Gregg Thompson (astronomer)
Gregg D. Thompson of Brisbane, Australia is an amateur astronomer.
Astronomy
[edit]Gregg Thompson was one of the founding members of the Southern Astronomical Society (SAS).[1] Before 1981 he started making a set of charts of bright galaxies, designed to help deep sky observers in their search for extragalactic supernovae.[2] In 1985 he received the Amateur Achievement Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, together with Robert Owen Evans,[3] who had made several supernova discoveries using Thompson's charts.[2] Evans wrote that the number of galaxies he was able to observe grew substantially after the charts were produced. Gregg Thompson also helped verify some of Evans' discoveries.[4]
Public outreach
[edit]In 1990 Gregg Thompson co-authored with James T. Bryan, Jr. the astronomical atlas The Supernova Search Charts and Handbook, containing 248 comparison charts of 345 of the brightest galaxies,[5] highly valued especially by supernova hunters and recommended by the Supernova Search Committee of the American Association of Variable Star Observers.[6] In 1993 he published The Australian Guide to Stargazing, a manual for both naked-eye and telescope observing of the sky of the southern hemisphere with explanatory diagrams, photographs and detailed drawings, describing the basics of the night sky observation to novice amateur astronomers.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Southern Astronomical Society Celebrates its 20th Anniversary". Astronomical Events. Southern Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 3 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Evans, Robert (1993). Supernova Search Manual. Cambridge, USA: American Association of Variable Star Observers. ISBN 1-878174-11-8.
- ^ "Past Amateur Achievement Winners". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
- ^ Evans, Robert. "Searching for Supernovae: A More Personal Story". Research in Evangelical Revivals. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
- ^ Supernova Search Charts and Handbook, Pack/set ICL - Abstract. The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. 1990. Bibcode:1990ssch.book.....T.
- ^ "Supernova Search Observing Program". American Association of Variable Star Observers. Archived from the original on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
- ^ Wheeler, Chris. "SAS Library". Southern Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2007.