Many in the visual deep sky observing fraternity will be saddened to
hear of the passing of fellow observer Barbara Wilson.
Barbara's husband, Buster, emailed me with the news that she passed
away at the Memorial-Herman hospital in Houston, Texas last night.
Barbara was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago.
Buster wrote, "She quietly passed about 8 PM with hardly ever a moaning or complaining".
If it was faint and obscure and at some point above the horizon
in south Texas, Barbara would have observed it.
Her name appears on countless observing reports. Simply put, she was
one of the greats.
I had the privilege and pleasure to observe with her and husband Buster
at the 2007 Texas Star Party. When Al Nagler arrived on the field wanting
to test TeleVue's new Ethos eyepiece design under dark skies for the very first
time, it was Barbara and her Dob that he sought out. Her keen eye and
opinion mattered.
In a review of a book by Timothy Ferris, entitled "
Seeing In The Dark: How
Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from
Interplanetary Peril", Marcia Bartusiak wrote in the Guardian :-
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Marcia Bartusiak, The Guardian, Fri 1 Nov 2002
The author introduces us to a cast of characters that is by turns eccentric, engaging, amusing and obsessed, like Barbara Wilson of Texas, the "AIN'T NO Queen" (Association of Invisible Nebula and Things Nobody Observes), who seeks the impossible. She's trying hard to see footprints on the moon and an extrasolar planet through her telescope. "There are a lot of things I try for that I can't see," she admits. "I've been kicked in the butt many times. . . . The first time that you think you know something, the sky will knock you down to size. But it's all so beautiful." Yes, it is indeed.
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Our deepest condolences to Buster and family.
Photo, Barbara Wilson presenting an award to Andrew Murrell at the 2007 Texas Star Party.
