Telescope on street corner sidewalk new york

Sidewalk astronomy or street corner astronomyLatimer J. Wilson, Adventures in Street Corner Astronomy, Popular Science Mar 1921
/ref> refers to the activity of setting up a

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

in an urban place on a for-profit or non-profit basis as

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

and/or for

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

Overview

Examples of people setting up telescopes on urban streets for public astronomical viewing go back well into the 19th century and maybe even further. 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"> 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
/ref> Sidewalk astronomers and their telescopes have been a common sight in most big cities. There are many examples in the past such as Frank Manning in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

as early as 1930 and Mr Grosser in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of 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. In more recent years sidewalk astronomy has come to be more associated with

altruistic Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity. The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...

individuals or groups offering views of the nighttime sky as a free public educational service." 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.

Amateur astronomical activities

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. Dobson even promoted a design for large inexpensive

reflecting telescope A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...

that he called a "Sidewalk Telescope", more commonly referred to as the

Dobsonian telescope A Dobsonian telescope is an altazimuth mount, altazimuth-mounted Newtonian telescope design popularized by John Dobson (amateur astronomer), John Dobson in 1965 and credited with vastly increasing the size of telescopes available to amateur astro ...

References

Smithsonian article

External links

* ttp://www.sidewalkastronomers.us/id1.html Website of the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomersbr>Adventures in Street Corner Astronomy, ''Popular Science'' Mar 1921

{{Astronomy navbox Amateur astronomy

Overview

Amateur astronomical activities

See also

References

External links