'Laptop amateur astronomers'...

[Chriske]

Are our youngsters less interested using real telescopes these days...?
...or is there a new generation 'laptop amateur astronomers' in the making..?

I need to explain a thing or two about these questions, but I wonder how many youngsters are still at it, not just building, but also observing the night sky.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

<My Rant>

I believe the impetus to start observing the night skies, must first lie with the parents\family, and then with the education system.

For the parents\family, the constraints levied by the work\life balance of modern society, and the light polluted location where most people live, act to inhibit any form of wider enquiries as to the nature of the environment we all inhabit. This is compounded with the media pushing a daily dose of dross, trying to ensure that product placement & purchasing are their primary concern, with educational programming sadly falling behind, and what is broadcast is often reduced to the lowest common denominator....

Then there is the education system, which is only judged on generic 'core' subjects, to the detriment of any further studies. A simple example of this is 'Science', where all disciplines, Physics, Chemistry etc., are combined into a generic 'science'. While at least some form of science subject(s) are taught, any in-depth studies are sadly lacking till much later, by which time it may well be too late...

<End Rant>

 

 

 

 

[Chriske]

Well about these questions...

A few days ago I was busy restoring (and recovering optics out of) a few telescopes.
Reason :
Got a phone-call from another member of our local observatory. He told me been busy cleaning/making room in one of our lumber rooms.
His plan was to dump a few telescopes(literal : throwing away)
One of these scopes was a 300mm Dob. It is a very good scope. Bought in the '80 from DarkStar (UK)
Another four 250 mm Dobs aren't used anymore. One 200mm + a few other smaller scopes. Amongst them a 70mm Maksutov.

Mind-boggling decision not..?..😳
Asking questions our manager told me that our youngsters don't seem to enjoy observing anymore. Lots of these younger members are 'stuck' behind their laptop he added.

40 years ago a 300mm telescope, to us it was a un-reachable goal..! Way to expensive in those days..!

[andrew s]

Time moves on. From sets of encyclopedias to the internet. From naked eye observation to space telescopes.  From Daguerreotype to CMOS. Each generation approaches the world differently.

As long as our curiosity is peaked does it matter?

Regards Andrew 

Edited February 3, 2020 by andrew s

[Chriske]

So Andrew,  I'm just been nostalgic or old fashion...??😉

[CraigT82]

7 hours ago, andrew s said:

Time moves on. From sets of encyclopedias to the internet. From naked eye observation to space telescopes.  From Daguerreotype to CMOS. Each generation approaches the world differently.

As long as our curiosity is peaked does it matter?

Regards Andrew 

Agree.

All professional astronomy is now done at the computer, possibly thousands of miles away from the telescope.  If today's youngsters want to be forge a career in astronomy they don't need to know how to physically observe using a scope, they need to know how to code! 

[andrew s]

38 minutes ago, Chriske said:

So Andrew,  I'm just been nostalgic or old fashion...??😉

Possibly,  but each to his own. I have a nice Hi Fi but the children just want ear buds.

Regards Andrew 

[Chriske]

I do have very good ear buds btw...BOSE...😁

[Ricker]

Second telescope I brought was a 12" Dark Star dobsonian. Many happy nights starhopping. Amazing when you think I saved up for it whilst working a Saturday job for 9 pounds a day. 

[Paul M]

We have a 10 year old girl with us who is space mad at the moment. She's doing a bit at school and I've been pointing stuff out in the sky. I've also run through a tour of the Solar System using Stellarium. Kid's love to be able to control stuff by a keyboard. It makes things happen at a pace that their minds run at.

This evening she got excited when she saw I'd set up a telescope. The moon captured her attention but Venus much less so. It required some effort and it wasn't like in the books!

So visual astronomy, like everything in real life, struggles to keep up with online freedom, control and expectations. Plus they can't take selfies with a telescope....

[Helen]

Ask @bingevader about his pupils' enthusiasm - that will cheer you up! 🤗

[saac]

2 hours ago, Chriske said:

So Andrew,  I'm just been nostalgic or old fashion...??😉

Well to be fair to the youth of today can you imagine your excitement if 40 years ago you had the wherewith-all to control a professional grade telescope on the other side of the planet from the comfort of your own home. Or you could go out into the cold and damp and try pointing your own telescope aimlessly at the night sky while being annoyed by the  wobbly mount  and dodging clouds.  Choices eh  

Jim 

Edited February 3, 2020 by saac

[Chriske]

As a matter of fact, my son just started grinding his own optics.
So that makes him old fashion too...?😁
Just kidding, I'm very glad he did, he's almost 40...

[andrew s]

1 hour ago, Chriske said:

As a matter of fact, my son just started grinding his own optics.

..but that is what I so like about astronomy as a hobby. There are so many ways you can enjoy it. From grinding mirrors to 3D printed spectrographs, pop to hard science, casual glancing at the stars to extracting the faintest wisp via image processing and freezing ones *** off to arm chair warmth.

Regards Andrew 

[Chriske]

1 minute ago, andrew s said:

... extracting the faintest wisp via image processing and freezing ones *** off to arm chair warmth.

Regards Andrew 

That's what he's planning to do with that 300mm 'beast'. Astrophotography..!
We need to make a very sturdy mount for that thing.
He'll probably be using a Box-mount.

[fozzybear]

Both my Son's are interested In my hobby and when I have the scopes out and they happen to visit they have a look through the eyepiece and so does their partners and yes they are impressed with the views, but at an early stage in their lives mid and late 20's. Having said that when I was in the UK my eldest was with me every week at our local astro club until we moved abroad back 2005 so he would have been 15. The problem today is if you want any information you go onto the internet, Yet back then information was limited and you relied on literature.. I did have a Meade ETX 70 with tripod and travel sack basic scope which my son pilfered last year can I borrow it never to be seen again albeit it was covered in dust . So maybe a change he wants a bit of me time. I have no qualms with that. I think that a hobby like this is either with your parents or later on in life when you have disposable income.  

Andy

[fozzybear]

On ‎03‎/‎02‎/‎2020 at 14:39, Chriske said:

Well about these questions...

A few days ago I was busy restoring (and recovering optics out of) a few telescopes.
Reason :
Got a phone-call from another member of our local observatory. He told me been busy cleaning/making room in one of our lumber rooms.
His plan was to dump a few telescopes(literal : throwing away)
One of these scopes was a 300mm Dob. It is a very good scope. Bought in the '80 from DarkStar (UK)
Another four 250 mm Dobs aren't used anymore. One 200mm + a few other smaller scopes. Amongst them a 70mm Maksutov.

Mind-boggling decision not..?..😳
Asking questions our manager told me that our youngsters don't seem to enjoy observing anymore. Lots of these younger members are 'stuck' behind their laptop he added.

40 years ago a 300mm telescope, to us it was a un-reachable goal..! Way to expensive in those days..!

Surely this is your managers view I hope you rescued the scopes and why not offer a loan session to the young students for themselves to make up their mind who are interested in science... At the end of the day who is going to replace the current Scientists  you have to learn the basic's.... Wish we had them at our school/college

Edited February 4, 2020 by fozzybear

[Ships and Stars]

I can Google virtually any DSO and instantly find something akin to a Hubble-quality photo on the internet. That's great, I've learned a lot. Researching a star atlas and planning, taking a scope out when conditions are right, waiting for eyes to adjust, hunting it down (goto or not) and finally seeing the real deal, albeit faint and fuzzy, that's where it's at for me. I reckon it's analogous to shooting and developing your own film, or taking a digital snap with a phone. One's easier, one's more rewarding (or frustrating). But please don't chuck out old scopes!! Please!

Edited February 4, 2020 by Ships and Stars

[fozzybear]

1 minute ago, Ships and Stars said:

I can Google virtually any DSO and instantly find something akin to a Hubble-quality photo on the internet. That's great, I've learned a lot. Researching a star atlas and planning, taking a scope out when conditions are right, waiting for eyes to adjust, hunting it down (goto or not) and finally seeing the real deal, albeit faint and fuzzy, that's where it's at for me. I reckon it's analogous to shooting and developing your own film, or taking a digital snap with a phone. One's easier, one's more rewarding (or frustrating). 

it's the Woy factor I saw that...…. adrenalin rush

[fozzybear]

same can be said with one's capture's Photos, I am no professional what I have captured is good for me and mine to cherish if I think it merit's publishing then it is up to others at least I tried.

andy

[Marvin Jenkins]

Something I have noticed when sharing an astronomy session with others (parents of children, not my parents) is that nine out of ten people are astounded by what they can see. Most have no idea they can see Jupiter and moons with a scope costing a few hundred pounds.

They ask questions like, How much does your scope cost? Are they hard to get?

Invariably people say “that’s cheap, we have to get one so little Johnny or Jenny can do some astronomy, they would love it” As yet I have yet to see any of them take the plunge.

It is like the vast majority of people have the attention span of a gnat, and forget everything they did five minutes before. I did have one person oooohing and arrring  at there first view of Saturn only to run away (for real) shouting over there shoulder “strictly is about to start”.

If that is the parents of the next generation then the kids are at a disadvantage regardless of the amount of internet info and computer tools. Just imagine doing astronomy for ten years and then saying “but I haven’t actually looked at anything”

This Christmas I saw a five year old get an Apple iPad. They told me they didn’t get the kids a scope because after a week it may get broken so it seemed expensive. Seems odd to me, but then I am an astronomer.

Marv

[Marvin Jenkins]

I have also noticed a flip side of this. I don’t know if it is a part of human psyche, but if you try to tell someone something incredible about an object you have seen they can shy away.

I have got into a pattern that when someone asks about my astronomy pastime, I tell a small amount, but do not talk for longer than one minute, wait for another question, give another minute. Shut up for a bit. If pursued offer a future look through a scope. It is very much like my other passion Carp fishing, seems like a lot of nothing then turns into something amazing.

I realised that for most ordinary people ‘wonder’ is not normal and the answers that we astronomers all take for granted like the existence of neutron stars can be too much.

The old saying “ignorance is bliss” is rubbish to me and you because we wonder. We push ourselves to understand and see the ‘thing’ through a scope, to say it is real, it is there, it is not just theory!

Most people like ‘safe’ the known, the easy to understand. An answer that doesn’t create questions is comforting. Children ask questions. Often they ask the best ones as they do not fear ridicule. When they stop asking is when this all comes to an end.

Marv