Wednesday, June 13, 2007

“Pied Piper of Astronomy” to talk at UTA Astro Day

By Pegasus News wire

ARLINGTON–Telescope building with John Dobson, dubbed “The Pied Piper of Astronomy,” and other astronomy activities for young and old will be part of a free public astronomy day at The University of Texas.

Astro Day,sponsored by The Planetarium at UT Arlington and the Texas Astronomical Society, will be from 1 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, June 23, in the Planetarium, 700 Planetarium Place.

Dobson is arguably the most influential person in amateur astronomy in the last 30 years, said Planetarium Program Coordinator Joe Eakin.

“He has almost single-handedly revolutionized backyard astronomy by bringing it out to the street, making it accessible for anyone who has ever looked up in questioning wonder," Eakin said.

Dobson, founder of the Sidewalk Astronomers, completed a chemistry degree at the University of California at Berkeley in 1943, and joined the Vedanta Monastery in 1944, where he spent the next 23 years. When he joined the order, known for its intellectual rigor and public service, he was given the assignment of reconciling the teachings of religion with those of science.

He built his first telescope in 1956. It was made from a lens he got in a junk store and an eyepiece from an old pair of Zeiss binoculars. Through it, he could see the rings of Saturn. A fellow monk told him that it was possible to grind a telescope mirror, so he made his first mirror out of a marine-salvage porthole glass. When he looked at the third-quarter moon with his finished telescope, he was deeply moved by what he saw and became committed to public service in astronomy.

In 1968, Dobson started the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers. As the organization grew, larger telescopes were made and taken out to the streets. By 1970, the Sidewalk Astronomers had a portable 24-inch telescope. As members of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers spread out into new areas of the country and new chapters started to form, "San Francisco" was removed from the name and the organization is now called the Sidewalk Astronomers.

Millions of people all over the world have looked through the telescopes of the Sidewalk Astronomers. Thousands of people have made their own sturdy, low-cost telescopes under Dobson’s direction or on their own by using his simple design. Telescopes with light-weight mirrors previously considered unusable, long focal ratios previously considered unmanageable, and apertures previously considered unthinkable are now in the hands of lovers of astronomy around the globe.

Activities scheduled are:

• Telescopes for public solar and night planetary viewing, 1 p.m. until closing
• Scale Model Solar System Display, all day
• Children’s Educational Fun Activities, Water Rocket Display, 1-4 p.m.
• Telescope Mirror Grinding and Amateur Telescope Making Workshop, 2-7 p.m.
• Meteorite Display in atrium, 2-4 p.m.
• Talk by John Dobson, 4 p.m. in the Planetarium
• The Planetarium will offer discounted tickets for $3.

The show schedule is:

• 1:30 p.m.- Planetarium Show (Astronaut!)
• 2 p.m. -Planetarim Show (cosmic CSI)
• 3 p.m. - Planetarium Show (Astronaut!)
• 4 p.m. - John Dobson Talk
• 5:30 p.m.- Planetarium Show (Texas Sky Tour)
• 6 p.m. - Planetarium Show (Black Holes!)
• 7 p.m.- Planetarium Show (Texas Sky Tour)8 p.m. - Planetarium Show (Rock Hall of Fame)

Refreshments, including Astro Burgers, Moon Dogs, Astro Cookies and Stellar Lemonade will be available on the outside back patio. For more information, call (817) 272-0123 or visit www.uta.edu/planetarium/.

Source: UTA

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