John "Jack" Borden Newton (born 13 August 1942, Winnipeg, Manitoba; died 11 November 2025, Osoyoos, British Columbia).[citation needed] He was a Canadian astronomer, known for his publications and images in amateur astrophotography, and for his outreach to educate the public about astronomy. He is credited with innovations in cold-camera astrophotography, which enabled enhanced images of galaxies, the Sun, and other astronomical objects taken from a ground-based, amateur-level telescope.
He became interested in astronomy at age 12, later joining the Winnipeg Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and its Moonwatch program.[1][2] In 1969, he built a 32cm (13in) telescope and observatory dome in his backyard, while participating in astrophotography studies at the Winnipeg Centre of RASC where he became president from 1970-72.[1][2]
His work in store management required a move to Toronto in 1973, when he began testing film types for astrophotography, including experiments with cooled emulsions and hypersensitized, gas-soaked films.[2] This work led to publication of his first book in 1974, Astro Photography: From Film to Infinity.[1] In 1975, he became president of the Toronto Centre of RASC for 1975-76, while maintaining his research and development of astrophotography, enabling publication of An Introduction to CCD Astronomy and Deep Sky Objects: A Photographic Guide for the Amateur in 1977.[1]
In 1979, Newton moved for work to Victoria, British Columbia where he joined the Victoria Centre of RASC, serving as president in 1980-81 and 1990-91.[2] Throughout his RASC participation and in later life, he was widely regarded as a public speaker, author, and educator for astronomy and astrophotography.[1][2]
From July 2000 to October 2023, Newton and his wife, Alice, provided an astronomy-themed bed and breakfast service in their home in Osoyoos, British Columbia where guests were given night and morning celestial tours – in the observatory built by Newton – using an automated 16in (41cm)Meade LX200 telescope under Jack's instruction.[3][4]
Jack and Alice Newton are cofounders of the Arizona Sky Village, an astronomy and nature-oriented community in Portal, Arizona.[5]
Astrophotography
Newton was 13 years old when he took his first astrophotograph of the planetSaturn. He pioneered "cold camera" astrophotography, chilling a film camera with dry ice, allowing for substantially longer exposures on film to get detail out of very dim and distant celestial objects.[6] Many of his astrophotographs were published in mainstream magazines, such as the Canadian National Newsletter, Newsweek and Canadian Geographic.[1][2]
In 1991, Newton became the first amateur astrophotographer to make full color charge-coupled device (CCD) images of celestial objects using a Santa Barbara Instruments Group ST-4 camera, making a full color CCD image of M57, the "Ring Nebula" and M27, the "Dumbbell Nebula". He took three separate black and white images, each taken with a separate filter in red, blue, and green, which were later combined in software that was being developed for amateur astrophotography by Richard Berry, then editor of Astronomy magazine. Berry published the first combined color CCD image of M27 as his magazine's cover in February, 1992.[7]
His first, Astrophotography: From Film to Infinity, was published by the Astronomical Endeavors Publishing Company (Buffalo, NY) in 1974 (specific ISBN unavailable).
Deep Sky Objects: A Photographic Guide for the Amateur was published in 1977 by Gall Publications (Toronto) ISBN0889040818.
An Introduction to CCD Astronomy and Deep Sky Objects: A Photographic Guide for the Amateur was published with Philip Teece as coauthor in 1977 ISBN9780521573078.
In 1979 with Philip Teece, he published The Guide to Amateur Astronomy (1995, 2nd edition) ISBN9780521444927.
Splendors of the Universe: A Practical Guide to Photographing the Night Sky was published with Terence Dickinson as coauthor in 1997 (Firefly Press, ISBN9781552091418).
1978: Elected as a Life Member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). His photos appeared on the cover of the 2007 Observer’s Handbook and in the 2007 RASC calendar. The Victoria RASC Centre created a "Newton/Ball" (Jack Newton/George Ball) Award given annually as a service award.
1988: Amateur Achievement Award of Astronomical Society of the Pacific for his work in astrophotography.[1] This award "recognizes significant observational or technological contributions to astronomy or amateur astronomy by an individual not employed in the field of astronomy in a professional capacity".
1989: Received the Chant Medal Award of RASC to acknowledge his amateur work for developing the cold camera to improve film sensitivity in astrophotography.[10]
1991: Elected by membership of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific to three terms of office on its Board of directors (1991-97, 2006–07). He led the launch of Project Astro to aid academic astronomers and school teachers.
2017: Recognized with Alice Newton as an Honorary Patron of the Cotswold Astronomical Society.[14]
Newton helped establish the astronomy program at the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, Metchosin, British Columbia, in collaboration with retired faculty member and physics professor, Jean Godin; Newton donated to the institution's Newton-Godin Observatory a 25in (64cm) Newtonian telescope – which Newton had assembled himself[15]– regarded for years as one of the largest private telescopes in Canada.[16] Jack and Alice Newton served several terms as honorary patrons of the college.
Jack is the subject of the 2023 documentary "Jack Newton's Journey to the Stars". It includes interviews with him and covers the history of his telescope and camera innovations.[17]
Public outreach
His photography and writing were published in numerous issues of Astronomy magazine, in Skynews (Canada), and in Sterne und Weltraum– the journal of the German Max Planck Institute.[4] In July 2003 and February 2009 issues, Astronomy published several of Newton's remarkable astrophotographs, calling the selections, "A mix of solar and deep-sky images taken by a master".[18][19]
In 2007, one of his solar images was used for the lead-in to the science section in Life: Platinum Edition Anniversary Collection—70 Years of Extraordinary Photography (ISBN 1-933405-17-1).[4]
His solar images appeared in National Geographic's 2004 special edition entitled Exploring Space - the universe in pictures, Time Inc.'s Life - the Year in Pictures (2003 & 2004), and in Sky & Telescopes 2004 Beautiful Universe issue.[4]
His astrophotographs have appeared in the Audubon Field Guide to the Night Sky, and in Nightwatch, an astronomy book by Terence Dickinson, with whom Newton co-wrote Splendors of the Universe: A Practical Guide to Photographing the Night Sky, 1997.[4] He also was active in supporting the goals of the International dark-sky movement.[citation needed]
Obituary and biography by Alan Dyer, 11 November 2025 (includes 2016 video with Scott Roberts and the Meade telescope at the Observatory B&B, Osoyoos; Jack at age 74)
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