Martin Peston

Hello! My name is Martin Peston and I live near London in the United Kingdom. I am an IT consultant by profession but my real passion is Astronomy. Astronomy has been a hobby of mine for over thirty years since I was a boy and I always wanted to write an Astronomy Book. In 2007 I finally fulfilled my dream having an Astronomy book published by Springer called "A Users Guide to the Meade LXD55 and LXD75 Telecopes". I have also contributed to several other books in Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series by Springer. Recently I contributed a few photos to "Stargazing Under Suburban Skies - A Starhopper's Guide" using the very same telescope I talked about in my book. I studied Astrophysics at Queen Mary and Westfield, University of London (94-98) where I gained a First class degree. I was surprised that there were very few amateur astronomers in my year who studied physics/astrophysics. In fact, I converted an old unused telescope into a dobsonian telescope for the Physics department during my time there. I am a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, Member of the Institute of Physics and member of my Loughton Astronomical Society near London, UK. Every year I attend the largest star party in Europe located in Norfolk, East England. Cheers Martin