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Paul
Markov's
Astronomical Accomplishments
- Observed and catalogued 1019 deep-sky objects (as of Dec. 31, 2008)
- Received the RASC Toronto Centre "B.J. Topham" Award for "Observer of the Year" in May 2005
- Contributing author to the RASC's Observer's Handbook (2 page section on "The Observing Logbook") starting with the 2002 edition
- Presented at Starfest 2008 on "Backyard Observatory Construction"
- Presented at Starfest 2007 on "Is CCD Imaging for You?"
- Presented at Starfest 2006 on "Star Hopping Primer"
- Presented at Starfest 2004 on "Doing Real Science from your Backyard"
- Presented at Starfest 2003 on "Effective Deep Sky Observing"
- Presented at Starfest 2002 on "From Dusk till Dawn: Making the most of Starfest's Skies"
- Presented at Starfest 2001 on "The Observing Logbook"
- Members' Nights Meetings co-ordinator at the Toronto Centre RASC since Feb. 2001
- Received the RASC's Membership Certificate in 2001
- Completed the RASC's 110 Finest NGC List in Oct. 2000
- Spotted an asterism in July 2000, which has become known as "Markov 1" as per the book "Star Clusters" by Archinal & Hynes. Click here for complete details.
- Participated in two Messier Marathons (1992 and 1996)
- Observed a total of 130 different deep-sky objects in one night (103 Messier + 27 NGC) in March 1996 (all found by star-hopping)
- All observing is strictly done by the "star-hopping" method (even though I now own an LX200 and a NexStar 114GT)
- Observatories visited: Kitt Peak (1993), Palomar (1989), Lowell (1993), Greenwich (1992), and of course, David Dunlap (several times).
- Visited and toured the Celestron factory in 1989.
- Received the RASC's Messier Certificate in 1984
- Attended every single Starfest convention since 1984
- Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Toronto Centre) member since 1982
- Authored several articles for the Toronto Centre newsletter and some for The Journal of the RASC.
- Presented several talks at the Toronto Centre Members' Nights meetings.
Telescopes owned:
1982 - 1984: Edmund Astroscan 2001, 4.25-inch reflector
1984 - 1997: Meade 8-inch 2080 LX2 f10 schmidt-cassegrain
1997 - 2001: Meade 10-inch 2120 LX6 f6.3 schmidt-cassegrain
2001 - now: Meade10-inch LX200 f10 schmidt-cassegrain
2002 - now: SkyWatcher 5.1-inch f5 reflector
2003 - now: SkyWatcher 10-inch f4.7 dobsonian reflector
2003 - now: Celestron NexStar 114GT 4.5-inch f9 reflector
2005 - now: SkyMentor 12-inch dobsonian reflector
2006 - now: Meade 10-inch LX200 GPS f10 schmidt-cassegrain
2007 - now: Orion 80ED refractor