‘A tiny dot amongst all the other stars’: Waterdown amateur astronomer’s community outreach has earned him a planet

It is 9.7 kilometres in diameter, has a 36-hour day and sits on the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars. It's likely irregularly shaped, orbiting the sun about 600 million kilometres from Earth among thousands of other celestial bodies.

Amateur astronomer Ed Mizzi is describing a minor planet discovered in 1986 that was recently named after him in honour of his volunteer work in the field.

To date, Mizzi has only seen a graphic of his namesake planet, but with clear skies, access to a highly specialized telescope and exact co-ordinates, you might be able to spot it - a tiny dot amongst all the other stars and other objects."

There have been a couple of spaceships that have actually landed on these small bodies," the 69-year-old said. It's difficult to do."

Waterdown's Mizzi is among a handful of people around the world recently honoured with a minor planet in their name. The recognition is awarded periodically to astronomers who make significant contributions in their communities to the field of astronomy.

I was just so excited," said Mizzi, who is a member and former president of the Hamilton chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC).

Current RASC Hamilton president Andy Blanchard calls Mizzi their star son," the maestro" of education and outreach among local astronomers.

The joy of astronomy is not so much us sitting alone in the dark at night with a telescope and communing with nature," Blanchard said. It's sharing what we see through the telescope with everyone."

A former Halton teacher, Mizzi found a retirement sweet spot more than a decade ago: bringing stars and planets to outdoor education programs, classrooms, libraries and the street for sidewalk astronomy," where, on clear nights, the club sets up telescopes at places like Spencer Smith Park in Burlington for the public to learn and enjoy.

He's everywhere," Blanchard said.

Every astronomer in the world covets this award," Blanchard said, reluctantly admitting he received the same recognition years ago after creating an Ontario astronomy fair.

A third chapter member, Roger Hill, was honoured in 2021 after developing a course for new observers.

Mizzi regularly travels for exceptional views of astronomical events.

He watched the total solar eclipse from Oregon in 2017 and the very rare" transit of Venus, in which the planet, appearing as a perfectly round, black dot, traverses the face of the sun over the span of a few hours, from an Algonquin Park camp in the mid-2010s.

It's very rare," he said, adding that for most it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, with transits occurring an average of 80 years apart.

Then, there's the view of Saturn's rings through a telescope.

I've seen it ... at least a hundred times, and it still amazes me," he said, adding that kids have asked if he pasted a picture on the end of the lens. It kind of looks surreal."

On a clear day in Hamilton, you might find Mizzi in his backyard observatory, the Ed Dome," a small white bubble that holds several telescopes.

Mizzi's journey into space began decades ago, as a willing student of his father. The second-generation amateur astronomer still has his first telescope, a Tasco his father bought him when he was seven - a 62-year-old memento."

He briefly studied astronomy at university, quickly discovering that it was more desk work than the adventure of chasing astronomical events around the world. He became a teacher instead, committing his passion for astronomy to hobby.

I owe all of this to my dad," he said. He's my inspiration."

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com