Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 1:41 am
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.
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.