The Arkansas Sky Observatory is proud to announce recipients of the 2003 "ASO Annual Contributions to Astronomy Award" in recognition of leaders in the field of public astronomy who has been instrumental in the promotion of astronomy to the public, of great assistance to amateur astronomers on a nationwide or worldwide basis and who has contributed greatly to the science and/or educational progress of the discipline throughout 2002.

 

Two contributors stood out quite vividly to a panel of seven individuals across the United States that had the difficult task of sorting through many nominations.  For the 2003 award, ASO received 27 nominations from all over the world and we are very appreciative of these.  ALL were deserving of the Award without a doubt; it was indeed a difficult decision for our judges and in some cases, many remarked that several nominees were deserving but had been recognized "so much" in past years in various awards and endeavors that they felt like this year's recipients best represented the goals of ASO toward public outreach and assistance to others.

 

We are proud to announce that Mr. Richard Hill and Mr. Bill J. Gray have been jointly selected to represent the standards of unselfish contributions to astronomy throughout the year 2002; however, for those who nominated - and those who know - these two individuals are aware, both of these gentlemen have been very active for years in uniquely different pursuits that have resulted in the advancement of thousands of astronomers, professional and amateur, worldwide.

 

  

Bill J. Gray	Richard Hill

 

 

ABOUT THE RECIPIENTS (this is a joint award, listing alphabetical):

 

RICHARD HILL

Holding many hats and wearing as many simultaneously as possible, Rik Hill is presently the Webmaster for the worldwide Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers (ALPO) of which ASO has been active in for decades.  Thus, it is exciting to see one of the persons who keeps this very important group active behind the scenes awarded through ASO.

 

Rik was nominated by two "high officials" with the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers.  The ALPO website has been the recipient of two awards from the Griffith Observatory and the site has been used considerably throughout the world by educators when teaching specifics of our solar system.

 

Rik's astronomical future began in 1957 in front of a two-room schoolhouse in rural Michigan where he viewed a transit of Mercury through a Unitron telescope.   According to Rik his budding interest in astronomy did not wane after his father attempted (and failed) to show the then-unknown NEARSIGHTED boy a fuzzy sky full of stars in an attempt to watch a pass by the just-launched Sputnik satellite.

 

After 1960, he had the fortune to write to a gentleman by the name of Walter H. Haas who he had read about in Sky & Telescope in his interest of exploring the moon and planets.  As most know, Mr. Haas was the founder and then-Director of the ALPO, in which Rik has been dedicated ever since.  In 1979, he was in charge of operating the Burrell Schmidt telescope at the Warner and Swasey Observatory, then being moved from Ohio to Kitt Peak in Arizona, where he lives today.

 

Rik is now with the Lunar and Planetary Laboratories, having worked in exciting projects involving planetary atmospheres and co-discovering a sodium atmosphere on the Jovian satellite Europa.

 

In 1982, Rik Hill - at the request of Walter Haas - founded the Solar Section of the ALPO.  His current projects in addition to maintaining the ever-changing and enormous web pages for ALPO (and let's not forget his "day job") include eclipsing binary and RR Lyrae variables, double star measurements, stellar proper motions and - of course - lunar and planetary observing.

 

Said one of Mr. Hill's nominators:  "Rik has truly gone beyond the call of duty in providing the ALPO with a first-rate web page....the maintenance of [the web site] is often a thankless job that goes unrecognized."  When learning of the nomination, a long-time contributor to the ALPO noted: "Names come and go in astronomy and particularly in astronomy organizations that try to help people....these people burn out.  Not Richard Hill...he has been there forever!"

 

The Arkansas Sky Observatory recognizes Rik Hill for decades of unrelenting dedication to the pursuits of planetary observers worldwide and his perseverance in helping to maintain the ALPO as one of the premier lunar and planetary observing repositories on Earth.

 

The Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers web site is located at:

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/alpo/

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BILL GRAY

For those who have not seen or tried Bill Gray's Guide 8 planetarium program or the unbelievably accurate CHARON astrometry and photometry programs, you have no idea how accurate, simple and rewarding the science of astronomical astrometry can be.  At ASO, both Guide 8 and CHARON are used nightly for the acquisition, measurements and reporting of faint comets, minor planets and NEOs; the system is also incorporated to verify or discount the discoveries of others or to confirm or dispel the possibilities of new objects on ASO images.

 

Bill was nominated by both a professional astronomer in the western states who is actively involved in astrometric research as well as an advanced amateur astronomer and discoverer of at least one NEO in recent years, who actually used Bill's incredible software for the discovery(s).

 

PROJECT PLUTO, actually the company under which Bill Gray writes the innovative commercial and non-commercial astronomy programs, serves both the amateur and professional astronomical communities.  The Guide 8/Charon combination concentrates heavily toward astrometry (the detailed measurements of the positions and motions of celestial objects); this software is used worldwide by asteroid observers, for celestial cartography, improved orbital determinations of NEOs, minor planets and comets.

 

"It is his 'non-commercial' commitment and support of his software in the hands of others that deserves recognition," explained on nominator of Mr. Gray.  "He is as dedicated to the people who use his development as he is to the stuff he writes...."  Another individual wrote:  "I can't imagine the effort - no, the absolute genius - it takes to do what Bill has done with Guide 8 and Charon...just unbelievably complicated, yet he makes it fly like a feather in a hurricane!"

 

Asked to pin down specifically how Bill considers himself in the astronomical community he candidly admits: "I never quite figured out which I am [professional or amateur]....I do make my living by writing....astronomy software.  I guess I am either a professional amateur, or an amateur professional."

 

Bill resides in the high latitude state of Maine where he maintains Project Pluto and continues to upgrade and improve the ease of which astronomers worldwide can put precision and excitement into astronomical astrometric and photometric research.

 

The Arkansas Sky Observatory recognizes Bill Gray for his tremendous efforts in the development of this incredible and ever-evolving software which is being used by scientists worldwide.

 

The PROJECT PLUTO web page to learn more about the incredible workings of Mr. Gray can be found at:

http://www.projectpluto.com

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ABOUT THE ASO CONTRIBUTIONS AWARD

In particular, this award recognizes those who have unselfishly assisted others in astronomical pursuits, education or research whether they be professional, amateur or educational.  The 2003 Contributions to Astronomy Award recipients are TRULY representative of this focus beyond a shadow of a doubt.

The Arkansas Sky Observatory's "ASO  Annual Contributions to Astronomy Award" was established in 1975 to provide recognition for those individuals who were deemed to exhibit a non-selfish attitude in sharing their expertise and knowledge in astronomy to all facets of interest, from profession to amateur, from beginner to teacher.  This philosophy of SHARING our knowledge in astronomy is the basis of the thousands of outreach program of the Arkansas Sky Observatory since its inception in 1971.

 

The ASO  award was given first in May, 1976 in recognition to the late Dr. Joseph Ashbrook (Sky and Telescope magazine) for his never-ending support of amateur efforts and particularly in that year for the world-wide amateur efforts toward minor planet research for the asteroids 433 EROS and 1580 BETULIA.   The award has been given to a deserving individual or group annually since that year.  It focuses on contributors - professional and amateur - who have taken the time from their busy lives and interests to SHARE and TEACH their knowledge of astronomy, astronomical equipment, and related sciences.

The award for 2002 was jointly shared by Mr. Dick Seymour, of Washington state and Mr. Larry Sessions of Colorado for their diverse and attentive contributions to the public sector of astronomy.  Mr. Sessions is known through the country as a planetarium educator who also has developed and maintained the alert notification system of North American Skies and is a frequent contributor to space.com and other public interests.  Mr. Seymour is well known through the "GO TO" telescope worlds for his computer mastery of the GO TO system, its quirks, fixes and languages.

 

Each year the Arkansas Sky Observatory presents an award to the person who it has selected as contributing over and beyond the expected toward the growth of knowledge in astronomy for the general public.  The ASO Annual Contributions to Astronomy Award is selected from the following criteria:

 

1) The activity toward public awareness/education/outreach must be deemed appropriate and deserving, as well beyond the scope of what is expected from an individual on a strictly volunteer basis;

2) The efforts at promoting astronomical interests must have been done during the 12-month period PRIOR to December of the current year;

3) The person receiving this distinctive award can be from any element of astronomical background:  amateur, teacher, professor, professional or any mentor as deemed by the activities reviewed;

4)  The efforts must have been strictly voluntary and the result highly visible in the public sector; NOTE:  it must be clear that the nominee is in no way biased in his or her input to the help of others by any commercial or ulterior motives;

5)  The person must be nominated by a second party who is familiar with and can communicate the attributes of the prospective recipient's efforts
that are deemed appropriate from the preceding year;

 

6)  The individual's contributions to the actual SCIENCE of astronomy (i.e., through research {amateur and professional}, publications, etc.) will also be weighed into the final consideration.

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO RIK HILL AND BILL GRAY...the 2003 "ASO Annual Contributions to Astronomy Award" recipients for their dedicate efforts in 2002.