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Listen to the David Levy interview
with Scott Roberts.
Requires Real Player.
Scott Roberts has made a career out of astronomy by working within the telescope retail and manufacturing industry. He has been interviewed on television, radio programs, major newspapers, and is known as a supporter and popularizer of amateur astronomy. Over the years he has participated in and engineered hundreds of starparty events and telescope viewings for tens of thousands of stargazers.
Self described as a "tourist of the sky", he helped to convert Oceanside Photographic Center, then a small camera shop in 1982 to become one of the largest retailers of high-end astronomical telescopes in the world. The name of the store was then changed to Oceanside Photo and Telescope. During his retail years he founded the astronomy club OPTAS, which has maintained its position as one of the largest amateur astronomy clubs in Southern California. Scott Roberts enjoys lecturing and teaching about how telescopes work and how to make astrophotographs. In 1986 he received a teaching credential from the State of California to teach astronomy and photography.
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Roberts is an enthusiastic amateur observer and astrophotographer. His most noted efforts in astrophotography was as part of the film crew with WGBH Boston's production of NOVA "Eclipse of the Century" that aired nationally on public television. During the July of 1991 eclipse,Roberts ran three 35mm motion picture cameras on massive Meade equatorial mounts simultaneously allowing the cameras to capture the "Diamond Ring" effect from the 14,000' summit of the Mauna Kea Observatory complex in Hawaii.
The footage produced by the solar team directed by Boyd Estus (Award-winning Director/Director of Photography noted for elegant work in 35mm, Super-16mm, and 16mm film, and in video) revealed some of the highest resolution motion picture images ever made of a total solar eclipse. The footage has since appeared in NOVA's 20th Anniversary retrospective program and in a recent production about the life of Albert Einstien.
"Eclipse of the Century" was the winner of the 1992 AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Science Journalism Award. "Eclipse of the Century" can be purchased on video cassette through NOVA Online.
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Other efforts include published images of Saturn and galaxies. He also co-authored an article with one of his mentors, Mark Coco, about large-format astrophotography titled, "Big on Astrophotography", published in Astronomy Magazine.
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On the 30th Anniverary of the Historic Manned Mission to the Moon, Roberts made a presentation of a Meade ETX-125 telescope with Robert B. Simms, President of the Magazine Group of The National Geographic Society on behalf of Meade Instruments and National Geographic to Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
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On November 16th, 2000 Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy named an asteroid, (15779) Scottroberts = 1993 OA3, in honor of Roberts. The minor planet was discovered July 26th, 1993 by Carolyn and David at Palomar Mountain with the 18-inch Schmidt Camera. The certificate inscription reads:
Named in honor of Scott Roberts (b. 1959), who for many years has encouraged amateur astronomers to pursue their love of the night sky, spending much time teaching people how to use and enjoy their telescopes.
The animated gif image at right is a combination of three CCD images of the asteroid when it was cruising around R.A. 16:20 and Dec. +23°. Astrophotography by Jack Newton, taken with the Meade 16" LX200 and a Pictor 1616XT-E on November 22, 2000.
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In 2001 and 2002, Scott Roberts received The International Dark Sky Association, Executive Director's Award, "In recognition of enthusiastic efforts in the pursuit of the promotion of Dark Skies".
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In May of 2001, Roberts received the Clifford W. Holmes Award during the 32nd Annual RTMC Astronomy Expo.
This award has special meaning for Scott, as Cliff Holmes was a mentor to thousands of amateur and professional astronomers, and was a personal inspiration to Roberts when he met him in the early 1980's.
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In October 1986, Scott accepted an entry level position at Meade Instruments in the Customer Service department. Since then he has steadily grown with the company and is currently Vice President of National Sales. Over the years he has been involved with sales, marketing, web production, design, manufacturing, and testing of many of Meade's products manufactured both in California and in Asia.
Scott shares in the satisfaction with all of Meade's employees of knowing that the telescopes that the company manufactures are used by amateur and professional astronomers alike for both casual observations and research. Roberts also believes in the Meade corporate philosophy that programs in astronomy for the general public deserve strong support. In that regard every effort is made to inform, inspire, and support worthy programs and individuals who are involved in this endeavor, and Scott feels fortunate that he is often directly involved.
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