Phil Harrington is an ardent amateur astronomer from Smithtown, New York. Bitten by the "astronomical bug" while watching the total lunar eclipse of April 1968, Phil has spent countless hours touring the universe through telescopes and binoculars.
He is a former staff member of New York City's Hayden Planetarium (1979-1981) and instructor at the Vanderbilt Planetarium (1982-1998) in Centerport, New York. Phil is an adjunct instructor at Suffolk County Community College's Eastern Campus in Riverhead, New York, where he teaches courses in stellar and planetary astronomy. He is a member of the Astronomical Society of Long Island, a founding member of the Westport (CT) Astronomical Society, and is also one of the coordinators of the annual Astronomer's Conjunction, held ever summer in Northfield, MA.