Cliff DeLacy
Founder
The Star Guide

Cliff De Lacy is an astronomer and educator with more than forty-five years of teaching experience. He has a teaching credential and a Master of Science in Human Resources Management. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in 1951 and earned thirty-eight merit badges and two bronze palms in Troop 64 of Vallejo, California. He eventually became a Scoutmaster for Troop 78 in American Canyon and Troop 64 in Vallejo, California. When he was sixteen years old, he built his own telescope. While observing the Moon one evening, he observed a small dark mass pass between the Earth and the Moon.The object traveled very slowly from the Moon’s horizon to the terminator and disappeared. He was viewing the Moon at 100X magnification. This was in November of 1951 when the Moon was at its first quarter phase. It was the first small dark object he had observed. The object reflected no light as it passed from the horizon to the terminator in approximately 30 seconds. The objects speed has been estimated to be about 10 miles per second. He plotted its approximate position on paper and mentioned it to his father who said it was probably “a bug on your lens.” But Cliff knew better. To this day he does not know the coordinates of the object. His equipment at that time was a cardboard linoleum tube mounted on a wooden saddle with a 4 ½ Newtonian Reflector Mirror that he purchased from Harry Ross in New York.He obtained the plans for the telescope from a copy of “Mechanics Illustrated” magazine. He believes the object was a small asteroid. He now owns a Meade LX200 14” SC UHTC GPS telescope with an SBIG camera housed in a 2.3m Sirius Observatory in his backyard and participates in the search for Potentially Hazardous Asteroids and comets as a volunteer to assist the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) Team.

Mr. De Lacy has been appointed as a Solar System Ambassador by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to conduct their outreach program on space exploration and discoveries in astronomy for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This is a volunteer position, which he ambitiously participates in. He has presented programs on “Asteroids and Comets” to schools in the Napa Valley and Fairfield-Suisun Unified School Districts. He is also an advisor for the Meade Instrument Corporation. He can be contacted to arrange presentations and demonstrations to youth groups, organizations, and schools in the Northern California area. He currently uses programs on the Mars Exploration Rovers, Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn/Titan, and other missions provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also holds Star Gazing Sessions for the public in the Napa Valley areas. Cliff’s website is www.thestarguide.com and lists special classes for students, teachers, organizations, and resorts. Clicking on the link for the “Calendar” at his website will provide a list of events both past and future scheduled in the Northern California area.

Cliff’s ambition in science began at an early age. He was always looking up in the night sky and wanted to know more about the stars. He also collected minerals and was inspired by his science teacher to participate in the National Science Teachers Association 1952 Program for students sponsored by the American Society of Metals. He participated along with students from five other countries and placed second overall with his thesis on “Fluorescent and Phosphorescent Minerals.” He was presented his award on National Television KVON Channel 4 “Science-in-Action” program. To this day he has continued to collect fluorescent and phosphorescent minerals and has one of the finest collections in the Western United States. You can see part of the collection on his website.

Cliff enjoys teaching to all age groups. He has taught swimming and life saving courses to the public, Boy Scout participants, and in the U. S. Marine Corps in the 1950s. During the 1960s through 1990s he taught Radiological Control Fundamentals, Nuclear Physics, Occupational Safety and Health, and Environmental Control Courses for the Department of Defense at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. He retired in 1995 with38 years of teaching experience and continues to substitute in the local school districts. He and his wife Catherine started “Celestial Systems – The Astronomy Headquarters of Northern California” in Napa, California in 1985 where they sold telescopes, minerals, fossils, and science supplies.At that time he was asked by Napa Valley College to teach astronomy to students, grades 3 to 12, in the “”Napa Valley College for Kids Program.”He ran the program for seven years.

Since his retirement in 1995, Cliff has been a substitute teacher in the Napa and Fairfield areas. He taught Math and English at Napa High School during the 2000-2002 school year and continues to substitute in all classes promoting an interest in space exploration and astronomy every chance he gets. A former sign above the entrance to his store read, “The Future of the World walks through this door . . . For They are Your Children whose Dreams and Knowledge will someday Lead Us To The Stars”.