2005 ASP Annual Award Winners

Amateur Achievement Award
Tim Hunter
Tucson, Arizona, USA

Tim Hunter is the 2005 recipient of the Society’s award for Amateur Achievement. A medical doctor and very active amateur astronomer, Hunter is also the co-founder of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), an organization that brings attention to the fact that we are losing our dark skies and need to work to save them. Based on Hunter’s support and vision for over fifteen years, IDA has grown from two members in 1988 to well over 10,000 today in seventy-five countries.

The Association’s members help all of us battle light pollution by providing information that we can share with the public—information that gives us an edge as we explain to others how we can effectively use lighting to illuminate the ground and not the sky. Hunter’s hard work and passion for the night sky have permitted this Association to flourish, and his impact and positive influence in educating others in the prevention of light pollution have been invaluable: he has written captivating articles for most of the major astronomical magazines, and he is well known for his excellent lectures about astronomy and the IDA (his creativity makes his lectures fun for any age!). In the last year IDA has seen some spectacular young astronomers come forward to help fight the light pollution battle; people such as Hunter have been the driving force to reach them. His passion for the skies and for astronomy will help all of us hold on to our heritage of dark skies.

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