queen's University in Belfast, and Henbest was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution until the age of 18. Henbest graduated from the University of Leicester in 1972, gaining a First Class honours BSc in astrophysics. Here, he met fellow astronomy student Heather Couper; they formed a working partnership - Hencoup Enterprises - that focused on astronomy popularisation.

Research

Moving to St John's College, Cambridge, Henbest researched at the Cavendish Laboratory, under the then Astronomer Royal, Sir Martin Ryle. During 1972-73 Henbest made pioneering observations of the remnant of Tycho's Supernova (observed by Tycho Brahe in 1572). Then in 1974 he published the first comprehensive observations of quasars and galaxies made with the newly opened Five Kilometre Telescope, now named the Ryle Telescope. Henbest also researched the optical spectra of quasars at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, before returning to the Department of Geology at Leicester University, to develop and install tiltmeters and a recording seismometer on the active volcano Mount Etna He has presented research on ancient astronomical observations to the European Association of Archaeologists, and has been an Honorary Professor in the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee.

Career

With the publication of his first major book, The Exploding Universe, in 1979 Henbest began a lifelong career as a science communicator - specialising in astronomy and space - across media platforms ranging from magazines and newspapers to radio, television and online.

Books and magazines

Henbest has written around 50 books, many jointly authored with Heather Couper, including Big Bang (Dorling Kindersley) which won the Times Educational Supplement Senior Book Award. As well his contributions to major encyclopedias, Henbest has had over 1,000 articles published in international magazines. In 1982, Henbest was appointed Astronomy Consultant to New Scientist, a post he held for ten years. Having been a columnist for BBC Focus magazine for many years, he now contributes a regular column to The Independent newspaper.

Eclipses

As guest astronomer, Henbest has led 10 expeditions to view total eclipses of the Sun: Sumatra (1988), Hawaii (1991), Aruba (1998), Alderney (1999), Egypt (2006), China (2009), Tahiti (2010), Idaho, USA (2017), Chile (2019) and Arkansas, USA (2024).

Lectures and presentations

A former lecturer at the Greenwich Planetarium, Henbest has given public presentations on astronomy and space around the world, from Australia to Colombia and Antarctica. He lectures on cruises, including giving planetarium presentations on the Queen Mary 2. He has also led tours of major space centres, from the Apollo Mission Control in Houston to the futurist Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Radio and television appearances

As an astronomy and space expert, Henbest has appeared on BBC Radio 2, Radio 4, Radio 5Live, Radio Scotland, Radio Wales, British Forces Broadcasting Service and many local UK radio stations. For the BBC World Service, he has filed location reports on solar eclipses, the repair of Hubble Space Telescope and spacecraft encounters with planets and comets. He has also been: As well as being interviewed about breaking news stories on British television channels, Henbest has featured on several major international TV documentary series: Henbest was a member of the University of Leicester's winning team on Christmas University Challenge, BBC2, 30 December 2013.

Plays

In 1989, Lord Bernard and Lady Josephine Miles invited Henbest to write a play for the Molecule Theatre of Science. Co-authored by Mike Bennett, It’s All in the Stars! was staged at the Bloomsbury and Mermaid Theatres in London, and toured nationally.

Consultancy and editorships

In 1982, Henbest was appointed Media Consultant to the Royal Greenwich Observatory, with special responsibility for publicising the new Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma and the opening of the 4.2 m William Herschel Telescope. The Open University invited Henbest to serve as External Assessor on its new Astronomy module, Matter in the Universe (S256), in 1984. As well as editing books and magazine supplements, Henbest was appointed as Editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association in 1985, redesigning and revitalising the publication. Henbest was Chairman of National Astronomy Week in 1990, which spearheaded the first national campaign against light pollution in the UK.

Online

Henbest has presented the regular strand Nigel goes to Space! on the YouTube channel Naked Science.

Television production and scriptwriting

In 1983, Henbest conceived a TV documentary on the pioneering Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which was filmed by Quanta production company and screened in the BBC television Horizon strand. He delivers presentations on Astronomy and Television at international conferences. Henbest was consultant on the television series The Planets and The Stars, presented by Heather Couper in 1985 and 1988 on Channel 4. With Couper and the director of The Stars series, Stuart Carter, Henbest set up Pioneer Productions later in 1988. Here Henbest wrote and produced TV programmes and series for both British and American broadcasters. They garnered many documentary awards, including four gold medals and a Grand Award at the New York Festivals. For Universe: Beyond the Millennium, Henbest won the Glaxo-Wellcome/ABSW Science Writers Award for 1999.

Astronaut

In 2009, Henbest signed up with Virgin Galactic for a suborbital flight into space, launching in SpaceShipTwo from the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport Spaceport America. As an ambassador for private human spaceflight, Henbest has appeared in Forbes magazine and presents Nigel Goes to Space! on YouTube

Books

Contributor

Magazines

Television productions

Honours and awards