Richard Huziak

Lore & Background

Richard Huziak was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, and attended elementary and high school there before moving to Saskatoon in 1976 to attend the University of Saskatchewan. He has since resided in Saskatoon, working as a manufacturing engineering technologist for several companies including Develcon Electronics, Joytec, International Road Dynamics, and SED Systems. He served as president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Saskatoon Centre for six years and is a prominent member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, with over 181,000 variable star observations to his credit. Huziak was present during the discovery of 185P/Comet Petriew in August 2001 and was the first to recognize the object as a comet.

Reader's Guide

Huziak's significance lies in his dual contributions to amateur astronomy and environmental advocacy. His extensive variable star observations, numbering over 181,000, earned him recognition from the American Association of Variable Star Observers, including the Director's Award in 2003 presented by Janet Mattei. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada awarded him the Chant Medal in 2001 and the Service Medal in 2009. His environmental work addressing light pollution in Saskatchewan led to the Saskatchewan Eco-Network naming him a Saskatchewan Environmental Champion and awarding him the Environmental Activist Individual Award in 2007. He was instrumental in designating the Cypress Hills Dark Sky Preserve in September 2004, then Canada's largest dark-sky preserve, and later worked with Parks Canada to designate Grasslands National Park as a dark-sky preserve in October 2009, which overtook Cypress Hills as Canada's then-largest. In August 2021, the Canadian Space Agency nominated him as Canada's amateur astronomer representative to the International Astronomical Union, and he was accepted as an Honorary Member.

Did You Know?

• Asteroid 4143 Huziak is named after him.
• He has over 181,000 variable star observations.
• He was the first to recognize 185P/Comet Petriew as a comet in August 2001.
• He was instrumental in creating Canada's then-largest dark-sky preserve at Cypress Hills in September 2004.