Anna Watts
I am an astrophysicist studying some the most compact objects* in our Universe, neutron stars. I am particularly interested in violent dynamical events - starquakes and explosions, both magnetic and thermonuclear. In a time when we hear ever more about the large-scale structure of the cosmos, dark matter, dark energy and galaxies one should never underestimate the power of even very small stars to leave us baffled and confused. Some of the coolest physics around is lurking inside these uber-dense, rapidly rotating, highly magnetized balls of nuclear weirdness!

I also lead the Dense Matter Science Working Group for the proposed Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT). LOFT is an X-ray telescope that will answer fundamental questions about the motion of matter orbiting close to the event horizon of a black hole, and the state of matter in neutron stars. LOFT was recently selected by the European Space Agency as one of five space mission concepts of the Cosmic Vision programme that are competing for a launch opportunity at the start of the 2020s.

* Compact objects is a term used by astronomers to describe stars that contain a lot of matter in a small volume. They include white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.