Bob P. King
{{Short description|American astronomy blogger}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{other people|Robert King}}
Robert P. King (known professionally as AstroBob), born {{Birth date and age|1953|8|9}}, is an American photographer, writer, and an amateur astronomer.{{Citation|last=Mizon|first=Bob|title=Light Pollution: Thief of the Stars and Mother of Dark Sky Tourism|date=2016|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33855-2_8|work=Finding a Million-Star Hotel: An Astro-Tourist’s Guide to Dark Sky Places|pages=267–281|editor-last=Mizon|editor-first=Bob|series=The Patrick Moore Practical Astronomy Series|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-33855-2_8|isbn=978-3-319-33855-2|access-date=2021-07-28|url-access=subscription}} He publishes an astronomy blog called Astro Bob which is "widely read and respected" according to astronomer Bob Mizon.
Early life and education
King grew up in the Chicago suburb Morton Grove, Illinois, and expressed a strong interest in astronomy since he was a boy.{{Cite web|title=Out with a Bang! Year-end Sky Delights for 2020|url=https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/event/swsp-2020-fri/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Bell Museum|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212085501/https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/event/swsp-2020-fri/ |archive-date=December 12, 2020 }} He joined the Chicago Astronomical Society and gave presentations there.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} He graduated with a teaching degree in the German language at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Career
King moved to Duluth, Minnesota in 1979 to become a photographer for the Duluth News Tribune and became a photo editor in 1990,[https://web.archive.org/web/20171117175327/https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/features/weekend/4151598-looking-astro-bob-king-pens-his-first-book-night-sky-naked-eye 'LOOKING UP': Astro Bob King pens his first book, 'Night Sky with the Naked Eye'] Pippi Mayfield, November 4, 2016 retiring in 2018.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSmnHanzVtY?t=175 Night Sky Explorer: Launch Into Skywatching]{{Cite web|last=Simmons|first=Bob|date=16 June 2020|title=Currents: Bob King, author, photographer and skywatcher|url=https://www.startribune.com/currents-bob-king-author-photographer-and-skywater/566350802/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Star Tribune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220163811/http://www.startribune.com/currents-bob-king-author-photographer-and-skywater/566350802/ |archive-date=December 20, 2019 }} The darker skies of Duluth helped him renew his interest in astronomy. He taught community education astronomy classes at the University of Minnesota Duluth and Marshall Alworth Planetarium since 1992 and astronomy classes at Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center since 2011.
King started his Astro Bob blog in 2008 to share knowledge on astronomy events and discoveries from NASA. His articles have also been published online with Sky & Telescope and Universe Today.
He published his first book Night Sky With the Naked Eye in 2016. Emily Lakdawalla of The Planetary Society says the book contains "practical advice on photographing sky phenomena".{{Cite web|last=Lakdawalla|first=Emily|date=22 November 2016|title=Emily's recommended space books for kids of all ages, 2016|url=https://www.planetary.org/articles/11221300-2016-recommendations-space-books-kids|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-28|website=The Planetary Society|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807012645/https://www.planetary.org/articles/11221300-2016-recommendations-space-books-kids |archive-date=August 7, 2020 }} His second book was reviewed in Astronomy Now.{{Cite news|last=Hodgson|first=Matthew|date=November 2018|title=Review of 'Wonders of the Night Sky You Must See Before You Die'|work=Astronomy Now}}
Books
- Bob King, Night Sky With the Naked Eye: How to Find Planets, Constellations, Satellites and Other Night Sky Wonders Without a Telescope, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1624143090}}
- Bob King, Wonders of the Night Sky You Must See Before You Die: The Guide to Extraordinary Curiosities of Our Universe, 2018, {{ISBN|978-1624144929}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://astrobob.areavoices.com astrobob.areavoices.com] Blog
- [https://www.voyageurs.org/nightskyexplorer Night Sky Explorer with "Astro" Bob King] Recorded Webinars with Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park
;Articles by Bob King
- [http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/tags/astro-bob Duluth News Tribune]
- [https://skyandtelescope.org/author/robert-king-2/ Sky & Telescope]
- [https://www.universetoday.com/tag/astro-bob Universe Today]
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Category:20th-century American astronomers
Category:21st-century American astronomers
Category:Sky & Telescope people
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