Mike Inglis is a professional astronomer who also has a life-long passion for amateur astronomy. In addition to observing the night sky whenever he can he has worked at the University of Hertfordshire and Warwick University in the UK, at Princeton University in the USA, and used some of the world’s largest telescopes in Australia, La Palma and Hawaii. He is the author of several astronomy books for amateurs and students, and has had many articles published in both popular astronomy magazines and research level journals. He is series editor for three Springer series: "Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics & Astrophysics" for degree-level Physics and Astrophysics students; "SpringerBriefs in Astronomy" for PhD astrophysics students and research astrophysicists, and "Astronomers' Observing Guides" for advanced amateur astronomers. He is currently Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the State University of New York, USA.