Comments on: Amateurs vs. Professionals http://www.backyardstargazer.com/2010/06/06/amateurs-vs-professionals/ Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:39:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ed http://www.backyardstargazer.com/2010/06/06/amateurs-vs-professionals/comment-page-1/#comment-2618 Ed Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:47:22 +0000 http://www.backyardstargazer.com/?p=103#comment-2618 Astronomy is nearly the only area of science where amateurs regularly contribute significantly to the world's body of knowledge. A friend of mine who is a physics professor has commented that it always amazes him how much money people are willing to spend on the hobby - and compared it to biology - people don't often drop 10 grand on biology equipment as a hobby, but people regularly spend that much and more for astronomy.<br><br>I also think you're right about the difference being that the professional astronomers don't feel threatened buy backyard astronomers and so the relationship between the two is more often cordial. Heck, a few months ago, Sky & Telescope had an article from a researcher asking for help from amateurs because serious amateurs (with 20" scopes) generally had more scope time available to them than he had. Astronomy is nearly the only area of science where amateurs regularly contribute significantly to the world's body of knowledge. A friend of mine who is a physics professor has commented that it always amazes him how much money people are willing to spend on the hobby – and compared it to biology – people don't often drop 10 grand on biology equipment as a hobby, but people regularly spend that much and more for astronomy.

I also think you're right about the difference being that the professional astronomers don't feel threatened buy backyard astronomers and so the relationship between the two is more often cordial. Heck, a few months ago, Sky & Telescope had an article from a researcher asking for help from amateurs because serious amateurs (with 20″ scopes) generally had more scope time available to them than he had.

]]>