Heather Couper is an international broadcaster and writer on astronomy, space and science. Although a scientist by training, she has spent the last twenty years working entirely in the media. She has hosted two C4 series on British Television, several TV programmes, and many radio shows - including the long-running series Seeing Stars on BBC World Service. She has also written over 30 books. Her latest - Philip's Stargazing 2005, a new yearbook of astronomy - was published in November 2004.

On June 2 1999, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid number 3922 "Heather" in her honour.

In 1988, Heather co-founded Pioneer Productions, which is now one of the UK’s top independent TV production companies. Black Holes, which she produced, took Gold at the New York Film and TV Festival. Heather left Pioneer recently to concentrate on more general TV and radio presentation. She presented a BBC 4 documentary on Stephen Hawking in January 2002, to celebrate his 60th birthday, and hosted and produced a programme for Channel 4 on the Space Shuttle disaster in March 2003. In autumn 2003, she presented a series on Mars for BBC Radio 4. Most recently, she presented a further series - Worlds Beyond - on Radio 4 in January 2005 Away from TV and radio, Heather enjoys communicating science - particularly to adults, where the understanding of controversial issues is critical. From September 1993 to September 1996, she was Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College (founded in the City of London in 1597) - a post that involved giving many public talks. She is past-President of both the British Astronomical Association and the Society for Popular Astronomy. Heather is also Astronomy columnist for The Independent and Focus Magazine, and is a member of the Millennium Commission.

Heather's other passions include travel, the countryside, classical music, cycling, swimming, old buildings and churches, wine and (veggie!) food.