For the amateur astronomers

Fixing and making things, what tools to get and what skills to learn, ...
Post Reply
jacob
Site Admin
Posts: 15906
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: USA, Zone 5b, Koppen Dfa, Elev. 620ft, Walkscore 77
Contact:

Post by jacob »

If you ever wanted to step up the game to the semi-pro level, there are two areas where I know that amateurs still provide very useful data.
1) Comet hunting. This is for the truly dedicated. You essentially pick a field of the sky and study it for new dots of light; that would be the comets. If you find one, you get it named after you. Shoemaker was famous for this. This requires a fairly good telescope.
2) Variable star tracking. I worked a bit in that field. A variable star is a star that changes its brightness. Some of these are visible to the naked eye so you don't need a fancy telescope. You just need dedication to observe the star persistently. The place to get started is AAVSO.


mike
Posts: 26
Joined: Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:54 pm

Post by mike »

Thanks for the link.
Both those activities require time flexibility which I unfortunately don't have. While I do have a pretty good scope (http://www.takahashi-europe.com/en/TOA- ... ations.php)
..the lack of time and to some extent motivation/like minded company...has kept it pretty underutilized.
On that note..if there are folks on here in the Bay Area who are into ERE and astronomy..maybe we could hold a ERE Astronomy outing..exchange ideas on low cost living while observing the heavenly bodies.
I'll bring the scope (and the CCD, the binoviewer, the solar filter, the goto tracking and all the stuff I paid for but have used little).


Post Reply