Derek Robson is an analytical chemist and amateur astronomer with interests in astrophotography and astronomical spectroscopy. His first main telescope in 1982 was an f5.6 8.75” Fullerscope Newtonian reflector and currently operates a William Optics GT81 and Ostara 102 mm. A Watec 902H2S meteor video camera built and tested by William Stewart (NEMETODE group http://www.nemetode.org/.) captures meteors. Images feed to UKMON's Network https://ukmeteornetwork.co.uk/live/#/ and data to NEMETODE and UKMON for triangulation, orbit calculation, ground trail prediction and dark flight modelling. Radio meteor activity is monitored continuously using a Fun Cube Dongle Pro+, home-made yagi antenna on 143.048 MHz (GRAVES radar transmitter, Dijon, France).
In 2017, Derek was presented with a prize and certificate at the Royal Greenwich Observatory for a place in the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 competition. He imaged a one-mile wide potentially hazardous asteroid - Near Earth Object (164121) 2003 YT1 which came within 3 million miles of the Earth on 31st October 2016. The image is displayed in the National Maritime Museum, London. In 2019, Derek's image of an occultation of a star by an asteroid by the drift method was short-listed in the 2019 competition and published in the 2019 yearbook.
Main interests: comets, meteors; meteor and stellar spectroscopy; asteroids and occultation of stars by asteroids.
Local society membership: A long-standing member of the British Astronomical Association, a member of the East Midlands Stargazers, Sunderland Astronomical Society, NEMETODE, UKMON
