Gregg Thompson (astronomer)

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Gregg D. Thompson of Brisbane, Australia is an amateur astronomer and the executive director of the Dreamtech Designs and Productions company.

Astronomy[]

Gregg Thompson was one of the founding members of the (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[]

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]

With his Dreamtech Designs and Productions company he also opened the educational interactive high-tech attractions SpaceWalker and Infinity at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.[7][8]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Southern Astronomical Society Celebrates its 20th Anniversary". Astronomical Events. Southern Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 2007-09-03. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Evans, Robert (1993). Supernova Search Manual. Cambridge, USA: American Association of Variable Star Observers. ISBN 1-878174-11-8.
  3. ^ "Past Amateur Achievement Winners". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  4. ^ Evans, Robert. "Searching for Supernovae: A More Personal Story". Research in Evangelical Revivals. Archived from the original on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  5. ^ Supernova Search Charts and Handbook, Pack/set ICL - Abstract. The Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System. 1990. Bibcode:1990ssch.book.....T.
  6. ^ "Supernova Search Observing Program". American Association of Variable Star Observers. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2007-09-16.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Wheeler, Chris. "SAS Library". Southern Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  8. ^ "Qld: World s first funhouse for the future on the Gold Coast". AAP General News (Australia). Australian Associated Press. 2000-08-08. Archived from the original on 2011-05-16. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
Preceded by
Russell Merle Genet 		Amateur Achievement Award of Astronomical Society of the Pacific (together with Robert Evans)
1985 		Succeeded by
Jean Meeus
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