Heloise Stevance on The Sky at Night
New Astrophysics Research Associate Dr Heloise Stevance was a guest panellist on the BBC Four show The Sky at Night (Question Time special) on 7 October 2024.
The panellists took questions from pre-recorded videos as well as a live audience on a wide range of astrophysical topics. Heloise tackled the apparent paradox of expansion of the Universe, spoke about the incredible feat of the James Webb Space Telescope detecting the farthest galaxy (so far!), and she also lent her expertise in how machine learning and large-scale data processing are essential to Astronomy.
This is a topic she is particularly familiar with since, as part of her Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellowship, Heloise is developing a Virtual Research Assistant (VRA) for the ATLAS sky survey to help categorise, classify, and prioritise the thousands of cosmic explosions these telescopes detect every year. The first prototype of the VRA has been actively used since August 2024 and is saving the ATLAS sky survey ‘eyeballers’ more than 80% of the work. Less grunt work, more science!
Heloise has nearly a decade of experience communicating science including public talks, television and radio interviews, and news articles. She was awarded the Beatrice Tinsley Lecturer 2021 title by the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand; in 2024 she received the Caroline Herschel Prize Lectureship and will be delivering public talks titled ‘How can AI help us find exploding stars and hungry black holes?’
But few experiences compare to appearing on the beloved BBC sky at Night program, which began in 1957 and has inspired several generations of future (and past!) astronomers. Heloise said of her appearance,
‘It was an honour to be asked to contribute to such an amazing panel. I absolutely love getting to interact with the general public directly, and on a personal note it was phenomenal to get to meet Maggie, Chris and Georges [current Sky at Night presenters]. It was one of the best experiences of my life.’
Watch the full episode now on BBC iPlayer
About Dr Heloise Stevance
Dr Heloise Stevance will formally become one of six new Astrophysics Research Associates at Green Templeton on 25 October. She joined Oxford in April 2023 as one of the first Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Fellows. Originally born and raised in France, she moved to the UK to study Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield in 2011.
After working as a support astronomer at the Isaac Newton Group in La Palma for a year, Heloise obtained her Masters of Physics in 2015. She subsequently obtained a PhD in 2019 and went on to join the Auckland stellar evolution group.
About Green Templeton and Astronomy
As the home to the iconic Radcliffe Observatory, the college has longstanding links to astronomy. Since 2023, the 250th anniversary of the establishment of astronomical observations at the Radcliffe Observatory, the college has been strengthening links with the Astrophysics sub-department of the university. This includes the establishment of the Observatory as the hub venue for Astrophysics’ largest annual outreach event. The new research associates joining are the next step in this developing relationship.
The college is also currently embarking on a Radcliffe Observatory conservation and decarbonisation project.
