After military service, John Chumack worked for GM as a technician. It was then that he realized a childhood wish of having his own telescope.
His coworkers at GM laughed at him when he spoke of seeing the rings of Saturn, so he took photos to prove it to them - and boy, were they impressed!
He bought that 3" refractor and the course of his life was set.
Smaller telescopes can see "only" the planets and brighter objects, but Chumack's homemade 16" diameter scope - with a long enough exposure - can grab anything the big observatories can see. His deep space shots range from 30 minute to 9 hours long..depending on how faint the object is.
Today, there is a privately designed, built, owned and operated observatory in the Dayton area, doing serious astronomical work for NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, up in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
John Chumack is a Daytonian of some accomplishment.
In Chumack’s own words: “In 1997 I was assigned an official observatory code, and became a world research observatory. I started tracking & measuring Near Earth Asteroids & Comets for the Minor Planet Center, The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass. I have done several special projects for NASA over the years such as Deep Impact, and Ulysses projects.”
Chumack’s passion is astrophotography. Over the years, his images have appeared on no less than the cover of Time magazine and in National Geographic. Noteworthy, indeed.
Chumack’s work has also appeared in Discover magazine (an excellent magazine that makes serious science accessible to us ordinary mortals), and Science magazine (a prestigious magazine for professionals). Astronomy magazine has published John’s images for over 21 years and his work was featured in Ohio magazine.
John even designed and built his own research station in Yellow Springs, Ohio. And he publishes a “how to do it” on his website so you can build an observatory, too.
His vision in bringing together his Science and his Art (yes, Art…take a look at his award winning images) is evident when he speaks: “I love shooting the night sky...especially Deep Space…I try to bring everything in the Universe down to Earth for all to see.”
What started out as a hobby for him alone has become a resource for the world. John clearly sees the skies as no limit, but as a little bit of heaven on Earth.
Some of Chumack's work:
Earth Science Pic of the Day - Comet Wild
Perseid Meteor Shower, 2009 (Movie) (For other cool videos just Google or YouTube "John Chumack")
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