Sidewalk astronomy

Examples of people setting up telescopes on urban streets for public astronomical viewing go back well into the 19th century and maybe even further.[https://books.google.com/books?id=L29AAAAAIAAJ&dq=telescope+on+a+street&pg=PA262 The Story of the Heavens - By Robert Stawell Ball – Herschel, after 1774][https://books.google.com/books?id=b3ZEAAAAIAAJ&q=%22sidewalk+astronomer%22 The Historical Society of Southern California quarterly by the Historical Society of Southern California, Pioneers of Los Angeles County v. 38 – 1956 “The "sidewalk astronomer" was conspicuous in Los Angeles. One such gentleman in the late 1870s and early 1880s was Mr Grosser by name, who, for a small fee would allow the passerby to gaze not only through his sizeable telescope but also through the illumined microscope he carried”][https://archive.org/details/theatricalmanag01smitgoog/page/n47 Theatrical management in the West and South for thirty years By Solomon Smith, Sinclair Hamilton Collection of American Illustrated Books before 1868 – mention for pay][https://books.google.com/books?id=m80GAAAAYAAJ&dq=sidewalk+astronomers+in+paris&pg=RA4-PA418 Journal of the Franklin Institute – 1880 – page 418 - Sidewalk Astronomers in Paris] Sidewalk astronomers and their telescopes have been a common sight in most big cities.[https://books.google.com/books?id=b3ZEAAAAIAAJ&q=%22sidewalk+astronomer%22 Jerome Sydney Meyer, "Great inventions" - Page 51] There are many examples in the past such as Frank Manning in New Orleans as early as 1930{{Citation| last = Brown| first = John| title = John Brown's New Orleans Sidewalk Astronomy web page| date = 2009-01-16| url = http://www.sidewalkastronomy.com/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090126182437/http://www.sidewalkastronomy.com/| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2009-01-26| accessdate = 2024-05-31}} and Mr Grosser in Los Angeles in the 1870s, who not only set up a telescope but also an illuminated microscope. Some sidewalk "pitch men" charged the public to view astronomical objects through their telescope but other astronomers allow people to view for free.[https://books.google.com/books?id=CJ4sAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22new+york%22+street+corner+telescope&pg=PA298 Friends' intelligencer Page 298 1862] In more recent years sidewalk astronomy has come to be more associated with altruistic individuals or groups offering views of the nighttime sky as a free public educational service."{{Citation| last = Moser| first = Don| title = 35 Who Made a Difference: John Dobson| publisher = Smithsonian.com| date = 2005-11-01| url = https://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/dobson.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090311042501/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/dobson.html| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2009-03-11| accessdate = 2024-05-31}}

Because the sidewalks tend to be in light-polluted areas, sidewalk astronomers often coordinate their activities at times when brighter celestial objects like planets, the Moon, and bright stars are visible. During the day, sidewalk astronomy often includes use of a solar filter on the telescope to allow people to view the Sun. Telescopes are often larger than the average available "department store telescope", sometimes very large.

File:The moon and saturn.jpg and Saturn are typical viewing targets in sidewalk astronomy.]]

With the advent and growth of organized amateur astronomical groups, sidewalk astronomy has come to be associated with public education about astronomy via free public viewing for anyone who wishes to look through the telescope. This usually involves individual or a groups of amateur astronomers with small-to-medium-sized telescopes. Organizations such as the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers, founded by John Dobson, are organized around the idea of educating people about the universe they live in by having them look through telescopes.[http://www.sidewalkastronomers.us/id1.html Sidewalk Astronomers][https://web.archive.org/web/19990220023708/http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/6389/Page15.htm Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers - The Sidewalk Astronomers, who we are and what we do!][https://www.angelfire.com/co/DATSCOPE/whoarewe.html Liverpool Astronomical Society Sidewalk Astronomers]{{citation |title=John Dobson: Amateur Astronomy's Revolutionary |page=2 |publisher=Space.com |date=5 May 2000 |url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_two_000507.html |access-date=2009-06-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090524231108/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_two_000507.html |archive-date=2009-05-24 }} Dobson even promoted a design for large inexpensive reflecting telescope that he called a "Sidewalk Telescope", more commonly referred to as the Dobsonian telescope.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnN_KRFgITQC&dq=dobsonian+dobson&pg=PA17 |first=Fred |last=Watson |title=Why Is Uranus Upside Down? |date=October 2007 |publisher=Inc. NetLibrary |page=17|isbn=9781741762761 }}

• Amateur astronomy
• Citizen science
• Star party
• A Sidewalk Astronomer, 2005 documentary about John Dobson's activities, including sidewalk astronomy

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/dobson.html Smithsonian article]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060409214808/http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/astronomy/dobson_astronomer_000507.html Space article]

• [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/dobson.html 35 Who Made a Difference: John Dobson, Smithsonian article]
• [http://www.sidewalkastronomers.us/id1.html Website of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers]
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=AyoDAAAAMBAJ&dq=astronomy++%22street+corner%22&pg=PA27 Adventures in Street Corner Astronomy, Popular Science Mar 1921]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120229083819/http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/archives/fnp_display.htm?StoryID=81496¤t=true Frederick News Post - What's it like ... to be a street corner astronomer?]

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Category:Amateur astronomy