Stargazing Under Suburban Skies

Malcolm Zack is an active member of Loughton Astronomical Society, based near London in England. He is mainly a visual observer and leads the society's quarterly sky presentations with fellow members. He has also spoken at the Society's Autumn Equinox Sky Camp which takes place annually in North Norfolk, England, one of the largest and most popular star parties in Europe. He is the society's "binocular man" - having encouraged many members to undertake binocular astronomy alongside the established telescopic practice. Away from the night sky, Zack is an experienced risk and audit professional, having held senior positions across several industries in private, listed and public sector organizations. He now operates his own consulting practice.
Andrew Gannon became hooked on astronomy when he first peered at the Moon through his father's home-made refractor around the age of five in 1959. He became fascinated with the Moon around the time of the Apollo program, observing with his 60mm (2.5 inch) refractor and built his own 150mm (6 inch) reflector as a teenager. He has been a continuous member of the British Astronomical Association since 1972 where he took an active part in the Lunar Section in the mid 1970s under the directorship of the late Patrick Moore. Andrew is one of Loughton Astronomical Society's leading imagers, having won its imaging prize several years in a row. He observes from the relatively light polluted area of Waltham Abbey, near London's orbital motorway the M25, using his trusty 132mm (5 inch) refractor yet still produces results that can compete with those taken in darker skies. A qualified teacher, Gannon taught Technology and Astronomy. Now retired, he remains a voluntary STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) ambassador and regularly gives illustrated talks to schools on astronomy. His other interests are natural history, walking and modelling the railways of the Isle of Wight during the last years of steam.
John McRoberts is an active member of Loughton Astronomical Society and a keen visual observer based in the relatively clearer skies of Dunmow in central Essex, England. McRoberts' knowledge has contributed to a number of the less well-known objects in the book and in particular to some of the attractive and challenging double stars available for amateurs to test their optics and seeing conditions. McRoberts is now retired but worked in the telecommunications industry initially as a production engineer, then as a computer systems administrator and finally, a systems integration test engineer.