Dr. Rebecca Smethurst, also known as “Dr. Becky”, is an astrophysicist, author, and YouTuber focused on answering the question “How do galaxies and black holes evolve together?’ and making astronomy-related videos for an audience with varying astronomy knowledge.
After assisting other YouTube accounts for astronomy and physics, Dr. Becky finally started her own channel in late 2018. She posts weekly videos explaining unsolved astronomical mysteries, astronomical research, reacting to pop culture, and amateur astronomy topics. Her monthly series, Night Sky News, covers what to expect in the night sky in the next month and catches viewers up on recent astronomical research developments. Her most popular video, A day in the life of an Astrophysicist at Oxford University, shows viewers exactly what the title states.
Besides her YouTube channel, Dr. Becky is a Royal Astronomical Society Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the evolution of galaxies and their supermassive black holes. Specifically, she researches the process of quenching (when galaxies stop producing stars). Dr. Becky has also published three books: A Brief History of Black Holes, Space: 10 Things You Should Know, and Space at the Speed of Light: The History of 14 Billion Years for People Short on Time.
Sources:
A brief history of black holes: And why nearly everything you know about them is wrong: Smethurst, dr dr becky: 9781529086706: Amazon.com: Books. (n.d.-a). https://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-Black-Holes-everything/dp/1529086701
Dr. Becky Smethurst. Dr. Rebecca Smethurst. (n.d.). https://rebeccasmethurst.co.uk/public/
Smethurst, R., Smethurst, R., Simmons, B., & Smethurst, R. J. (n.d.). Dr Becky Smethurst. University of Oxford Department of Physics. https://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/our-people/smethurst
Space at the speed of light: The history of 14 billion years for people short on time: Smethurst, dr. Becky: 9781984858696: Amazon.com: Books. (n.d.-b). https://www.amazon.com/Space-Speed-Light-History-Billion/dp/1984858696
Space: The 10 things you should know: Becky Smethurst: 9781841883823: Amazon.com: Books. (n.d.-c). https://www.amazon.com/Space-Things-You-Should-Know/dp/1841883824
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, October 24). Becky Smethurst. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becky_Smethurst
YouTube. (n.d.). Dr. becky. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/DrBecky/about
It is so interesting to showcase a woman in astrophysics who besides research, is spreading more knowledge and interest in astrophysics to people who may not otherwise be able to read an entire research paper!
ReplyDeleteI used to watch Dr. Becky's videos back in high school! I didn't know she had multiple books. I think it's interesting to see the rise in science communicators, especially since social media becomes more and more popular.
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