6/16/12. Time out from stargazing for an homage to Dr. Ed Burke, Jr., of King College. Dr. Burke was the central star of the Bristol Astronomy Club where I learned the ropes of amateur astronomy and met one of my best lifelong friends (hello, GWK!).

Dr. Burke lining up a 3-inch Unitron refractor during the partial phases.

I just got word that Dr. Ed Burke passed away yesterday. These are some photographs I made of Dr. Burke on Prince Edward Island for the total eclipse of the Sun in July 1972 (the one in Carly Simon's "You're So Vain"). Dr. Burke did not fly a Learjet up to Nova Scotia, but he did take Dr. Jack Snider, and machinist Ed Pippin and their families, his son Ed III, daughter Julia, and three amateur astronomers (Ken Childress, me, and I'll remember the other fellow's name soon -- Marcus ______) along for the show.

Watching for the flash spectrum to appear using a diffraction
grating and a monocular, seconds before totality.

Dr. Burke is on a ladder operating King's trailer-mounted
10-inch reflector silhouetted by the sky beyond the eclipse. Julia is
running the 3-inch Unitron at bottom center. The shadow of the Moon
is on high cirrus, and totality will be ending in about five seconds.