Just like your annual block party and the housewarming gift you offered the new homeowner next door, getting to know the many fascinating objects in our celestial neighborhood is only the neighborly thing to do. Indeed, every quick glance at the night sky presents hundreds of potential kinships you can have with planets, stars, and constellations, not to mention our beneficent Moon which you undoubtedly greet with a friendly “hello Moon” when she shines down on you.

This week, think of our guest as a matchmaking counselor because Tim Hunter wants you to have a celestial love affair. And, with a few prompts from reviewer Kristine Morris, he’s here to give you
a plan of action based on The Sky at Night: Easy Enjoyment from Your Backyard, his fantastic new project from The University of Arizona Press.

What do you most enjoy about astronomy and why do you say that it is a wonderful family activity?

Astronomy is literally the big picture. It looks at the largest things in the Universe, the hottest things in the Universe, the coldest things in the Universe, and the smallest things in the Universe. It looks at where we came from and where we are going. Everyone enjoys a star-filled sky or the Harvest Moon rising above the horizon on an autumn evening. Enjoyment of the sky is built into us. Put a telescope on a street corner in the middle of a busy city, and you will draw a crowd.

Even in light-polluted skies, you and your family can sit in lawn chairs and enjoy a colorful sunset in the west while noticing the Earth’s shadow rising in the east. You can sit on your patio and enjoy the crescent Moon or wonder at Venus when it is the evening star. There are always the bright constellations of Orion the Hunter or the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) to entertain one. Polaris faithfully holds forth high in the northern sky, a point around which the stars rotate every night.

It is a hobby enjoyed by always looking up at the sky. You can do as much or as little as you wish. You can simply learn a few constellations, glance at the Moon, or enjoy a shooting star. Or, you can really get into the hobby, buying a telescope, building an observatory, and investing time and money to become a good astrophotographer. It is the one area where amateurs with relatively modest equipment, good technique, and some work can contribute to science even getting published in peer-reviewed journals. The idea is to have fun and not take the hobby or yourself too seriously.

Please tell our readers why so many passionate sky-watchers like yourself decide on keeping astronomy as a hobby rather than making a career of it.

My astronomy interest was always there, though I did not want to become a professional astronomer. I wanted to become a physician like my fraternal grandfather who was a pathologist. I did manage to graduate from Northwestern Medical School in 1968 and eventually became a radiologist, having finished my radiology training in 1974 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Through all this my interest in astronomy never went away, though it was somewhat on hold and only blossomed again when I moved to Tucson, Arizona, in January 1975 to become a faculty member of the Department of Radiology at the University of Arizona. Tucson likes to claim it is the Astronomy Capital of the World, and I agree. I joined the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Inc (TAAA) and became very active in observing the sky, trying astrophotography, and attending local and national astronomical meetings and events.

Even though medicine was a wonderful career, I sort of wondered whether I should have tried to become a professional astronomer or maybe even an astronaut. In the summer of 1976 I met Frank, a graduate student completing a PhD in engineering. He had a master’s degree in astronomy from the University of Chicago, and I asked him why he switched from astronomy to engineering. Frank told me there were few jobs in professional astronomy, and he realized it was best to enjoy astronomy as an avocation rather than a vocation. This got me thinking. I realized I was much better off enjoying astronomy as a hobby rather than as a vocation. I would have been no good as a professional astronomer, certainly not good enough to win a lot of grants or observing time on large professional telescopes. I had the best of all worlds—a great, satisfying career, and an ever-challenging and enjoyable hobby.

It is really tough to become a professional astronomer. You need to have a PhD in astronomy, astrophysics, planetary science, or a related field like physics or mathematics. The courses are tough, the competition is at a high level, and one has to be quite skilled at mathematics. Since amateur astronomy offers such a wide range of possibilities, from merely enjoying a glance at the sky to using your own telescope to take professional measurements of stars, asteroids, comets, and planets for publication, it is often far easier and more enjoyable to pursue astronomy as a hobby rather than a profession.

What are some of the important discoveries made by amateur astronomers, and why do you think that they, and not professionals with large and costly equipment, were successful in these cases?

Amateur astronomers in the past have discovered comets, near earth asteroids (NEOs), main belt asteroids, novae, and supernovae. They have more time to devote to a particular object and develop a level of observational expertise sometimes not found with professional astronomers. However, modern large professional sky surveys have significantly reduced the ability of an amateur astronomer to discover a comet, NEO, or supernova. Nonetheless, amateur astronomers with moderate to large amateur telescopes are well equipped to do follow-up studies and to monitor brighter stars and asteroids for long periods, producing data unavailable to professional astronomers whose instruments have all their time accounted for by multiple projects.

Amateurs have also made many discoveries by downloading public domain data from large professional surveys that either make their data available for others to use or even encourage the public to examine the data for discoveries. There is so much professional data now available and coming online in the future, that much of it will not be properly examined. Many Sun-grazing comets have been discovered by amateurs looking at images from space probes examining the Sun. Amateurs and others are also examining old photographic plates recently digitized from major observatories. Some of these plates range as far back as the 1880s and show portions of the sky that may have changed when compared with later images.

Are the discoveries made by amateur astronomers most often accidental, or do they often have a specific goal as they scan the night sky?

The discoveries by amateur astronomers can be accidental, though many amateurs deliberately search for comets, novae, or supernovae, spending many hours observing or imaging the sky. I do not do such searches, but I carefully examine all my astrophotography images for any new or unusual findings. In this manner I have “discovered” two supernovae, though they had been picked up earlier by one of the large ongoing professional imaging surveys.

At what age is a child most likely to respond to an invitation to enjoy the night sky and learn about the constellations and planets? What types of activities might you suggest to encourage a young child’s engagement with astronomy?

Every child is different, so I don’t know about what age a child would respond to learning the constellations and planets. My guess is somewhere between five and eight, though I think all children from their earliest age should be encouraged to enjoy the sky, a beautiful sunset, the rising full Moon, the North Star, the Big Dipper, or Orion. Sometimes there is a bright meteor or, for northern portions of the country, there may be fabulous auroral displays. Any bright naked eye comet should be shown to all children from the toddler stage on up. Once a child responds to the sky favorably and wants to learn more, then he or she should be given a planisphere to learn the constellations and taught the planets. Astronomy books, apps, and videos age-appropriate for the child should supplement his or her learning about the sky.

How might the excellent photos taken by the Webb telescope be used as an adjunct to naked eye observation of the sky?

I don’t believe there will much correlation with photos by the Webb telescope and naked eye observations. The James Webb Telescope images in infrared which is not visible to the human eye. The telescope covers a very small field of view, less than a degree, and goes “deep;” in other words, it takes detailed pictures of very faint, usually very distant, objects. It can image objects, like the Orion Nebula or the Great Galaxy in Andromeda, which we can see with the naked eye on a good night. In this case, it can offer a detailed perspective on the object with new information about its structure, age, and ongoing evolution.

Tell us about your most exciting or memorable experience as an amateur astronomer. The funniest? The scariest?

My worst moment in amateur astronomy was the great November 17, 1966 Leonid meteor shower. I was in medical school then in downtown Chicago and knew the shower was predicted to be good. I could have risen in the early morning and walked over to the shore of Lake Michigan and looked for Leo sitting over the lake. But no, I went to bed and awoke the next morning to see at breakfast the headlines in the Chicago Tribune about the stupendous meteor storm, perhaps the best in history. I was so upset I nearly lost my breakfast. Over the years I have never missed a possible good meteor shower. The great meteor storm in 1966 was best seen in the west and was fabulous at Kitt Peak. It may not have been all that good in Chicago or it might have been clouded out, but I was too lazy to give it a try.

The next worst adventure in amateur astronomy was in 1975, when I sent a photograph of a lunar eclipse to Sky & Telescope magazine. The photograph was rejected for publication and the editor kindly told me most amateurs submitted better work than I had!

The scariest moment was when a friend and I were adjusting the position of a new 24-inch telescope on its mount. The tube assembly weighed 400-plus pounds, and we loosened its attachment to the mount to slide it a bit for better positioning. Of course, we did not know what we were doing. Just as we were fiddling with it, a second friend walked into the observatory and saw what we were doing. He shouted at us that we were doing it all wrong. Suddenly, the telescope started to fall off the mount. All three of us tried to stop it to no avail. It fell onto the floor, and I received a bruised shoulder, one friend received a twisted knee, and the other friend a forehead cut, which while small, bled readily. The telescope did not look damaged but ultimately had to go back to the manufacturer for repair, for no insignificant cost. I was able to stop my friend’s bleeding, and luckily none of us were more seriously hurt. After I sheepishly told others this story about my amazing blunder with the telescope, I heard many other stories like this, fortunately with no major injuries, but often with destroyed telescopes. Large amateur and professional telescopes have to be handled with care as they can easily be damaged or cause serious injury.

What, for you, would be the most important or exciting discovery that an amateur astronomer might hope to make?

The most exciting discovery I might hope to make would be of a comet not previously known. In that manner, my name would go on the comet. Amateurs are still discovering comets, but much less so than previously due to the large professional imaging surveys now in place and those planned.

Please add anything else you’d like our readers to know!

Amateur astronomy is fun and exciting. Anyone who enjoys looking at the starry sky is an amateur astronomer.

Thanks, Tim, both for your answers and for your very fine book!

Kristine Morris
March 17, 2023

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