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By Margaret Krueger of the Daily Times staff
Saturday, February 21, 2004 12:01 AM CST
Star gazing is not a solitary hobby for Dave Stewart who likes to share his enthusiasm for the deep sky.
The Watertown amateur astronomer is more observant of what's above than most people, but teaching and learning are two of his tenets.
"People say I know a lot about the stars, but there is a lot I don't know," said Stewart, who hopes to impart his love of astronomy to students in a new class at Madison Area Technical College-Watertown.
"I'm not a solitary observer and I want to be able to share," said Stewart, who gave a presentation last year at Johnson Creek Middle School, and also set up his telescopes last summer at the local Relay For Life event at Watertown High School where he pointed out Mars to any interested observers.
Stewart was interested in astronomy while in Watertown High School in the early 1960s, but did not get his first telescope until about 17 years ago. He found his first attempts at using a telescope very challenging.
"You have to be patient and take the time to read books. You can't just go out there and point a telescope at an object you can't see until you have the telescope on it. It is very frustrating," he admitted. "If you set up a telescope on the moon, the moon goes out of your field of view in two minutes due to the Earth's rotation. The moon is moving too, but what we notice is because the Earth is moving."
A new telescope purchased about two years ago rekindled his love of astronomy because it has a build-in Global Positioning System that zeroes in on specific objects. It makes finding stars a much faster process and easier to point out to others. "The true enjoyment for me is helping others learn about astronomy. Not everyone has a telescope and I want to be there to witness the astonishment," said Stewart, who also purchased a green laser pointer to assist novice observers.
"People look up at the stars a lot, but they don't know much about them. I want people to be able to find something that they know is up there. Most people can recognize the Big Dipper and that's about it. I want to help people find their way around the night sky," he said.
"During the Johnson Creek science project, the students wanted to identify the constellations with their astrological birth signs, but you can only see four at a time depending on the Earth's rotation. There are eight signs you can't see until another time," he said, pointing out how to find Leo the Lion, the birth sign for August, using the Ursa Major constellation commonly known as the Big Dipper, visible at any time of year. The front edge of the Big Dipper's bowl can also be used to find Polaris or the North Star.
Stewart knows his way around the night sky better than most, but he is always challenging himself to learn more by digging deeper into the sky to observe objects he has never seen such as Bode's Galaxy or Owl Nebula. Even with the help of his new GPS telescope pointing the way, he has to wait for clear skies and warmer weather.
His six-week course called Backyard Astronomy will begin on March 2.
"The course at MATC should really be called 'Star Gazing' because I want people to be able to use their eyes and maybe binoculars to find objects. I am going to try not to get too technical," said Stewart, who hopes for at least three clear nights during the course. "If we can't go outside, I will fill in with slides and mythology or history of the stars."
He is also promoting an interest in astronomy through a new club called the Watertown Astronomy Society with the acronym of WAS. Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Watertown Public Library. Organizers are Stewart and David Gritzner, another astronomy hobbyist.
"We call it WAS because the stars are very far away so the light you see from the stars is old by the time you see it," he said.™
WATERTOWN - David E. Stewart, age 60, of Watertown, died on Tuesday, May 2, 2006, at AngelsGrace Hospice in Oconomowoc. He was born on June 2, 1945, in Madison, the son of the late Walter and Flora (Haskins) Stewart. He was a 1963 graduate of Watertown High School and graduated from Milwaukee Business Technical Institute. He had been employed at Johnson Controls in Watertown for many years and had taught astronomy at MATC in Watertown. He had been commander of the Local Civil Air Patrol in Watertown since he was 13 years old. David was a member of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Watertown. He enjoyed wood carving, computers and telescopes. A Funeral service will be Friday, May 5, 2006, at 11 a.m. at ST. JOHN'S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH in Watertown with the Rev. Rodney Warnecke officiating. Burial will be at Washington Cemetery in Portland. Visitation will be Thursday, May 4, 2006, from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the HAFEMEISTER FUNERAL HOME in Watertown and at the church on Friday from 10 a.m. until the time of service. He is survived by two sisters, Janice Appenfeldt and Geneva Stewart, both of Watertown; two brothers, Walter (Loretta) Stewart of Watertown and Dale (Bryna) Stewart of Parkersberg, Iowa; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Janet Stewart. (920) 261-2218