"A good astrophotograph should be in its own right a work of art and a faithful record with scientific value." Mr Joseph Liu
Mr Joseph Liu, the founding Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Space Museum passed away peacefully on April 23, 2014 at the age of 83.
Mr Liu was a world-renowned amateur astronomer in observation and astrophotography and a pioneer in promoting popular astronomy in Hong Kong.
Born in Hong Kong in 1931, Mr Liu was an indigenous inhabitant of Sheung Shui. Though he grew up in the urban area, he went back to his ancestral home frequently. He felt in love with the beauty of the night sky at an early age. Encouraged and supported by his mother, he studied astronomy by himself. Since then, astronomy became his lifelong passion.
Mr Liu started taking pictures of the night sky in his twenties. He frequently designed his own instrument and developed photographs himself. His astronomical photographs are world-recognized for their superior technique and outstanding aesthetic quality. In 1972, Mr Liu built a private observatory which was the first in Hong Kong in the backyard of his ancestral house. The observatory housed a 32 cm reflector he designed himself for taking high resolution lunar and planetary photographs. Mr Liu and his observatory were featured on the cover of the April 1974 issue of the famous Sky & Telescope magazine.
Mr Liu was awarded many prizes in the field of astronomy. His stunning lunar photorgraph won the first prize in the astrophotographic competition organised by the American Astronomical League. In recognition of his contribution in the promotion of popular astronomy in Hong Kong, Mr Liu was given the Chiro Astronomical Award in Japan in 1982 and the title Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1984. In 1998, the International Astronomical Union approved the naming of the minor planet 6743 as "Liu", as proposed by the discoverers K. Endate and K. Watanabe, after Mr Liu.
Mr Liu tirelessly dedicated his life to promoting astronomy. While he was teaching at Queen's College between 1961 and 1971, he established the first astronomy club in secondary school in Hong Kong. Since 1966, Mr Liu taught classes in general astronomy for the University of Hong Kong's Department of Extra Mural Studies. A lot of founding members of amateur astronomy societies in Hong Kong and amateurs were students of Mr Liu and were inspired and guided by him to the pathway of promoting astronomy.
Mr Liu was visionary in proposing the establishment of a space museum in Hong Kong in 1960s. In 1974, he was invited by the Urban Council to discuss the construction project. In 1976, Mr Liu was entrusted with the task of planning and building of the Museum. In designing the facilities for the Museum, Mr Liu not only learned from the experience of overseas planetarium but created the first fully computerized sky show control system to control the star projector, hundreds of slide projectors and special effect projectors as well as the audio and lighting equipment. When the Space Museum was opened in 1980, Mr Liu was appointed as the first Chief Curator. Since then, the Space Museum has become the ideal place for promoting astronomy to the general public.
After retirement in 1985, Mr Liu migrated to the United States but his passion for the starry night still raged. For every clear night, he kept observing and photographing at his backyard observatory. Mr Liu was assiduous in learning the latest digital astrophotographic techniques even in his autumn years. He served as the adviser of the Space Museum after retirement to provide invaluable advice to the long term development of the Museum. One week before he passed away, he still admired the last total lunar eclipse in his backyard for the last time. His passion and dream of the stars would live in our hearts forever.
