Affiliation
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Sat, 09/04/2021 - 15:24
I couldn't find any mention of this but according to Charles Scovil's Facebook page, Charles passed away November 10, 2020 at age 92. Charles ws very active in the AAVSO and among his many contributions he was the author of the AAVSO Variable Star Atlas, was a past president, for many years produced the AAVSO charts at Stamford Observatory, received the Director's award and many other awards for his contributions to astronomy.
Charles along with Clinton Ford was instumental in my joining the AAVSO and I used to enjoy visits with him at the observatory often in the 1980's and 1990's.
...Tim
Stella wrote a nice post on the AAVSO facebook page about Charles on January 6, when HQ learned of his passing. He attended many of the meetings during my tenure, and came up to visit HQ on several occasions. One of my regrets is never going to visit him at Stamford Observatory and seeing the 22-inch telescope. He was a great volunteer with large impact on the organization in the 20th century. I had a copy of the Variable Star Atlas on my bookshelf and looked at it many times. It was a great resource for binocular variables!
Charles got his Director's Award during the very first AAVSO meeting that I attended in Boulder. He donated a "wedge photometer" to HQ that I often thought would be a great tool for improving visual observer estimates, if it could be replicated (maybe a 3D printer project). He has an asteroid named after him (4939 Scovil). You will never find a kinder gentleman!
Arne
Thank you Arne. I don't know how I missed that. I agree with you that he was one of the kindest gentlemen you could ever meet.
...Tim