Last Update:  9-1-2005

Kent relaxing in his astro-library home in Atascadero, California
Click on the photo for a larger image

Without a doubt, Kent Wallace is an incredibly knowledgeable amateur astronomer about the night sky, knowing many hundreds of faint fuzzies from memory, almost being able to point his 20" StarSplitter Dobsonian scope at any object while blindfolded.  He literally spellbounds astronomers and visitors alike at star parties for hours with his celestial object hunting abilities and his recall of technical information about many objects, including lore about the constellations, which he memorized as a teenager. 

Astronomy has been Kent's life since a child, now having a home that is literally all bookcases from floor to ceiling full of nothing but science, astronomy and science fiction.  His library is unbelievable.  Not only that, many times he is first to step forward in support of special star parties and slide shows for schools and community organizations.  His love of astronomy and in communicating its beauty and wonder with anyone ranging in age from 9 to 90 is fantastic.

To see Kent in action at some of our star parties, just take a look at these CCAS Photo Gallery pages:

Monthly CCAS Star Parties   and   Carrisa Plains Elementary School Star Party

In April 2005 he completed his fourth, and final, annual trip to Australia solely to study the stars of the Southern Hemisphere, specifically the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, using a duplicate 20" StarSplitter telescope to his scope in Atascadero, except carrying only his one 20-inch mirror to Australia and back again each time.  To learn all about Kent's trip, see:

Kent Wallace's Australian Astronomical Adventures

Kent is becoming well known around the world for his expertise in the study of Planetary Nebulae.  Planetary nebulae are extremely interesting gaseous, cloudy objects of the cosmos, representing areas of star birth and star death.  During Kent's many years of stargazing, he has compiled an extensive listing of planetary nebulae information which is provided below for your use.  If you have questions about this information or just wish to communicate with Kent, contact him at kwwallace@thegrid.net, Atascadero, California, USA, phone 805-461-3310.

The files below are provided in Microsoft Excel and Word, and duplicate versions in Adobe Acrobat PDF format.  If you need the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader software, you may download it from the Adobe web site:

The "Data File" is somewhat large, so it may take a minute or so to download.