Jack B. Newton

John "Jack" Borden Newton (born 13 Aug 1942, Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian astronomer, best known for his publications and images in amateur astrophotography both in film and CCD.

Newton took his first astrophotograph when he was 13 years old of the planet Saturn. He invented "cold camera" astrophotography, allowing for substantially longer exposures on film.

In 1991 Newton became the first amateur astrophotographer to make full (RGB) color CCD images of celestial objects using a Santa Barbara Instruments Group ST-4 camera, making a full color CCD image of M57, the "Ring Nebula" and M27, the "Dumbbell Nebula". He took three separate black and white images, each taken with a separate filter in red, blue, and green, which were later combined in software that was being developed for amateur astrophotography by Richard Berry, then editor of Astronomy magazine. Berry published the first combined color CCD image of M27 as his magazine's cover.

Newton has published six books on amateur astronomy and astrophotography. His first book, Astrophotography: From Film to Infinity, was published in 1974.

He has had two books published by Cambridge University Press: the Cambridge Deep-Sky Album in 1983, , and the Guide to Amateur Astronomy in 1995, .

He received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 for his contributions to science. He is the Honorary Patron of the Cotswold Astronomical Society.

In 2005, Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy named an asteroid, 30840 Jackalice = 1991 GC2, in honor of Newton's astrophotographic accomplishments and of Jack and Alice Newton's work in astronomy outreach.

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