One
less star in the night sky -
Leo Enright (1943-2009)
By
Jeff Green
Leo
Enright, noted astronomer and educator and the long-time author of
the monthly Night Skies column for the Frontenac News, died at his
home on Sharbot Lake earlier this week.
Leo
came to Sharbot Lake in the 1960s to teach Latin at Sharbot Lake High
School. When Latin was eliminated from the Ontario curriculum, Leo
joined the English department, where he remained until his retirement
in 1998.
It
is as an amateur astronomer that Leo is best known. He maintained an
observatory at his home, where he made daytime and night-time
observations of the sky. He received many honours from the Royal
Astronomical Society, which commissioned him to write “The
Beginner's Observing Guide” in 1991. (The book is available at the
Sharbot Lake Pharmacy)
In
2001, a minor planet that had been identified by Leo's friend David
Levy in 1993, was officially named Ensab, after Leo and his wife
Denise Sabatini, who is a well-known astronomer in her own right.
Leo
has made presentations in schools and at public events over the past
few years, although he has been spending part of the year in Florida,
where Denise Sabatini has been employed.
Whether
he was in Sharbot Lake or Florida, the Night Skies Column has arrived
faithfully in the News’ email box near the end of every month for
longer than anyone at the paper can remember.
He
will be missed by the staff at the News and by readers and astronomy
lovers throughout eastern Ontario and beyond.
He
will also be missed by his fellow parishioners at St. James Catholic
Church in Sharbot Lake, where he attended services each week,
including last Sunday.
The
News would like to extend our condolences to Denise Sabatini and
other members of Leo's family.
(News
of Leo's passing was just getting to us on Tuesday night, as this
week's Frontenac News was being completed, so we have no information
about any memorial services for him).
More information
about observing the spring and summer sky is available in the book
entitled “The Beginner’s Observing Guide” which is now
available at Sharbot Lake Pharmacy and on the internet at www.rasc.ca/publications. 