John Briggs

John is a long-time member of Skyscrapers, a former trustee of Seagrave, and has lived and worked at far-ranging observatories in various technical capacities, including Mount Wilson, Yerkes, National Solar, Maria Mitchell, Van Vleck, Venezuelan National, Chamberlin, and South Pole Station. He came to New Mexico with his family in 1997 to assist in the final commissioning of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at Apache Point. In the 1980s he was an assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine and built Bogsucker Observatory in Massachusetts. His principal activity now involves the Astronomical Lyceum, an informal museum, library, laboratory, and lecture hall devoted to historical astronomy and its preservation, and his role as secretary of the new Alliance of Historic Observatories.