Storm Dunlop has written numerous books on astronomy and
meteorology, and has acted as editor and consultant on many more.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a member of both
the International Astronomical Union and the American Association
of Variable Star Observers, and is a former President of the
British Astronomical Association. Storm is a Visiting Research
Fellow at the University of Sussex. Wil Tirion never had any
education in astronomy. He education was focused on graphic arts
and design, although the starry sky and especially star maps have
always fascinated him. In the field of astronomy and uranography
(mapping the sky), he is what they call autodidact.
In 1977, just for his own enjoyment, he started making his first
star atlas, with stars down to magnitude 6.5). It was published in
the Encyclopedia of Astronomy, edited by Colin Ronan, (Hamlyn,
London, 1979) and in 1981 as a separate set of maps by the British
Astronomical Association (B.A.A. Star Charts 1950.0).
In 1978, still as a hobby, he started working on a larger atlas:
Sky Atlas 2000.0., showing stars down to magnitude 8.0. Its
publication, in 1981 (by Sky Publishing Corporation, USA, and
co-published by Cambridge University Press), resulted in requests
from several publishers for star maps for different purposes. In
1983 he decided to quit his job as a graphic artist and designer,
and became a full time uranographer. Since then he has created
several star atlases, like the Bright Star Atlas and the Cambridge
Star Atlas and has cooperated with other people on larger atlases
like Uranometria 2000.0. He has also created numerous star maps for
astronomy books and magazines.
In 1987 he was honoured by receiving the ‘Dr. J. van der
Bilt-prize’, a Dutch award for amateur astronomers.
In 1993 this was followed by a second, more international ‘award’,
when a minor planet was named after him: (4648) Tirion = 1931 UE.
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