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.[3] Among his award-winning television productions are On Jupiter, Black Holes and Journey to the Edge of the Universe.[3] 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.[4]
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.[1] Here, he met fellow astronomy student
Heather Couper; they formed a working partnership - Hencoup Enterprises - that focused on astronomy popularisation.[6]
Henbest also researched the
optical spectra of
quasars at the Royal Greenwich Observatory,[9] 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[10][11]
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.[1]
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.[14]
As well his contributions to major encyclopedias, Henbest has had over 1,000 articles published in international magazines.[1]
In 1982, Henbest was appointed Astronomy Consultant to New Scientist,[15] a post he held for ten years. Having been a columnist for BBC Focus magazine for many years,[16] he now contributes a regular column to The Independent newspaper.[17]
Eclipses
As guest astronomer, Henbest has led nine 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) and Chile (2019).[4][18]
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.[3]
He has also led tours of major space centres, from the Apollo Mission Control in Houston to the futurist Spaceport America in New Mexico.[19]
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.[1]
He has also been:
Chairman of The Litmus Test, BBC Radio 4, 1991-93[20][21]
Presenter (with Heather Couper) of Seeing Stars, BBC World Service, 1989-2001[22]
As well as being interviewed about breaking news stories on British television channels, Henbest has featured on several major international TV documentary series:
2000's Greatest Tragedies, National Geographic Channel, 2015
The 80's Greatest Tragedies, National Geographic Channel, 2014
Meteor Strike, Fireball from Space, Channel 4, 2013[23]
UFO Europe Untold Stories, National Geographic Channel[24][25]
Henbest was a member of the University of Leicester's winning team on Christmas University Challenge, BBC2, 30 December 2013.[26]
The
Open University invited Henbest to serve as External Assessor on its new Astronomy module, Matter in the Universe (S256), in 1984.[1]
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.[28][29]
Henbest was Chairman of
National Astronomy Week in 1990, which spearheaded the first national campaign against light pollution in the UK.[30]
Online
Henbest has presented the regular strand Nigel goes to Space! on the YouTube channel Naked Science.[31]
Television production and scriptwriting
In 1983, Henbest conceived a TV documentary on the pioneering
Infrared Astronomical Satellite, which was filmed by Quanta production company[32] and screened in the BBC television
Horizon strand.[1] He delivers presentations on Astronomy and Television at international conferences.[33][34]
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.[35]
for Channel 4, Discovery &
ABC (Australia) - GOLD MEDAL, BEST SCIENCE DOCUMENTARY, NEW YORK FESTIVALS
1999
Universe:Beyond the Millennium
4-part series for Channel 4 & The Learning Channel - BEST TELEVISION PRODUCTION, GLAXO-WELLCOME/ABSW SCIENCE WRITER AWARD
StarsCreationPlanetsAlien Life
^Henbest, S.N.; Mills, A.A.; Ottey, P. (1978). "Two tiltmeters and an integrating seismometer for the monitoring of volcanic activity, and the results of some trials on Mount Etna". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 4 (1–2): 133–149.
Bibcode:
1978JVGR....4..133H.
doi:
10.1016/0377-0273(78)90033-1.