(meteorobs) Why don't more amateurs get it? (Meteors, that is.)

[aaron at clevenson.org]

I am one of the quieter members of the list, and have enjoyed this  
discussion.  Awesome thoughts!  I would like to share my thoughts as  
well.

I have done 36 hours of "official" observations personally for the  
Astronomical League certification.  I also teach Astronomy, and as an  
option for an honors project the students can do the same "official"  
observations as a project.  The objective is that they must do  
something that contributes to astronomy, and as was mentioned this is  
one of the few places that an amateur can do that.

Myself, personally...  Although I get great joy in feeling like I am  
contributing to science, the effort required to do science is  
significant.  It keeps me from just sitting back and enjoying nature's  
fireworks.  Also, more often than not, I am doing some kind of  
outreach or trianing.  This can not be done while doing scientific  
meteor watching either.

I have also had a few hours of sporadic watching that yielded no  
meteors.  Granted I did not have the darkest skies, but this is rather  
depressing, even to the stout of heart.

Carry-on.

Aaron Clevenson


Quoting Robert Lunsford <lunro.imo.usa at cox.net>:

> Lew and All,
>
> There have been many fine comments on this subject and I really have
> nothing earth-shattering to add.
>
> I would like to commend Robin Gray for his attempts to introduce the
> sky to his kids. Don't feel bad that they didn't take the bait as the
> competition for kids attention is higher than ever. It difficult to
> compete with the vast array of technology offered these days. I ask my
> kids to come outside and see something through the telescope and you
> would think I was giving them some sort of torture. Good Lord, pulling
> them away from their computer or video games is just too much to ask!
>
> John Bortle also made some pertinent points that struck home with me,
> especially the need for instant gratification. In days gone by there
> was a natural progression of first learning the constellations, then
> using binoculars to develop skills of finding celestial objects, and
> then if you were still bitten by the astro-bug, building or buying a
> telescope. Today there are people using go-to scopes that don't know
> Aquarius from Virgo. Eventually most of these scopes end up in the
> closet or are sold at a garage sale.
>
> There are a lot of people who like seeing meteor showers. Many of them
> will make the effort to drive to dark skies. I know because my site is
> full of them during the Perseids each year. Most of them bring the kids
> in order to introduce them to another part of nature. Unfortunately
> most of them are gone by 1am when the show starts to get good. I guess
> nature is cool as long as it occurs during civilized hours.
>
> I also found Wes Stone's comments interesting that even astronomy
> enthusiasts find proper meteor recording tiresome and would rather
> participate in useless group counts. You definitely have to be
> dedicated in order to produce useful results. I feel the ratio is much
> lower than 1 per 100 for meteor observers. A real shame is that the
> dedicated meteor observer is rarely more than a "flash in the pan".
> During the lifespan of meteorobs we have seen numerous "dedicated
> observers" fall off the list or simply burn-out. There are very few of
> us left and we are not getting any younger. That is the scariest
> thought to me. Besides becoming a society of "old-timers" there is no
> one in the younger generation waiting to take our place. I'm trying my
> best to spread the word that meteor observing is both fun and
> scientifically useful but I often feels that it falling upon deaf ears.
> John Bortle seems be correct in the fact that society in general is
> changing its attitudes toward hobbies.
>
> On a lighter note I want to share a story that shows that technology
> can be useful, even in meteor astronomy. On the morning of the recent
> Perseid maximum it was getting light and I was packing up my gear. A
> mother and her two kids drove into the viewpoint to see the show. I
> gave them the bad news that the show was almost over but they they
> might see a bright Perseid or two before it became too bright. They
> watched for 15 minutes or so and the mother and her oldest son had seen
> two meteors. The youngest son was distraught that he missed them both.
> It was now so bright that the odds of seeing anything was remote. I
> pulled out my video camera and replayed some of the action captured
> through my intensified camera earlier that morning. The child was
> thrilled and the mother grateful that I took the time to share this
> with them. Now I thought that was very cool and something beyond my
> wildest dreams just ten years ago.
>
> Clear Skies!
>
> Bob Lunsford
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: <Lew.Gramer at noaa.gov>
> To: <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2007 6:08 PM
> Subject: (meteorobs) Why don't more amateurs get it? (Meteors, that is.)
>
>
>> I just finished watching Timothy Ferris' hour-long PBS (US publicly
>> supported television) special, "Seeing in the Dark", based on his
>> well known and beautifully written book of the same name.
>>
>> I really enjoyed his view of amateur astronomy and it's many joys.
>> I also enjoyed seeing Barbara Wilson, Steve O'Meara and others
>> who I've met over the years, sharing their passion for the hobby.
>>
>> Ferris spent considerable time talking about amateurs' increasing
>> contributions to the SCIENCE of astronomy... He spent much of his
>> one hour in fact presenting many tools - from computer-controlled
>> scopes, to CCDs - that amateurs use to contribute to science. And
>> he even filmed O'Meara describing his elation when he discovered
>> the spokes of Saturn's rings many years ago, *visually*.
>>
>> All of this... and Mr. Ferris did not once mention meteors... Not the
>> profound, serene simplicity of basking in a beautiful night sky with
>> the unaided eye. Nor any mention of the central, almost dominant
>> role we amateurs have played in the science of meteors either!
>>
>> Somehow, in this on-air paean to all things amateur astronomy,
>> Mr. Ferris just did not GET IT. And thousands (maybe millions?)
>> of other potential future amateurs who view this program won't
>> probably ever "get it" either, as a result.
>>
>>
>> During this relatively quiet period of mid-September, I wanted to
>> put a question to our forum: why is it, that something so simple,
>> so easy, so beautiful, so significant, and so FUN, simply fails to
>> capture the imagination of most newcomers to astronomy? Why
>> aren't ALL our fellow amateurs out there with lawn chairs, before
>> they even pick up their first pair of binoculars? What is missing?
>>
>> I look forward to hearing others' views...
>>
>> Clear skies all,
>> Lew Gramer
>
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