|
||||
|
BY TRACEY DUGUAY tracey@northernlife.ca In a solar system far, far away, asteroid 13822 continues its never-ending orbit around the sun. In the City of Greater Sudbury, a former high school teacher continues his never-ending quest to construct the best amateur telescope.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU), the recognized authority for naming celestial bodies, bestowed the honour on Steve Dodson because of his work in helping to measure the size and shape of another asteroid, named Vesta after the Roman goddess of fire. The IAU uses strict guidelines for naming celestial bodies. While many were named after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, some are named after the people who discovered them, and others, as in the case of Dodson, receive the honor based on their valuable contribution to the field of astronomy. Dodson, who also goes by the moniker of Stargazer Steve, found out when he received a call from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. He’s understandably delighted the asteroid was named after him, especially since astronomy has been his passion for almost as long as he can remember. “My teacher in Grade 2 gave me a book about the stars and I’ve been fascinated ever since.” He says he remembers his first response being how “beautiful” and “exciting” it was to see objects in the universe with his own eyes. His second response was “everybody’s got to see this.” Although he’s been building telescopes privately for many years, he turned it into a full time business – Stargazer Steve Telescopes - about 10 years ago. “I’m now building telescopes for the average family who want to look at the moon and stars from their backyard,” he says. However, the Stevedodson asteroid can’t be seen that easily; it’s visible only to the largest amateur telescopes. Discovered in 1999 by Spacewatch at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, the asteroid is around 1.468 astronomical units (AU) away from Earth. To put this into perspective, one AU equals 149,597,871 kilometres. Information about the asteroid, including an interesting 3-D orbit visualization tool, is available by logging onto the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) website at neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits. In the Object Number, Designation, or Name field, type in 13822 or Stevedodson and discovery information, statistics and the orbit visualization tool will be displayed. There are over 50,000 asteroids orbiting in space, but only 10,000 of them have been officially named. Dodson has the distinction of being one of around 300 people in Canada and 30 in Ontario to have an asteroid named after them. “It’s only a matter of time before they get recognized,” he says about other Canadians who make valuable contributions to the field of astronomy. Dodson’s enthusiasm for astronomy has been carried over into his career throughout his life. As a teacher of physics, science, chemistry and math, he says he took every opportunity to integrate astronomy into his classroom. “My main interest in life is to encourage people to look up and get excited about the universe over their heads.” In 1981, he joined the Sudbury Science Centre study group to help prepare the original programs, including content and activities, for a new tourist attraction that was later called Science North. He became the full-time developer of astronomy and physics activities at the science centre after it opened with one his biggest projects being the development of the Solar Observatory. In 1985, he used a 16-foot long mobile telescope he built, the largest of its kind in Canada at Science North to show visitors Halley’s Comet. Coincidentally, this also turned out to be the first public viewing in Canada of the famous comet. After fielding many questions from science centre visitors about what kind of telescopes they should purchase, and being dissatisfied with the quality of devices available in mainstream stores, he decided to turn his pastime into his job. “It’s been very exciting and rewarding but not in the financial sense,” he says with a wry grin. Like many people, he enjoyed the tranquility and peace of last summer’s massive blackout since it was a perfect night for star watching without the illuminating effect of city lights. In fact, even without a power failure, he thinks the abundance of clear, dark skies in Northern Ontario could provide an economic boost for tourism. Some hotel and resort owners are already starting to develop star gazing programs as an incentive for customers. For more information on Stargazer Steve or his telescope business, visit stargazer.isys.ca or phone 566-1314. |
||||
