RIP John Dobson

Sky and Telescope ^ | 1/16/2014 | Kelley Beaty

[DBrow]

John Dobson, 1915–2014 The long-lived master of sidewalk astronomy died peacefully on January 15th. Emerging from obscurity in 1968, he introduced simple ideas that revolutionized how amateurs make and use large reflecting telescopes.

[DBrow]

A very unique person. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times and built a scope under his guidance. I helped out when he took the Sidewalk Astronomers up to the star parties on Mount Pinos, CA

[bigbob]

RIP. Had a Dobsonian back in the 70s.

[ETL]

For those that don't know, Dobsonian mounted telescopes pivot in 2 directions. You simply swing it around by hand, although they did eventually come out with motorized Dobsonian mounts.

[DBrow]

Another key factor is a very lightweight mirror (a thickness to diameter ratio of 2 or even 1.5 vs 6 for a “standard” mirror), plus the extensive use of recycled or repurposed materials. Lots of 12” Dobs were made with a salvaged porthole glass.

[stranger and pilgrim]

I had an 8” dob for a while. The guy changed astronomy forever. Totally cool human, IMO.

[DBrow]

He told me that you need not question the existence of God, you need only look at the spin of the neutron as proof. I had not considered that before!

[ETL]

plus the extensive use of recycled or repurposed materials.

The barrel on the 10-inch I had a few years ago, as well as lots of others out there, looked like it was made from the insert of a super-sized roll of toilet paper.

[RIghtwardHo]

Oh my goodness! I had a Dobsonian back in the day.

[originalbuckeye]

Sad to read. We have 2 Dobsonians. Also attended the Star Parties on Mt Pinos occasionally. He spoke at our Astronomy Club in the late nineties. Really nice, humble man. RIP.

[ETL]

[DBrow]

I have a commercial Dob and one I built at his class.

I think he spent his life as simply as he could, doing something he loved and thought was important, not many of us do that.

[RingerSIX]

I had the honor of meeting John at Griffith Park Observatory back around 1990 when his merry band of Sidewalk Astronomers had their scopes setup around the front of the building. I’ve been building big dobs ever since.

Now if I could just find something to take the place of Wilsonart “Ebony Star” 4552-50 laminate. :(

[DBrow]

“I had a Dobsonian back in the day.”

Yeah, at most star parties there will be many Dobs. And he was pretty humble considering that he changed the world for amateur astronomy.

[hoosierham]

John Dobson made astonishing views of the stars affordable.

I pray that John is welcomed by He who created the stars.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks DBrow, extra to APoD.