To the reader:
During the Leonid meteor showers of November 2001 my wife and I camped about 5,000 feet, on top of Hooper’s Bald in the Cherokee National Forest of North Carolina. The wonders of the night sky that evening changed something within me. I knew I had to begin to learn more about the stars and galaxies above.
I began by reading beginners guides to the stars and planets and purchased my first astronomical binoculars. By February 2002, I bought my first telescope, an eight inch Dobsonian. The very next week, I had had the good fortune of traveling on business to Los Angeles. Having some free time, I decided to visit a famous telescope store in Woodland Hills. There, I ran into Bob Alborjian, a member of the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers. He had overheard that I just purchased a Dobsonian telescope and asked if I would like to meet John Dobson himself. I was told to come to Griffith Park Observatory that evening. When I arrived, I saw John Dobson with a ten inch Dobsonian called “Tumbleweed” inviting all within earshot to have a look at the moon and the planets. He was even talking to the Japanese in their language! I was instantaneously convinced of the merits of sidewalk astronomy as practiced by John Dobson.
John Dobson and Owen Hoffman (interviewer)
I asked him if he had ever considered taking sidewalk astronomy to the national parks. He laughed, and said, “Of course! National parks are the only places where the seeing is good enough and the public numerous and curious enough to allow us to show off the wonders of the night sky using large telescopes like our home made twenty-four incher.” I asked whether or not he had been to Yosemite, and he said, “That was one of the very first parks visited by the Sidewalk Astronomers.” I asked him had he been to Crater Lake, and he said, “oh yes, several times.”
