'The Star Dude': B.C. man building the world's largest pair of binoculars

Port Alberni's David Gibney has had stars in his eyes for decades, and is about to realize his life's ambition — creating what he claims is the world’s largest pair of binoculars.

Port Alberni’s David Gibney has had stars in his eyes for decades, and is about to realize his life’s ambition — creating what he claims is the world’s largest pair of binoculars.

“I’ve been an astronomer for 50 years, and this really will be impressive, like you can see amazing cosmic views,” Gibney says.

He began his love of astronomy trying to document an eclipse of the sun in 1979. A photography store put him in touch with a Catholic priest who also loved star gazing.

“I owe this project in memory of my mentor Father Lucian Campbell, he was a Franciscan monk here in Port Alberni. He had a telescope and a place to observe down by the Paper Mill Dam and after the first night of looking through the telescope, oh yeah I was amazed and interested,” he says.

Gibney, who calls himself “The Star Dude," has put 19 years of planning and an estimated $400,000 into the binoculars. He created them hoping they can be used by others to observe sights during the daytime and do stargazing at night.

“The first paragraph of the plan was to provide access to the general public to high performance, optical and imaging systems for a nominal fee, like make it accessible and indeed at high traffic tourist locations I’m able to set it up, deploy it, share the experience with others,” Gibney says.

The astronomer hopes to be able to share his creation at Port Alberni’s Harbour Quay, but says he’s facing some resistance from the city because they don’t know how to license him.