Enlarging the Noosphere

[MattJenko]

In the realm of amateur astronomy, how can we humble stargazers contribute to the fount of human knowledge?

Spectroscopy

Double Star measurements

Photometry

What else is there for us to help with and make tangible contributions?

[Earl]

I have seen a guy with 3 scts that a few Supernova under his belt, hes in Britian too if i recall, someone will know im sure

[StuW]

I think Liverpool AS have a very active SN hunting project.

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[Uplooker]

I know of a guy who is member of Bolton AS, that I think lives near Leyland, has a large SCT set up constantly searching for SN. Unfortunately he has not been successful as yet.

Ian

[MattJenko]

Am I right in thinking that Supernova hunting is the glamorous end of the moving object tracking work being done (for asteroids and the like)? That certainly seems like something that amateurs can contribute to, although it appears to have a large luck component in it, and while I am more than comfortable playing cards with fate, it seems rather cruel to put in all that imaging effort to be denied by randomness.

[acey]

Contribute to large-scale public projects, e.g.

Galaxy Zoo http://www.galaxyzoo.org/

Loss of the Night https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cosalux.welovestars

SETI at Home http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

Some astronomical discoveries are still made by amateurs with sufficiently sophisticated imaging equipment and a lot of dedication (e.g supernova or near-Earth asteroid searches).

For visual observers it's possible to gather data that could be useful in relation to vision science or history of astronomy (limiting magnitude etc).

[ronin]

I think that in September Gaia comes fully on line and the universities involved would like amateur participation for aspects of it. I am not sure what but I had the impression that it was for observations not for computer time.

You could check the site, www.gaia.ac.uk but when I looked there seemed little well defined information of the potential involvement. The site may also say what talks there are concerning gaia and if one is close get along and ask. or I suppose email whatever contact is given.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I know for fact that an Irish guy Dave Grennan (sp?), has discovered 2-3 SN in the last couple of yrs from his back garden in Dublin. I think he is only using a 14 inch scope from a fairly heavily light polluted area of Dublin.

http://www.webtreatz.com/