Richard Hall is one New Zealand's leading astronomers, and a renowned communicator with a gift for making the science and history of astronomy enjoyable and easy to understand. His Radio New Zealand series Summer Stars and Transit of Venus reached thousands. Formerly senior public prograqmmes officer at Carter Observatory, he co-founded the Phoenix Astronomical Society and is director of the outdoor observatorty and astronomy centre Stonehenge Aotearoa. In 2009 he was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's most prestigious honour, the Murray Geddes Memorial Prize, for his outstanding contribution to astronomy in New Zealand.