History of amateur astronomy

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

It is believed that amateur astronomy emerged at the end of the 19th century, when Camille Flammarion founded the French Astronomical Society in 1887, and a year later the Nizhny Novgorod circle of physics and astronomy lovers appeared. However, if we take a closer look at the historical perspective, it turns out that professional astronomy (in its modern sense) also appeared relatively recently.

Can the ancient (Aristarchus of Samos, Thales of Miletus, Ptolemy, Plato, Aristotle) and medieval (Giordano Bruno, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho de Brahe, Galileo Galilei) astronomers be called professionals? In their interests and research methods, they are more similar to modern amateurs than to professionals. Their astronomy was closely related to philosophy, theology, astrology or art, and did not have a disciplinary division, visual observation predominated in research. It turns out that amateur astronomy (if you look at it from this point of view, of course) appeared much earlier than professional astronomy and served as the basis for the development of the latter.

However, even now amateur astronomy has not lost its importance for the "big science". There are not so many professional astronomers (for example, the International Astronomical Union has about 10,000 members, which is quite small compared to professional associations in other fields of science). The number of amateur astronomers, although not known with sufficient accuracy, is many times greater than the number of professional astronomers (it is believed that in Russia alone there are more than 10,000 amateurs). In addition, amateurs are scattered all over the world, which allows them to cover space with a network of observations from almost anywhere on our planet.

To appreciate the role of amateur astronomy in science, one need only recall a few discoveries made by amateur astronomers. For example, the discovery of the third largest planet in the solar system belongs to William Herschel, the discovery of the spiral structure of galaxies - to Lord Ross, Robert Evans visually discovered 42 supernova explosions. And even radio astronomy, which is now popular among professionals, was founded by an amateur astronomer - Grout Reber.

Directions of amateur astronomy

As you know, at the dawn of astronomy, visual observations were used. Now they are practically absent in professional science, and the role of "observers" belongs entirely to amateurs. In this respect, amateur astronomers can be compared to medieval navigators discovering new lands and countries. After all, they often become aware of new objects, and only after that a professional study of the object begins.

What kind of observations do amateurs do?

One of the most developed areas is the observation of solar activity. To register the phenomena occurring on the Sun (spots, torches, flares), as well as solar eclipses, complex equipment and deep knowledge in the field of astronomy are not required, observations are carried out in the daytime. Up to 150 spots can be found on the surface of the Sun (during the maximum solar cycle).

Another popular area is comet observation. For a long time, comets were considered harbingers of war, but even despite this, the passage of a comet through the Earth's atmosphere has always been a fascinating sight. From the point of view of many amateur astronomers, comets are the most beautiful celestial bodies. Perhaps that is why many comets were discovered by them. Usually the comet's brilliance and size are estimated, with special attention paid to the tail. Occasionally, comet coverings of stars can be observed - this phenomenon cannot be predicted, but it can provide valuable information about the structure of the comet's nucleus.

Many amateur astronomers are engaged in observing the coverage of celestial bodies by asteroids. There are currently more than half a million asteroids known in the solar system alone, and it is estimated that about the same is yet to be discovered. Observations of the coverage of celestial bodies by asteroids allow us to estimate their size (by measuring the time during which the brightness of the star through which the asteroid passes) will change.

With the development of telescopic construction, observation of variable stars has gained popularity among amateurs. Changing the brightness of a star is not only a beautiful sight, but also a physical phenomenon that can say a lot about the structure of a star. As a rule, astronomers observe a change in brightness only if it is large enough (exceeding 0.3 magnitudes).

One of the most exciting activities for hobbyists is filling in the blank spaces on the star chart. Of course, finding a new star without professional equipment and tools is not easy, but, nevertheless, some of the discoveries belong to amateur astronomers. You can open a new star when an explosion (flash) occurs - while the brightness of the star increases thousands of times. In August 2013, an amateur astronomer from Japan discovered a Nova in the constellation Dolphin using a telescope only 17.5 cm in diameter.

Observations of objects outside the solar system can also include the search for exoplanets - planets orbiting other stars. They are much more difficult to observe due to their large distance from the Earth and low brightness. Nevertheless, according to official data on May 4, 2014, 1,786 exoplanets were registered, several of which were found by amateurs when analyzing data from the Kepler telescope. However, a very small part of exoplanets is amenable to visual observation, the vast majority were discovered using indirect methods (astro-, photo- and spectrometry).

The Role of Amateur Astronomy

The list goes on, but let's see why amateurs do astronomy, what prompts them to buy expensive equipment and spend nights observing? What are their goals?

The most important thing, perhaps, is gaining personal experience and knowledge. The desire to know oneself and the environment is one of the irresistible aspirations of mankind. Such were our ancestors, who study, for example, the structure of the human body, and we are the same, who cognize the structure of the Universe.

In addition, amateur astronomy is an aesthetic pleasure. Looking at the stars is not only useful, but also enjoyable. For many of us, a walk through the night sky is much more desirable than a visit to the largest art gallery or the most skillful theatrical performance.

In addition, amateur astronomy includes communication, discussion, exchange of experience and impressions with other researchers. This is facilitated by the development of astronomical communities, clubs and circles, as well as Internet resources.

It should be noted the role of amateur astronomy in the popularization of science. Many popular science articles and monographs on astronomy were written by amateurs - they colorfully share their experience with the reader, infecting him with the desire to join the observations himself. Recently, the so-called "sidewalk astronomy" is gaining momentum - a form of popular science, when devices for observing space objects are installed right on the streets of cities, which makes it possible for anyone to look at the stars.

Amateur astronomy also makes a great contribution to instrumentation. For example, the invention of the largest telescope of its time belongs to Lord Ross, an amateur astronomer. In addition, amateurs are making a huge number of improvements to existing telescope designs.

And, of course, I must say about astrophotography, which is at the intersection of science and art. Photographs of astronomical objects delight viewers no less than traditional forms of photographic art. However, astrophotography is not a cultural value, but also a valuable material for science. Astrophotography can detect changes in the brightness of stars, determine the trajectories of celestial bodies, and even discover new objects.

In addition to personal observation, amateur astronomers often take part in large projects with professionals. These are, for example, projects of distributed computing and crowdsourcing, which have become widespread with the development of computers and information technologies.

Participation in distributed computing projects and crowdsourcing. This direction of amateur astronomy appeared with the development of computers and the Internet. The most famous astronomical projects of distributed computing are (search for the most adequate model of the Universe based on relic radiation data), (study of pulsars), (construction of a three-dimensional model of our galaxy), (tracking the orbits of bodies passing near the Earth), PlanetQuest (discovery of new planets and classification of stars), (search for extraterrestrial civilizations), (study of comet Wild 2). Also of interest is NASA's Clickworkers crowdsourcing project, created to analyze an array of images of the Martian surface by amateur astronomers.

As you can see, amateur astronomers are driven by different goals and aspirations, their interests are different. These are people with a technical mindset, who are engaged in telescopic construction, for example, and creative people - photographers and artists. But everyone is united by one thing - the striving for the stars.

How far is humanity on the path of knowing the Universe? Only 57 years ago, the first artificial satellite was launched, not even half a century has passed since the man was put into outer space, we still have not visited any neighboring planet and, in fact, have only hypotheses regarding the origin of the Universe. Apparently, we are somewhere at the very beginning of this path, full of great discoveries and inevitable delusions.