The Backyard Stargazer is on a brief hiatus while the observation platform / back deck is being rebuilt.

Richard Laermer pointed me to an interesting piece comparing the relationship  between professional and amateur astronomers to that between journalists and bloggers.

You can read the whole thing here at TechDirt.

I think the comparison is apt to a point. In astronomy, the professionals – mainly the folks at the large research institutions and universities who have access to the expensive equipment – do most of the theoretical work while the amateurs – folks who have a love of astronomy but never pursued it as a career – fill in on the observational side. A perfect example happened only last month when amateurs observed two meteor hits on Jupiter.

Most professionals who are working on advanced research don’t have the luxury of being able to wander over to Jupiter for a quick look. Observation time on the larger telescopes is reserved months, if not years in advance and there just aren’t enough eyes at that level to be watching the whole sky. But amateurs, many of whom have fairly sophisticated equipment (at least when compared to that of only a few decades ago) and the time and inclination to pursue a whim now and then, can turn their eyes wherever the professionals can’t.

This relationship has been tremendously beneficial to professionals and amateurs alike.

In the media world, on the other hand, aggressive bloggers have been stepping on the toes of the main stream media, most obviously in politics and entertainment but also in local coverage where the larger media outlets cannot spare the resources. And in regions of the world where it is just too difficult or dangerous to send a journalist, there are countless bloggers, videobloggers and twitter-erers to fill in the gaps.

The relationship has grown hostile, with journalists lashing out at the ranks of the amateur press corps, calling them conflicted and not held to professional standards.

I think though that this is where the comparison ends. In journalism, the huge shifts in how media is consumed and distributed have put tremendous pressure on the traditional media outlets. This pressure is being passed down to the newsroom where journalists are finding it harder and harder to earn a comfortable living in an ever shrinking media market. It makes perfect sense for the reporter at the city desk to feel threatened by the local blogger with a camera and a sense of purpose because that blogger means that the journalist can be quickly out of a job.

Astronomy, on the other hand, is funded primarily by research grants. And with the huge costs for the most advanced tools of the trade, only governments and extremely well-financed  institutions are playing in the game at this point. So there’s no reason for the professional working with the Hubble Space Telescope to fear the amateur with a 10 inch SCT in her backyard. The professional will get the grants and the amateur will enjoy the fruits of the professional’s research and may even have an opportunity to make important discoveries on her own that the professionals are precluded from.

What would make for a comparable situation in the media world would be to find that common ground and common interest that supports both sides. Perhaps when more journalists, newly freed from the newsroom and the print world, are covering their old beats for online start-ups, the reconciliation will begin.

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Enjoy!

via Bad Astronomy

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Northeast Astronomy Forum from David Parmet on Vimeo.

NEAF – the Northeast Astronomy Forum – is the astronomy industry’s version of CES with a little bit of SXSW thrown in for good measure. Held annually at Rockland County Community College, it brings out all the big manufacturers, the publications and the vendors as well as hoards of eager hobbyists with money to burn on the latest gear.

Astronomy – the hobby – isn’t cheap. A basic set-up - telescope, eyepieces and related gear – can run over a thousand bucks. Higher end telescopes used by hobbyists can run into the thousands. So yes, the industry did suffer somewhat from the Great Recession but this year things seem to be bouncing back. I spoke with a range of folks – journalists and manufacturers – and all seem to feel that the worst is behind them.

On the other hand, many folks expressed their concerns that the hobby remains dominated by older men. More than a few people mentioned the need to get more children and families involved.

This year the organizers made the effort to include more activities for children and I did notice a lot more families walking up and down the show floor than I have in the past.

One very cool note – a certain software manufacturer showed me a very cool iPad application for controlling telescopes. They are still working out the bugs but the possibilities of touch and go control of telescopes (as opposed to using a laptop in the field) boggles the mind. So stay tuned, it’s coming soon to a star party near you.

I’ll be there on Saturday, hanging with the folks from the Westchester Amateur Astronomers as well as with Night Vision Astronomy. Hopefully I’ll have some time to do some interviews which I’ll post up here.

There are a ton of workshops and speakers and of course vendors. You can get the whole scoop on the official web site here.

If you are going, drop me a line and let me know.

DSC_0228, originally uploaded by david parmet.

Last night was only the second time I’ve seen Mercury and the first time I’ve ever seen four planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn) in one night at one time.

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Jellyfish Nebula, originally uploaded by david parmet.

The Boy Genius and I were visiting my neighbor Doug Baum the other night. Doug is the inventor of the BIPH – aka the Binocular Photon Machine – a light amplification device that brings jaw-dropping views to even the most mundane telescopes.

Doug, his own Boy Genius, my Boy Genius and I retired to Doug’s observatory to do some astrophotography. Doug’s got a Takahashi FSQ-106 set up purely for CCD astronomy. You can see some of his photos here.

The above image was created by my little guy with some encouragement from Doug and his guy. It’s a five minute exposure with some refinement and polishing post-processing. The Jellyfish – IC 443 – is 2,000 light years from Earth.

One of the true revolutionary trends in amateur astronomy is the availability of inexpensive and high-quality CCD cameras – leading to pictures that rival those created by the professional astronomers of only a few decades ago. Just compare the above image to the one on the Wikipedia entry (link above). Imagine what we could have done if we had a half hour.

Now that I’m using an LX-200, I can understand the logic of setting up a semi-permanent (or permanent) structure to house a telescope and accessories. It’s certainly easier on the back.

DSC_0040, originally uploaded by david parmet.

Orion is chock full of interesting things to look at. Everyone knows the Great Nebula – M42 and it’s neighbor M42, but there’s also the Flame and Horsehead Nebulea as well as a host of interesting stars, star clusters and other things to look for.

You can scan the region of Orion’s belt and sword (pictured above) with a good pair of binoculars and see the Great Nebula. Orion is up in the East this time of year – you can catch it just after sunset right above the horizon.

Moon-1.31.10, originally uploaded by david parmet.

You might have noticed that the Moon looks awfully large this week. In fact you are correct. The Moon is at perigee – at the point in its orbit that it is closest to the Earth.

At this point, the Moon is a couple ten thousand miles closer than it is at apogee, the furthest from Earth. And its roughly 14% larger than normal.

So if you felt a bit loony this week, blame the Moon.

More information at Moon Connection.

My first attempt at serious astrophotography.