Reshaping Our Conception of the Amateur Astronomer Essay -- Explorator

Reshaping Our Conception of the Amateur Astronomer Until recently, if you had asked me to describe what I would have envisioned an astronomer to look like, I probably would have given you two alternate pictures; the first would be the academic or professional astronomer-aided by grants, funding agencies, university budgets, and access to the latest technology in the field. The other astronomer, then, would be the "amateur" astronomer: the wide-eyed observer whose sole passion in life is to design, build, and use telescopes of their own creation. While I am certain that both of these stereotypes exist, I was surprised to discover that there is indeed a third type of astronomer, namely the "serious amateur." The serious amateur falls somewhere in between my two previous categories; while the professional/academic astronomer would classify an amateur as "anyone who has not earned a graduate degree in astronomy...," the serious amateur would more likely view his or her non-professional status as a result of "...not earn(ing) his or her l iving from watching the skies." [1] Nonetheless, with the aid of recent developments in astronomical technology, a serious amateur astronomer now has the ability to aid professional astronomers by observing unrecorded (or underrecorded) stellar objects. Indeed, the present comet Hale-Bopp was simultaneously discovered by both a professional and a serious amateur astronomer alike. Therefore, in this article I would like to outline some of the new technological advances and new relations between serious amateurs and professional astronomers, give some examples of the "new" astronomer, and then analyze the changing role of the astronomer--including both the roles of the professional and of the se... ...ercury, p. 38. 5. Koch, Bernd. "Amateurs and the CCD Revolution." The Mercury, p. 40. 6. Fountain, Henry. "Backyard Astronomers Enlist as Foot Soldiers of Astrophysics." The New York Times, 3/18/97, C4. Bibliography:       http://www.halebopp.com    Jevons, F. R., Science Observed. London: George Allen & Unwin Limited, 1973.    Latour, Bruno. Science in Action. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987.    Wilcox, Ken. "The Golden Age of Amateur Astronomy." The Mercury, volume 25, #1, Jan/Feb 1996. pp.32-35.    Bracher, Katherine. "Amateur Astronomy in America." The Mercury, volume 25, #4, Jul/Aug 1996. pp.7, 25-27.    Fountain, Henry. "Backyard Astronomers Enlist as Foot Soldiers of Astrophysics." The New York Times Tuesday, March 18, 1997 C4.    Koch, Bernd. "Amateurs and the CCD Revolution."Sky and Telescope, January 1997. pp. 38-42.