'Snowmageddon' on Saturn snapped by amateur stargazers A tip-off from an amateur astronomer has enabled top planet-gazing boffins to probe a fearful ammonia snowstorm deep in the roiling atmosphere of Saturn, ringed giant world of the outer solar system. The storm that Cassini caught. The red boxes are where the instrument looked. Credit: C Go/NASA Cassini happened to be looking …
I've just read "The Age of Wonder" by Richard Holmes. The excitement of 'amateur' astronomers, such as Caroline Hershel, discovering coments, and her brother discovering a planet, FFS, has to be one of the crowning glories of the human brain. Huamns love of knowledge, their excitement to behold new things, saves us from what so many want to doom us to: negation within controlling ideologies that discourage curiosity and promote beliefs that encourage us to feed on froth, such as celebrity lifestyles, rather than on the true wonder all around us.
Somehow, the thought that there are STILL serious amateur astronomers doing what is very important work, even in places as far-flung as the Philippines, makes my heart happy and gives me hope for mankind. Because it is only with such innate curiosity that mankind can persevere in this hostile universe...
Well done chaps!
Will always be getting this sort of result,and will always be welcomed by the pros as they (the pros) are so few,and amateur Astronomers cam dedicate more of their time to just observing mainly because they donot have to teach(students,politicos etc)or write scholarly papers reports etc in order to get funding,keep their place at the top table,pecking order etc.
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