Is purely observing a minority pastime now ?

[7170]

It feels like there are more models of dobs available today, which suggests to me visual is going strong. And new eye pieces, and star guide/observation log books keep getting released too.

So I suspect visual is certainly still very popular. My anecdotal observation is that many visual only observers don’t frequent Internet forums as much, so you could get the impression it is less popular than it actually is.

 

 

[Mr Spock]

Astronomy is a hobby for everyone 

[Richard N]

Does it occur to you folks that manufacturers might have a vested interest in driving AP too? That could affect the sort of stuff that appears in magazines etc. Much must depend on the definition of an amateur astronomer. I suspect that many more people are interested in the stars (observing visually) than those who choose to define themselves as amateur astronomers. 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Richard N
Added

[Paul M]

It's always been about astronomy for me. To see the things I've read about and to read up on the things I've seen. And always having more questions than answers!

So now I've drifted towards imaging after many years but my purpose remains the same. I can see things with my images that I can't with my eye and while I know that the reverse can also be the case, imaging has reopened my eyes!

I'm not an artist or pixel peeper. I have little patience with convoluted processing methods or impenetrable software. No, I like to capture things that interest me. Just recently, after a lifetime of stargazing, I finally bagged Pluto. Ok, so I notched up the 8 main planets visually but Pluto was never going to be visual for me. Is it any less of a "score"? No way. It still took a bit of hunting and effort, plus I have a record of it and its motion over 24 hrs. I would say that animations are a favourite endeavor of mine.

What does change with imaging is the prospect of a "quickie". Now I don't bother setting up unless I'm confident of a good few hours of clear sky. It takes an hour the get the camera rolling then I need time to collect the data.

 

[John]

6 hours ago, 7170 said:

.... My anecdotal observation is that many visual only observers don’t frequent Internet forums as much, so you could get the impression it is less popular than it actually is.

 

 

That is a very interesting point James.

There are probably a lot of amateur astronomers out there who do not join online forums or at least are not active members of them. I know of a few myself, come to think of it.

Maybe imagers get more out of forums in terms of getting to grips with the technology involved, capture and processing techniques, sharing results etc, etc ?

I was hoping to observe myself tonight but the clouds seem to be bubbling up again around the sky which might put a crimp in things

 

 

 

[johninderby]

 I have noticed a lot of imaging related posts are of the “help needed” type as people get to grips with the intricacies of imaging. SGL must be an invaluable resource for those needing a bit of help. 👍🏻

Edited August 1, 2021 by johninderby

[Astro Noodles]

5 minutes ago, johninderby said:

 I have noticed a lot of imaging related posts are of the “help needed” type as people get to grips with the intricacies of imaging. SGL must be an invaluable resource for those need a bit of help. 👍🏻

It most certainly is. 🙂

[Stu1smartcookie]

As someone who likes the idea of imaging but loves the idea of actually observing i would think there are an awful lot of like minded people . The lockdowns actually allowed our hobby to thrive and many people did indeed take up astrophotography . I will always maintain that actually seeing a fuzzy patch of light in an eyepiece remains one of the most rewarding things i have experienced . I like taking shots of the moon etc... its a great side order for the main course of visual astronomy . I have been banging on about seeing stuff in small scopes for ages and this weekend i will be getting what is , for me , a huge upgrade in visual astronomy ... a 12" revelation Dob ( thank you @smashing) . 

I suppose in a way visual astronomy is "old fashioned " compared to looking at full colour images that dedicated photographers have spent hours , night after night capturing data . But , be that as it may , spending hours actually at the eyepiece and teasing detail with your own eyes is priceless . 

[Macavity]

During my morning walk (06:00!), I started to ponder the wider questions... 
How many people still do (any) Astronomy? Do people still have Hobbies? 😲

But for the fact I have come to know folks from the local Amateur Astronomy
community, one could easily assume (asking neighbours etc.) that FEW people
had any hobbies at all! Not to mention the rise of... "anti-science" rehetoric. 😔
(This is, dare I suggest, dependent quite a lot on the local demographic too.)

Whereas I acknowledge the *stimulating* aspect of comparing the *virtues*
(hopefully!) of various sub-types of Astronomy, we may be "Balkanising" it
out of existence? c.f. "talking about" (STEM publicising?) versus doing too? 🙃

There's nothing quite like F2F meetings with folk who like/do your hobbies. 🥳

Edited August 4, 2021 by Macavity

[Astro Noodles]

20 hours ago, Macavity said:

During my morning walk (06:00!), I started to ponder the wider questions... 
How many people still do (any) Astronomy? Do people still have Hobbies? 😲

But for the fact I have come to know folks from the local Amateur Astronomy
community, one could easily assume (asking neighbours etc.) that FEW people
had any hobbies at all! Not to mention the rise of... "anti-science" rehetoric. 😔
(This is, dare I suggest, dependent quite a lot on the local demographic too.)

Whereas I acknowledge the *stimulating* aspect of comparing the *virtues*
(hopefully!) of various sub-types of Astronomy, we may be "Balkanising" it
out of existence? c.f. "talking about" (STEM publicising?) versus doing too? 🙃

There's nothing quite like F2F meetings with folk who like/do your hobbies. 🥳

Although many people have pass-times, I imagine far fewer have a hobby. I, (like many on here I suspect), have multiple hobbies, and I live for them. If I suddenly didn't have to work any more, I would never become bored. If my current hobbies couldn't expand to fill my time, I would just get more hobbies.

Astronomy is my latest hobby and as far as I can tell, it is more popular than it has ever been. Far more accessible in terms of equipment, price, information than it could ever have been even 10 years ago. 

Rather than fragmenting, I just think there is more to explore within astronomy as a hobby, which means it can be more appealing to a wider base.

[Sabalias]

43 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

Although many people have pass-times, I imagine far fewer have a hobby. I, (like many on here I suspect), have multiple hobbies, and I live for them. If I suddenly didn't have to work any more, I would never become bored. If my current hobbies couldn't expand to fill my time, I would just get more hobbies.

Astronomy is my latest hobby and as far as I can tell, it is more popular than it has ever been. Far more accessible in terms of equipment, price, information than it could ever have been even 10 years ago. 

Rather than fragmenting, I just think there is more to explore within astronomy as a hobby, which means it can be more appealing to a wider base.

Ditto!!! I have a number of friends who constantly say they would be bored when they retire (so they aren't planning on retiring until they have to). I, on the other hand, am looking forward to my retirement and the joy of being able to carry on with my hobbies with more passion than I can today.

Stu

Edited August 5, 2021 by Sabalias

[John]

Being able to retire reasonably early certainly helped my enjoyment of the hobby of astronomy. I really do not miss constantly having to balance the potential of a clear night with an early start the following morning.

 

[Stu1smartcookie]

3 minutes ago, John said:

Being able to retire reasonably early certainly helped my enjoyment of the hobby of astronomy. I really do not miss constantly having to balance the potential of a clear night with an early start the following morning.

 

When i read this i got "free time " envy .  .lol 

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

22 hours ago, Sabalias said:

Ditto!!! I have a number of friends who constantly say they would be bored when they retire (so they aren't planning on retiring until they have to). I, on the other hand, am looking forward to my retirement and the joy of being able to carry on with my hobbies with more passion than I can today.

Stu

Jeez. I'd retire tomorrow if I could and never be bored. It's quite sad they have that mentality unless their jobs are fantastically interesting and stress free. 

I'm planning to go part time in the next year or so for my final 11 years in work. Roll on every weekend being a long one. An extra day to go away, get chores done, even study, or rest my right eye after a clear night. 😉

 

[johnst]

I've been retired 6 years now and I've got several hobbys - astronomy being one of them and has been since I was 14 🙄 and I've been visual most of the time but always taken various pics of eclipses, conjunctions etc but since I got a cancer scare a couple of years ago I've got into serious imaging but I still love to look in the eyepiece! 

[Your Star Will Shine]

I do 80% observing and 20% imaging mainly due to time and sadly living in Manchester so clouds means short sessions and not enought time to set up etc

[Merak]

I've done a little bit of alt-az astrophotography but I'm mostly a visual observer.  My last purchase was a 80mm scope purely for grab n go.

However, I am thinking of taking a step into the world of EEVA.   That will give me a deeper reach and more objects to see from the garden than I would through the eyepiece.  

I know how much time, effort, patience and swearing it can take to create a good image and that isn't for me right now.

 

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by Merak
Edit

[Jiggy 67]

How about using imaging for visual observing??….maybe this is the way forward??……

https://unistellaroptics.com

[Stu1smartcookie]

15 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

How about using imaging for visual observing??….maybe this is the way forward??……

https://unistellaroptics.com

Actually i think this is brilliant as well as a bit , if i can use an analogy , like Jurassic Park where the painstaking digging up old fossils gets eclipsed ( see what i did there) by the introduction of live dinosaurs . But we all know what happened in the end ! Having said that,  the Unistella is a fantastic piece of kit , but it takes something away from the joy of painstakingly peering into an eyepiece, teasing out detail of that DSO ... hmmm , actually , i'll take one ... just to try it lol 

[John]

15 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

How about using imaging for visual observing??….maybe this is the way forward??……

https://unistellaroptics.com

Interesting idea but too much tech involved for me.

The way I want to do things now (as I did last night) is with simple, un-driven alt-azimuth mounts, quick setup, look at stuff that I can find myself for as long as the conditions allow, than pack away quickly when done.

Having been at this for around 40 years now I guess I have learned what makes it work for me as a hobby and I'm happy to stick with that now.

Probably I am a "dinosaur". My wife and kids certainly think so

 

[johninderby]

11 minutes ago, John said:

I

Probably I am a "dinosaur". My wife and kids certainly think so

 

1861 Punch Dinosaurs & Comet cartoon

Edited August 13, 2021 by johninderby

[Deadlake]

9 minutes ago, John said:

Interesting idea but too much tech involved for me.

The way I want to do things now (as I did last night) is with simple, un-driven alt-azimuth mounts, quick setup, look at stuff that I can find myself for as long as the conditions allow, than pack away quickly when done.

Having been at this for around 40 years now I guess I have learned what makes it work for me as a hobby and I'm happy to stick with that now.

Probably I am a "dinosaur". My wife and kids certainly think so

 

Taking of speed of setup have you ever considered putting your tripod on wheels so you can roll it in and out?

The unistellar, that would lose you at lot of flexibility in setup.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Deadlake

[Stu1smartcookie]

8 minutes ago, John said:

Interesting idea but too much tech involved for me.

The way I want to do things now (as I did last night) is with simple, un-driven alt-azimuth mounts, quick setup, look at stuff that I can find myself for as long as the conditions allow, than pack away quickly when done.

Having been at this for around 40 years now I guess I have learned what makes it work for me as a hobby and I'm happy to stick with that now.

Probably I am a "dinosaur". My wife and kids certainly think so

 

Yeah , John , i'm with you on the ease and basic "put down the mount and scope and observe thing" but , i love the idea of innovative ideas . ( i will wait until it gets a lot cheaper though ) lol

[John]

2 hours ago, Deadlake said:

Taking of speed of setup have you ever considered putting your tripod on wheels so you can roll it in and out?
 

There is one step between where I store my scopes (dining room !) and my observing spot (patio). The distance is just 3 metres so the short carry in 2 parts from inside to outside is quite practical.

Once set up I can move all my rigs a short distance around the back garden in one piece to dodge trees / houses etc.

If I stored my scopes in a garage / shed / conservatory which was level with where I observe I agree that some sort of wheels would be a good idea

Edited August 13, 2021 by John

[Merak]

17 hours ago, Jiggy 67 said:

How about using imaging for visual observing??….maybe this is the way forward??……

https://unistellaroptics.com

OK if you have deep pockets!  Things like that may become more widespread in the future if the price comes down considerably.

I wouldn't mind trying one but I wouldn't buy one as I still prefer something that you can plonk a eyepiece in.   For me, I could use my SCT with a focal reducer and imaging cam to do a bit of EEVA.  If I wanted a bit of pure visual, I can swap that out, a bit of a faff but the best of both worlds.