Terence Dickinson
Terence became fascinated with astronomy at age 5, when he saw a brilliant meteor from the sidewalk in front of his home in Toronto. This early interest soon became the defining characteristic of Dickinson’s life and eventually led him to a career as an astronomy writer and editor, renowned for unraveling and explaining the mysteries of the cosmos. His down-to-earth style made him a best-selling author of 14 astronomy books and hundreds of articles on the subject. In 1994, he cofounded SkyNews, Canada’s national astronomy magazine, and was the editor for two decades. That same year, the International Astronomical Union named asteroid 5272 Dickinson in his honor.
He has received several national and international awards, among them the Royal Canadian Institute’s Sandford Fleming Medal for outstanding contributions to science communication, the New York Academy of Sciences Book of the Year Award and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s Klumpke-Roberts Award. A recipient of the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honor, he has also received honorary doctorates from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. Sadly, Terence died in early 2023 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease, just as this edition of NightWatch was being completed.
Ken Hewitt-White
Ken developed a passionate interest in astronomy as a child more than 50 years ago, and he’s been observing the night sky ever since. Hewitt-White’s enthusiasm for describing his celestial explorations and encouraging people to look through his telescopes has never waned. After a 20-year career as a show producer, a presenter and, ultimately, the director of the H. R. MacMillan Planetarium in Vancouver, British Columbia, he turned to writing and lecturing full time. His award-winning body of work includes a documentary TV series, two books, dozens of astronomy courses and countless magazine articles.
Hewitt-White’s prolific output led to his becoming a contributing editor for Sky & Telescope magazine, a role he continues. He was also a core contributor to the Canadian periodical SkyNews, beginning with its inaugural issue in 1995. His frequent collaborations with SkyNews founding editor Terence Dickinson evolved into a strong working relationship both authors enjoyed for 21 years. Their dedication to communicating astronomy is long-standing; the two “naturalists of the night” have known each other since the late 1960s. Now semiretired and still observing, Hewitt-White lives with his wife Lynda in southern British Columbia, where they go stargazing in the mountains every summer.
Alan Dyer
Alan contributed the content for Chapter 11 and part of Chapter 5. Alan is now retired from many rewarding years producing planetarium shows for theaters in Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary, Canada. A former editor with Astronomy magazine in the early 1990s, Dyer is a regular contributor to Sky & Telescope magazine, frequently writing product reviews. His astrophotos have been published widely online and in print at spaceweather.com, NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, Forbes, Universe Today, National Geographic, TIME, The New York Times, NBC News and CBS News. In 2018, Canada Post featured one of his photos of the northern lights on a stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Since his first “TSE” in February 1979, Dyer has traveled the world to see 16 total solar eclipses. The main belt asteroid 78434 is named for him. He can be reached through his website at amazingsky.com, where there are links to his social media pages.