He stepped down from editorial duties when he learned of his diagnosis, selling the magazine to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, who brought on Gary Seronik as the new editor.įrom 1981 until the mid-2000s, Dickinson also wrote a weekly astronomy column for The Toronto Star newspaper, taking over the popular column from long-time author and legendary Canadian astronomer Helen Sawyer Hogg. In 1982, working with Astronomy magazine contributor Glenn Chaple and artist Victor Costanzo, Dickinson also created the classic Mag 6 Star Atlas for Edmund Scientific, now long out of print.įrom 1995 until 2016, Dickinson edited and co-owned SkyNews, Canada’s magazine of stargazing. It has been in print through several editions for forty years.ĭickinson also authored many other popular books, including The Universe and Beyond (Camden House, 1986), Hubble’s Universe (Firefly Books, 2012), and The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide (Firefly Books, 1994), co-authored with Alan Dyer, also an Astronomy alumnus. Readers may be most familiar with Dickinson as the author of the NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing The Universe (Camden House, 1983), as the guide has helped tens of thousands of people get started in the hobby of amateur astronomy. Dickinson served as the magazine’s executive editor for two years in 19. In 1970, Dickinson became assistant director of the trend-setting Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, New York.ĭickinson was a contributor to Astronomy magazine since its first issue in August 1973, and in 1974, he was recruited by the magazine’s publisher Stephen Walther to join its fledgling full-time staff. His professional career started in 1968 when he became a staff astronomer and teacher at the McLaughlin Planetarium of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. He was 79 years old.ĭickinson’s interest in astronomy began when he was only five years old, when he saw a shooting star streak across the sky. 1, 2023, following a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Terence Dickinson, author of numerous popular books on astronomy and accomplished astrophotographer, passed away Feb.

Nightwatch by terence dickinson