Nigel Henbest is a British astronomer educated in Northern Ireland and at Leicester University, where he studied physics, chemistry and astronomy. He did postgraduate work at the University of Cambridge but left to become a science writer. He has written 36 books and over 1,000 articles on astronomy and space many of them in collaboration with Heather Couper. Previously he has been Astronomy Consultant to New Scientist magazine, editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association and media consultant to the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Along with Couper and Stuart Carter, director of the Channel 4 series The Stars he set up Pioneer Productions and now develops ideas and proposals for that company. Asteroid 3795 Nigel is named after him. 

January 1st, 1951 in (Age 73)