The TARDIS watches a supernova explosion CREDIT: SN: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss; TARDIS: BBC; composition: Dr Argo
ICRAR astronomer Dr Megan Argo is what you might conservatively call a Dr Who fan. She even blames Dr Who for her love of science, and subsequent career choice. Which is why, instead of putting out a standard media release about a discovery she was involved in, she wrote a Doctor Who story.
Dr Argo was part of a team of researchers who observed the unusual Supernova 2007gr. They witnessed jets of gas being expelled from the supernova at half the speed of light, faster than any other witnessed supernova jet. This finding was published in prestigious scientific journal Nature, the first time Dr Argo’s work has been featured in the publication.
Being published in such a renowned journal is usually accompanied by media releases and press coverage, and this was no exception. However, Dr Argo also wanted to convey some of the excitement of science and astronomy and discovering something new. So, to mark the occasion, she wrote a piece of fiction featuring BBC’s Dr Who.
You can read Dr Argo’s story “Doctor Who and the Silver Spiral” at her personal blog. Dr Argo has captured the essence of the David Tennant’s Doctor exactly as he appears in the series, and her fun, well written piece is definitely worth the read. You can also download an audio play version of Dr Argo’s story from the Darker Projects Website.
It would seem that others agree; since Dr Argo published the fan fiction on her blog, she’s received quite a lot of media coverage, from Skymania News, American newspapers, Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy to io9.com just to name a few.
Dr Megan Argo is an astronomer based at the Curtin University node of ICRAR. Amongst her research in radio astronomy, Dr Argo also donates her time to the Centre’s Outreach and Education activities and has a knack for explaining complicated science.
