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Jonti at the 2008 Europlanet conference (image courtesy of Lee Pullen)
Welcome to my homepage! I'm Dr. Jonti Horner, an astronomer who currently works in the Department of Astrophysics and Optics, in the University of New South Wales. I arrived here in October 2010 to work in the exoplanet group, spending part of my time looking for planets around other stars! In addition, I carry out theoretical research into the origin and evolution of the small bodies in our Solar system - objects such as comets, asteroids, and meteoroids. I'm also involved in projects examining the formation of planets around other stars, and looking into the nature of habitability on the Earth and beyond. For more details on my work, check out my Research page!
I'm also a keen amateur astronomer, with a particular interest in observing meteor showers, and also love introducing and explaining the many beautiful sights in the night sky to anyone who's interested . When I used to live in the UK, I organised regular astronomy outreach events and gave talks to a wide variety of audiences - including youth groups (Brownies, Guides, Scouts), adults with learning difficulties, and amateur astronomical societies. For more information on my outreach work, check out the Outreach page. I'm quite keen to continue that now that I'm in Australia - but only time will tell if I'm able to!
A little information about me: I was born in Wakefield, in Yorkshire, back in 1978, and became interested in Astronomy at the age of five, when my parents managed to accidentally record 'The Sky at Night' at the end of some film they were taping for me. Ever since, I've been fascinated by the subject. As I grew, my interests became articularly focussed upon the objects in our Solar system, leading to my doing a degree in Physics and Astronomy at the University of Durham. After Durham, I went to Oxford University to do a DPhil. on 'The Behaviour of Small Bodies in the Outer Solar System'.
Once I finished at Oxford, I moved to Bern to work in the TAPS group (Theoretical Astrophysics and Planetary Science). I stayed in Bern for three years, taking the opportunity to enjoy weekeneds on the ski-slopes, and then moved to The Open University in late 2006, where I worked closely with Barrie Jones on exo-planets and small bodies in our Solar system, work which continues despite my move to the other side of the planet! Finally, I returned to Durham for a year, working as a teaching fellow at the University of Durham (see the Teaching page for more details of that) before accepting my current post at UNSW.