13 August 2004

Bill Dembowski, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society

Forrest M. Mims III

Bill Dembowski uses a microscope to produce his intriguing "A Closer Look" series for The Citizen Scientist (see "A Closer Look: Spice" in this issue).

When he's not looking at microscopic objects through a microscope, chances are he's looking at the craters of the Moon through a telescope.

Bill does much more than peer through optical instruments, for he is a prolific writer and serious amateur astronomer in his own right. He is president of the American Lunar Society and editor of its quarterly journal, Selenology. He publishes an online monthly newsletter, The Lunar Observer. He has also written many articles for these and other scientific publications and journals, and he is a contributing author of Peter Wlasuk's "Observing the Moon" (Springer-Verlag, 2000), an important book about lunar observing.

Bill is an active member of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, and the International Occultation Timing Association. He organized and coordinates the International Bright Lunar Rays Project, in which several dozen international astronomers around the world are investigating the bright splash patterns formed around lunar impact sites. Bill writes that his personal interest is in colorimetric studies of the rays as the month progresses and from month to month.

Because of Bill's many achievements, he was recently nominated and selected to be a fellow of the Royal Astronomy Society (RAS). According to the RAS web site, " Members of the Society are styled as 'Fellows' (regardless of gender, in compliance with the charter), and may use the honorific postnomen 'FRAS'. In round numbers, half the Fellowship consists of PhD-level professional scientists (including more than 90 per cent of UK Professors of Astronomy); around a quarter are postgraduate researchers or retired scientists; and the remainder are amateur scientists and undergraduate students. About a third of Fellows are based outside the UK."

Two sponsors are required to nominate a fellow of the
Royal Astronomical Society. Bill's sponsors were Robert A. Garfinkle and Ewen Whitaker, both of whom are fellows.

Robert Garfinkle is author of "Star Hopping: Your Vista to Viewing the Universe." He is the Lunar Section Historian for the British Astronomical Association and is on the editorial staff of the Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers.

Ewen Whitaker is author of "Mapping and Naming the Moon." Now retired, he was formerly an astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Yerkes Observatory, and the Lunar & Planetary Institute (University of Arizona). One of his major achievements was to calculate by hand the precise location of the Surveyor-3 spacecraft, which enabled the Apollo 12 astronauts to land alongside it and return parts to the Earth.

Having sponsors of this caliber speaks highly of Bill's qualifications to be selected as a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Congratulations, Bill. Your achievements are an inspiration to amateur scientists. The Citizen Scientist very much appreciates your contributions, and we look forward to many more.

For more information about the Royal Astronomical Society, see:
http://www.ras.org.uk/html/ras_history.html
http://www.ras.org.uk/pdfs/a_uk/pp3637.pdf

For more information about Bill Dembowski and his Elton Moonshine Observatory, visit his web site www.zone-vx.com/ .