A workshop was held at Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) Sep 22-23 2014 to celebrate the career of John A. Galt (1925-2012) and to dedicate the 26-meter telescope in his honour. John was the first employee of the observatory in 1957 and was its director from 1962 to 1981. Many former DRAO staff returned for the dedication ceremony to watch Greg Fahlman and John’s wife, Rena Galt, unveil a new sign on the tower of the 26-meter showing its new name, the “John A. Galt Telescope”. The new sign had been hidden behind a white sheet, held in place by a truly Galtian contraption of twine and paper clips. Plaques describing John’s accomplishments were mounted nearby.[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]
A number of distinguished visitors travelled to Penticton to provide an overview of the work that was done by John during his career as well as current work that has followed in the areas of John’s observational research. Topics covered included Zeeman splitting of the 21-cm line, the Dominion A catalogue of 20-cm sources, protection of the radio spectrum, pulsars, fast radio bursts, long baseline scintillometry, radio observations of comets, diffuse polarized Galactic emission, and the CHIME telescope. Some of the first-time visitors to the observatory have suggested novel projects for the telescopes on site, including the new John A. Galt Telescope, with one researcher even planning to publish a paper using John’s extensive hydroxyl observations of Comet Halley using the 26-meter.[/ezcol_1half_end]
John Galt Timeline
American Astronomical Society Obituary: John Alexander Galt (1925-2012)
A video interview with John Galt about his unrideable bicycles:
Joe Fletcher’s “Photos from the Early Days of Long Baseline Interferometry in Canada”
Workshop Program and Presentations
[Click on talk titles to download the presentations.]
A Workshop Celebrating the Career of John A. Galt
Workshop Photos

Top Row L-R: Wendell Shuster, Maik Wolleben, Rick Smegal, Laura Newburgh, Kevin Douglas, Laura Woodney, Xuan Du; Ground Level L-R: Chris Purton, Niels Oppermann, Andrew Gray, Bill McCutcheon, Roland Kothes, Jasper Wall, Ken Tapping, Tom Landecker, Tony Willis, Tim Robishaw, Carl Heiles, Paul Demorest, Ellen Howell, Gerald Schievan, Rob Roger, Duncan Lorimer
All photos courtesy of Lauren Meads, Gerald Schievan, Rob Messing, and Tim Robishaw.
- Sean Dougherty welcoming remarks.
- Tim Robishaw describing history of 26-m telescope.
- Tim Robishaw presenting history of John Galt’s career.
- Chris Purton presenting John Galt’s personal history.
- Chris Purton describing John Galt’s research for the Dominion Observatory in the arctic.
- The crowd gathers. L-R: Rod Stuart, Ev Sheehan, Dave Fort, Dave Lacy, Tony Willis, Ellen Howell, Ken Tapping, Tyler Willis, Dean Chalmers, Ed Danallanko, Niels Oppermann, Rob Roger, Tim Robishaw, Carl Heiles, Tom Landecker, David Galt, Rena Galt, Xuan Du, Wendell Shuster, Dave Del Rizzo
- IEEE Milestone plaque. John Galt was an integral member of this experiment.
- The 26-m telescope prior to the dedication.
- The Galtian unveiling contraption: binder clips, twine, tablecloth, and gravity.
- The 26-m and crowd before the dedication ceremony.
- The crowd gathers before the dedication.
- Sean Dougherty opens the dedication.
- Greg Fahlman and Sean Dougherty launching the dedication of the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General Greg Fahlman dedicating the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General Greg Fahlman dedicating the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General Greg Fahlman dedicating the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General Greg Fahlman
- Rena and David Galt
- NRC-Herzberg Director General, Greg Fahlman, and Rena Galt unveiling the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General, Greg Fahlman, and Rena Galt unveiling the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General, Greg Fahlman, and Rena Galt unveiling the John A. Galt Telescope.
- NRC-Herzberg Director General, Greg Fahlman, and Rena Galt unveiling the John A. Galt Telescope.
- Rena Galt unveiling the John A. Galt Telescope.
- The John A. Galt Telescope
- Tom Landecker telling the crowd about John Galt. L-R: Greg Fahlman, Sean Dougherty, Tom Landecker
- Tom Landecker telling the crowd about John Galt and his concept of “good junk” and “bad junk”. L-R: Greg Fahlman, Sean Dougherty, Tom Landecker
- Tom Landecker telling the crowd about John Galt. L-R: Greg Fahlman, Sean Dougherty, Tom Landecker, Rena Galt, David Galt
- Tom Landecker telling the crowd about John Galt.
- Tom Landecker, Rena Galt, and David Galt.
- Sean Dougherty pointing to the plaque describing John’s career. L-R: Greg Fahlman, Sean Dougherty, Tom Landecker, Rena Galt, David Galt
- Greg Fahlman, Rena Galt, and David Galt
- DRAO Director Sean Dougherty and Rena Galt
- DRAO Director Sean Dougherty, Rena Galt, and Tim Robishaw
- John’s son, David Galt, looking at dedication plaque. In background, L-R: Dunc Lorimer, Paul Demorest, Mary Ferguson, Doreen Olson, Chris Purton.
- Plaque dedicating the John A. Galt Telescope.
- Tim Robishaw and Rena Galt read dedication plaque. In background L-R: Paul Demorest, Carl Heiles, Mary Ferguson, Doreen Olson.
- Rena Galt reads dedication plaque. In background L-R: Dunc Lorimer, Paul Demorest, Carl Heiles.
- L-R: Andrew Gray, Elizabeth Landecker, John Bell, Ken Tapping, Friend of John Bell, Carl Heiles, Rob Messing, Tony Willis, Richard Hellyer, Doreen Olson, Tim Robishaw, Niels Oppermann
- Carl Heiles describes 21-cm Zeeman observations.
- Carl Heiles pointing out how magnetic fields follow the hydrogen gas structure in the Milky Way.
- Carl Heiles showing the magnetic field in the ionized medium in the Milky Way.
- Carl Heiles
- Carl Heiles showing how magnetic fields affect starlight in the Milky Way.
- Carl Heiles at his 75th birthday dinner.
- Gary Hinshaw showing us some Planck satellite results.
- Duncan Lorimer recounting a case of serendipity.
- Duncan Lorimer explaining Fast Radio Bursts.
- Roland Kothes describing the Galt and Kennedy Dominion List A catalog of radio sources.
- Ue-Li Pen explaining scintillometry observations.
- Ue-Li Pen showing scintillometry patterns in the interstellar medium.
- Galtfest group photo.
The Unveiling…
Penticton Herald (Sep 23 2014): Special Dedication at DRAO