Mike Brotherton is a professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming where he investigates the most luminous active galactic nuclei, the quasars. Powered by supermassive black holes, quasars outshine the galaxies within which they exist and shape the course of their evolution. He uses the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Array in New Mexico, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Wyoming Infrared Observatory, and any other telescope that will grant him observing time. He is also the author of the science fiction novels Star Dragon and Spider Star, both from Tor Books, as well as a number of short stories and popular science articles. He is the founder of Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers, which brings professional writers to Wyoming every summer in order to better educate and inspire their audiences. He has edited the anthologies Diamonds in the Sky, Launch Pad (with Jody Lynn Nye) and Science Fiction by Scientists.