ANALYSIS | Terence Dickinson dies: We’ve lost one of Canada’s most illustrious sets of eyes on the skies | 24CA News

Canada misplaced one in all its greatest this week. Terence Dickinson — astronomer, writer, lecturer and outstanding advocate of all issues astronomical — handed away on February 1 on the age of 79.

Terry turned taken with astronomy on the early age of 5 when he noticed a meteor streak throughout the sky and developed a ardour for astronomy that continued all through his life.

Author of many books and winner of quite a few awards, together with the Order of Canada, he started working as an astronomer on the McLaughlin Planetarium in Toronto within the Nineteen Sixties. He turned the manager editor of the distinguished journal Astronomy within the early Nineteen Seventies, and across the identical time joined the schooling division on the Ontario Science Centre, which is the place I first met him.

Terry acted as a mentor to assist me develop astronomy applications for visiting colleges. Since then, we met at many astronomy conferences. But one memorable event was after I visited his rural residence close to Yarker, Ontario, the place he confirmed me the right way to do astronomy through the day. 

Outside in his yard, beneath clear blue skies, was a telescope. I anticipated it to be fitted with a photo voltaic filter so we might take a look at the solar, however as an alternative he requested, “Would you like to see Venus?” 

“During the day?” I responded. “Sure, if you know where to look for it,” he replied. Checking the time, and an astronomical desk, he pointed the telescope to the right co-ordinates, then invited me to have a look via the eyepiece.

There, shimmering brightly, was the silvery crescent of the planet Venus. Venus is nearer to the solar than we’re so it all the time seems to be like a crescent — by no means full. He went on to clarify, “Venus is always close to the sun, so it is up more during the day than at night, so this is a good time to look at it.”

That was the magic of Terry Dickinson — he was smooth spoken, educated and capable of present the surprise of the universe proper out of your yard. His bestselling  ebook, Nightwatch has grow to be an ordinary information for yard astronomers, continuously up to date and reprinted over the previous 20 years and nonetheless on bookshelves right this moment.

In the ’90s he co-founded SkyNews, an all-Canadian astronomy journal, and later helped set up a darkish sky protect not removed from his residence that’s utilized by novice astronomers yr spherical.

For greater than 15 years within the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties, Terry was a daily visitor on Quirks & Quarks as our “Eye on the Sky,” bringing us the newest news in astronomy or fascinating details about uncommon objects within the universe. But my favorite episode was in 1994 after we requested him to return on — ostensibly to talk about the Orion Nebula.

The interview was all of a sudden interrupted by a name from Dr. Brian Marsden of the Harvard Smithsonian Institute for Astrophysics, informing Terry that asteroid 5272 was to be formally named Dickinson in his honour. 

Terry was fully flabbergasted. You can hearken to that interview right here.

Terence Dickinson influenced hundreds of individuals throughout Canada and world wide, via his writings, lectures and publications. His legacy will dwell on within the asteroid that bears his identify, within the many who’ve been impressed by his educating and by these of us who had the privilege to know him.

Clear skies, Terry.