In memoriam: John Dobson (1915 – 2014)

John Dobson at the CT Star Party, 2001 (just a few days after September 11th). The day was sunny and bright, and John sat inside the dark dining hall, studying by the light that streamed in through the door behind him. We celebrated his 86th birthday with him that weekend. Twelve years later, John continued searching for answers and spirituality amongst the stars, with an unending thirst for knowledge about our place in the universe. And now he's found his own place in the night sky. Photo Credit: Stacey Severn

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The following announcement appeared on the website of the Sidewalk Astronomers, the public service amateur astronomy association John Dobson founded:

It is with heavy hearts that we must report the passing of John Dobson. He died peacefully this morning, Wednesday, January 15th, in Burbank, California. He was 98 years old. He leaves behind a son, numerous close friends, and fans and admirers worldwide.

On March 8th, in honor of John, this year’s ISAN (International Sidewalk Astronomy Night) will be dedicated to his memory. Amateur astronomers around the globe can join in and celebrate John’s life and continue to carry the torch that he lit back in 1968 when he co-founded the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers.

John was a friend and inspiration to my family, and I also want to share with you something I’ve written previously about John, to help explain why John was so important to us all:

In the 1950s, Sputnik was all the rage and sending people into space to discover what surrounds the earth became humankind’s passion. The public was quickly swept up in wonder, and fueling a growing thirst to know more about what lay beyond our Earth’s horizon, amateur astronomy clubs quickly gained popularity, thriving through the Mercury, Gemini, and early Apollo programs,

But by the time the Shuttle program came around, space travel was taken for granted, and the skies were largely ignored by people outside the scientific community.

Enter John Dobson, a former monk and founder of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers. In the 1960s, John designed an inexpensive, easy-to-build telescope mount that revolutionized amateur astronomy. He began a movement to bring telescopes out into the public, to street corners, National parks – anywhere there were people – and show them the heavens. Dobson regularly made visits to Connecticut and spent time with members of our local clubs teaching, building telescopes, taking them out to the streets, and had been a fixture at the Connecticut Star Party (sponsored by ASNH) for many years.

At a time when science education is really missing the mark, members of our local astronomy groups and sidewalk astronomers everywhere continue to follow John Dobson’s lead, spending a great deal of time doing public educational outreach. This involves regular observing at area parks and beaches, along with meetings and observing nights at our local observatories.

Please remember John when you look up to the sky!

This article originally appeared on StarTalk Radio and is reprinted with permission.

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