'Amateur' Astronomer Snaps Pic of Planet-Forming Disk 59
The Bad Astronomer writes "Rolf Olsen, an 'amateur' astronomer in New Zealand, took an amazing photo of a disk of material around the star Beta Pictoris, the first time this has been seen outside of professional observatories. Incredibly, he snagged it with just a 25 cm (10") telescope! A comparison with an earlier pic from a much larger observatory indicates he nailed it, making this a milestone for amateur astronomy."
Why the quotes around amateur? (Score:5, Interesting)
Either he's a professional astronomer, or he's not. Or is this like an 'amateur' porn star?
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Maybe he's both?
Re:Why the quotes around amateur? (Score:5, Funny)
Both astronomer and porn star? What are the odds?
Re:Why the quotes around amateur? (Score:5, Funny)
Both astronomer and porn star? What are the odds?
Astronomical.
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Both professions have a unique appreciation for Uranus.
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Both professions have a unique appreciation for naked stars..
FTFY
Re:Why the quotes around amateur? (Score:5, Insightful)
A lot of people seem to think amateur astronomers who have even middling-decent astrophotography equipment must not really be amateurs. They should read the CCD imaging forum on www.cloudynights.com, and see what kinds of stuff people really use, and the results they get. Amateur astronomers aren't necessarily pros, or rich, but they invest their money differently. For the price of a good stereo, or home theater, or at the higher end a used car, you can get a really good set of astrophotography equipment.
In my mind, it's sort of a bias of perception against scientific hobbyists, whether they go for astronomy, or robotics, etc.
Re:Why the quotes around amateur? (Score:4, Informative)
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If you already have a strong telephoto in your kit, try that first. A 300mm zoom lens used with a DSLR actually has enough power to resolve Jupiter's moons. I tried it just for giggles. (Also because I heard typical off-the-shelf binoculars were powerful enough. So why not my zoom lens?) My results were fuzzy as hell (and over-exposed if anything), but it worked. Jupiter and two of its larger moons were distinctively separate objects. (Moving and repositioning the camera and lens between shots ruled out art
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Hey, thanks for the response!
Unfortunately I don't have a strong telephoto in my kit, as I have yet not needed to get one. Now the question is really, should I buy a telephoto (which I could use for other shots if needed) or should I buy a telescope. I will need to get one or the other it seems. A good telephoto will cost me a £few_hundred, so it would be good to know what kind of telescope I can get for the same money.
It is good to know you can resolve Jupiter like that! I'll have to try it when I ha
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"it's sort of a bias of perception against scientific hobbyists"
The bias exists only because the only way hobbyists are getting exposure of their work to wider audience is word of general public. Trust me, perfectly professional scientists who promote their work via newspapers are derided in scientific community as well..
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Anyway what is wrong with amateur? Herschel was an amateur astronomer for many years.
Re:Why the quotes around amateur? (Score:4, Insightful)
You seem to be under the mistaken impression that putting quotes around a word indicates negation, rather than quotation.
I probably read too much BBC News. BBC News headlines are quite funny if you pretend they're using quotation marks the way Americans tend to abuse them.
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the word amateur indicates not being professional. however, it does not reveal knowledge, intelligence, dedication, insight, or anything else around whatever you do being an amateur, it only says, you dont do it for material exchange or have not seeked out renown terran academies where other people write you papers about what you can and cant do. Therefore the word "amateur" is a very peculiar word and should be as it was arrested in apostrophes.
The walk along the achievements of any terran who did not foll
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Those quotations are justified in BOTH uses.
As Austin Powers Says (Score:5, Funny)
I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, especially with only a 25 cm (10 inch) telescope!
It's not the size: It's how you use it, Baby!
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Well. 10" is nothing to be ashamed of.
How about some more quotes (Score:5, Funny)
"Rolf Olsen, an 'amateur' astronomer in 'New' Zealand, took an amazing 'photo' of a 'disk' of material around the 'star' Beta Pictoris, the first time this has been seen outside of 'professional' observatories. Incredibly, he snagged it with just a 25 'cm' (10") telescope! A comparison with an earlier 'pic' from a much larger 'observatory' indicates he nailed it, making this a 'milestone' for 'amateur' astronomy."
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It's impossible to read your sentence without mentally pausing every time I see quotes.
Why is 'amateur' in quotes? (Score:4, Informative)
I mean, if he really isn't an 'amateur,' then maybe he should have been referred to as a 'professional' astronomer (sans quotes)?
Oh wait...the Bad Astronomer makes an error that's common to the rest of the population: He believes 'amateur' means "one lacking in experience and competence in an art or science ." In fact, in this context 'amateur' means "not compensated," "not for hire," or "one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather than as a profession."
Perhaps the /. editors could help fight this common misunderstanding by dropping the superfluous quotes. It's too bad the grandeur of Rolf's contribution to science is sullied by other's ignorance. How many of you all thought to yourselves "Why the hell is 'amateur' in quotes?" C'mon...I know you did.
Re:Why is 'amateur' in quotes? (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Why is 'amateur' in quotes? (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps the /. "editors" could help fight this common misunderstanding by dropping the superfluous quotes.
Fixed that for you.
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It's in quotes because the /. editors didn't remove the quote marks. Bad Astronomer copied the term from TFA, which is where the quotes started. It seems from the original that the author used "amateur" as a compliment, rather than a dig. He's essentially saying, "folks call this guy an "amateur," but he scooped the "pros" on this one."
Re:Why is 'amateur' in quotes? (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, I think in this case it's more along the lines he's been doing it so long, he's hardly some noob with a new telescope, but he's not a 'professional' either.
If you look here [pbase.com], that man has some pretty serious astro-photography creds.
I don't think the article means to imply he's some hack who got lucky, but that he is, technically, an 'amateur'. There's no snark in calling him an amateur ... in fact, the last paragraph of TFA says:
Seriously, read the article again ... this man is an 'amateur' in only the sense that you describe, and the article isn't saying anything else. He's certainly a competent astronomer (and one with the pleasure of living in an area that affords him some awesome viewing).
He's not an academic, but he is an 'amateur' -- the quotes seem to belittle the word amateur more than the man being discussed. I think you're mistaken to say " the grandeur of Rolf's contribution to science is sullied by other's ignorance" ... TFA is holding him in the highest esteem.
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How about "citizen astronomer"?
http://citizenscientistsleague.com/ [citizensci...league.com]
Can this technique be used with BIG scopes? (Score:3)
I guess what made this amazing photo possible was that rather than using an occluding disk or filter, he found a very similar star (the article says getting the same color was critical) and subtracted it (digitally?) from the image.
Can this be used by much bigger telescopes? Considering that they have hundreds of times more light gathering capabilities and, I would imagine, vastly more sophisticated sensors, we could be finding exo-earths by the bucketful. Maybe we could even be seeing the lights from alien civilizations on the night side of those worlds! (It would help if they used lamps that had some sort of unusual spectral characteristic).
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Of course, and it has been done for (relative) ages.
All the directly imaged exoplanets were detected by that exact principle.
The news part is not the method, but that an amateur did it.
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Definitely photoshopped (Score:1, Funny)
The glare is all wrong, I can see the pixels and I RTFA that says so.
Quoth the "raven" (Score:5, Informative)
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Bang on (Score:1)
Every now and again I speak to Sir Patrick Moore who is a dear friend, I am sure this post deserves a lifetime of +5 moderation or to go into the hall of fame.
Thank you for such a wonderful post.
Extra quotation marks do add interest... (Score:2)