Giulio Del Zanna - solar guides

Which country are you from?

I used to work at the University of Cambridge, now I work at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. I study the ultraviolet and X-ray spectra from the Sun and stars. Here is a photo with some colleagues. I am standing at the end to the left. I'm actually Italian and was born in Florence. I come from a family that has been in Tuscany since the 15th century. For centuries, members of the Del Zanna family have been chemists and priests, and now there is an astronomer in the family (in fact two because my cousin is an astronomer as well!).

This is the Italian flag and our family symbol.

Why are you studying astronomy?

I love astronomy, well why wouldn't I coming from the place where Galileo lived?! Here’s a photo I took of the comet Hale-Bopp.

I have a special interest in how the Sun compares to other stars. Here is a photo of me and some of my friends.

What else do you like to do?

I love dancing, especially Rock 'n' Roll, Le Roc, Jive, Salsa. I also very much enjoy organising parties or eating out with my friends. In fact, I do quite a bit of cooking myself for my friends, but I like to use good ingredients from Italy. I like to try food from different parts of the world, and have travelled to many places, most recently to Brazil, in South America, but that was holiday, not work – well actually I got married!

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