Peter Francis Williams

Who is Peter Francis Williams?

Peter Francis Williams is an amateur astronomer from New South Wales, Australia. He specializes in early detection of declines in R Coronae Borealis-type stars and the long-term monitoring of several southern Mira variables and eclipsing binary stars. He was the first person who detected the naked-eye Nova Velorum 1999 and seven years later he discovered the Nova Ophiuchi 2006. Both discoveries brought him the Nova Award of the American Association of Variable Star Observers. In 2007 he received the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.