David Sinden Remembered

[Peter Drew]

Camera Obscuras were part of my core business before I retired. When SOC was winding down I took over the potential orders for a 8" CO for Greenwich Old Royal Observatory and a 12" CO for Granada in Spain. I also made a 4" portable CO for Foredown Tower which they transported to various venues to promote David's 12". Overall, I built 21 CO's, the last being a 8" version fitted to the main dome here at the Astronomy Centre. 

[barkis]

Sorry about the typo, we used to call them spelling mistakes. I meant priorities of course. Apologies to the monks.

John

I repaired the typo John, not that it mattered a jot, but I'm sure Monks are not easily offended anyway. 

On the contrary, they may have enjoyed a little giggle over it, or at least smiled a little  .

Ron.

[Glasspusher]

David with glass and spherometer.

[Glasspusher]

There are many anecdotes surrounding David, here is on of my favourites….

David had been for a night out with his wife Helen; they were using their usual form of transport, a motorcycle. On the journey home David decided that he would do some observing, there was a meteor shower that evening and one of David’s interests was trying to photograph the spectrum of a meteor using a prism in front of the camera lens. On arriving home Helen went into the house and David went into the garden to set up is equipment which he stored in the garden shed. After few minutes Dave heard a voice from over the garden wall,” Good evening sir”, he turned to see a policeman. Dave realised some explaining would be needed. After describing that meteors were really particles of rock passing through the Earths atmosphere the policeman looked at Dave and said, “That would explain the crash helmet you are wearing then sir!”.

John

[Glasspusher]

In recognition of David's work an asteroid was named in his honour: 10369 SINDEN

What better lasting memorial could anyone hope for?

John

[Glasspusher]

David undertook a lot of restoration work on the historical telescopes at Armagh Observatory...

http://star.arm.ac.uk/history/Domes/Sinden/

http://star.arm.ac.uk/movies/Grubb15inch/

http://star.arm.ac.uk/history/Domes/15inch/Jan/

http://star.arm.ac.uk/history/instruments/Calver/Calver.html

John

[barkis]

John,

I'm sure one of David's intended retirement projects, was to refurbish a Cook refractor he

had in his Ryton shop, and looking forward to it too.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. I wonder what became of it.

So many times during my many visits to his optical shop, he would raise the subject of retirement.

Whilst he had such a great love for his work, I would think to myself, David, you will never do it.

Ron.

[mapstar]

John,

I'm sure one of David's intended retirement projects, was to refurbish a Cook refractor he

had in his Ryton shop, and looking forward to it too.

Sadly, it wasn't to be. I wonder what became of it.

So many times during my many visits to his optical shop, he would raise the subject of retirement.

Whilst he had such a great love for his work, I would think to myself, David, you will never do it.

Ron.

What size was the cook refractor Ron? Once I complete my build I may look into a refractor for a different take on astronomy. A restoration may be interesting

[barkis]

I never got a good look at it Damian,

It was buried beneath loads of other gear, and I'm sure the objective and cell would be 

somewhere else safe. I would guess at a 6" f15 Doublet, but that's a pure guess.

Perhaps David would have made a triplet for it, but he may well have wanted to keep it as original

as possible. Unfortunately, time ran out for him, more's the pity.

[mapstar]

Yes it would be nice if it could be found and such a shame David never got to sort it out.

It may surface one day as there things have a habit of.

[HD-AP]

I never got a good look at it Damian,

It was buried beneath loads of other gear, and I'm sure the objective and cell would be 

somewhere else safe. I would guess at a 6" f15 Doublet, but that's a pure guess.

Perhaps David would have made a triplet for it, but he may well have wanted to keep it as original

as possible. Unfortunately, time ran out for him, more's the pity.

It did get finished  the cooke refractor on a cooke mount ,i saw it in his workshop . 

I will find some pictures of it i took at the time and post them in due course..

[Glasspusher]

Here is a list of some of the Instruments David work on whilst at Grubbs....

48-inch reflector, Victoria, Canada, 1961

40-inch reflector, Pic du Midi, France. Optics only 1962

The 40 inch Elizabeth telescope. S. Africa 1963

74-inch reflector, Helwan (Kottamia), Egypt, 1963

30-inch reflector, Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, 1966

16/24-inch Schmidt, Castel gandolfo, 1967

The 98 inch Issac Newton Telescope at Grubb Parsons. 1967

72 inch (182cm) Mirror for Padua, Italy. 1973

48/72-inch Schmidt, Siding Spring, Australia, 1973

154 inch Reflector, Siding Spring, Australia. 1974

48-inch reflector, Athens University, Greece, 1975

150-in mirror, UKIRT, Hawaii, 1976

60 inch Reflector, La Silla, Chile 1976

John

[barkis]

That is quite a list of Davids' achievements  John.

Has any official UK Astronomy body given made any contribution 

or accolade to David's work on these notable instruments.

And indeed his contribution to  the Amateur Astronomy fraternity ??

If not, then they ought to have.

Ron.

[Glasspusher]

Ron,

As I mentioned previously a minor planet was named in recognition of David's work: 10369 SINDEN. He was also awarded an honorary MSc by Newcastle University.

[Glasspusher]

Today is the tenth anniversary of David’s death.

If you have read through my previous posts you will have some idea about the man and his achievements. Dave was a character and left a lasting impression with those who had the good fortune to meet him. As well as working at was the cutting edge of astronomical optics he also devoted time to popularising astronomy. He was a great talker, it has been said that he could have talked for England. He always had time for people giving freely of his knowledge and experience.

By the time I met David I had already made my first telescope mirror; his enthusiasm inspired me onwards and upwards. Optics became an important part of my life and still is today.

If you would like to read more about David, or indeed his beloved Grubb Parsons, please have a look at my webpage:

 https://sites.google.com/site/grubbparsons/home/grubb-parsons

It is a great shame that the national astronomy magazines have missed the opportunity to celebrate David’s life and achievements.

David Sinden 1932-2005 RIP

[barkis]

My apologies John, I had been aware of the  NC Honorary Degree, 

and the minor planet name that bears his name, I must have missed

 your post containing that info. which would have reminded me that my memory 

needs some  reconfiguration  .