What motivates
an amateur astronomer?
by Allan Stern

solitude, and beauty. After a busy day at work, astronomy can be very relaxing -- the silence, setting your own pace, and the beauty of the stars.

• Contribute to science. Astronomy is one science where amateurs can contribute significantly.
  
• Curiosity and discovering the mysteries of the Universe. Solve your own mysteries. The more you know, the more you want to know.
  
• The fun of networking.
  
• Build an observatory. Build one yourself for your own satisfaction or work with club members.
  
• Create a plan and follow through on it. Whether it's an observing plan, a construction plan, or a new club site plan, the follow through is very rewarding.
  
• ATM  - Amateur Telescope Making. Building and using your own telescope is very rewarding, Grinding your own mirror is a major accomplishment.
  
• Find a constellation. To find one with the unaided eye for someone else is always a rewarding challenge.
  
• The thrill of just observing. Using the skills of observing is very satisfying. There is a peacefulness in sketching an object, and a challenge in keeping warm for those observing above "40º North" past summer.
  
• Organize a major star party. It's a quality time with quality people.
  
• The rate of change in astronomy is exciting. Slow to fast, the progress of the science of astronomy has been picking up speed. Space observatories and 10m and 8m telescopes have accelerated the rate of change. The discipline is experiencing a technological and data explosion. One example is mass computing for SETI.
  
• Chase an eclipse. Travel to check things out and for the eclipse itself (Aruba, India, Siberia, Mexico, just to name a few places). The last-minute preparations at the observing site often are quite exhilarating or exasperating. The event itself is awesome, beyond comparison, and unforgettable.
  
• Feel the adrenaline rush!  Find a comet. Watch Northern Lights all night in the lower 48.  Change the course of a commercial trans-Pacific flight to see a solar eclipse, when only two passengers knew about it on boarding the plane! See that beautiful distant object through your telescope. Get goose bumps by being the last out and locking the gate after a Stellafane Convention.
  

   "What Motivates an Amateur Astronomer?" was a presentation at the Symposium on Amateur-Professional Partnerships in Astronomy Research and Education at the 111th annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. This meeting was co-organized with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and the American Association of Variable Stars Observers (AAVSO) at the University of Toronto Canada July 1--7, 1999.

   Andreas Gada, Al Stern, and Tom Williams offered this talk. A summary of the presentation and its accompanying poster papers will be published in the ASP Conference Series Proceedings, sometime in 2000. Assignment of the copyright has been granted to the ASP.

   What turns the juices on?  Actually it's many things. The Challenge - it's your own challenge. In
astrophotography you master many skills, and gee-whiz photographs are the result: being precise in determining the magnitude of a variable star; searching for that double star, finding it, and splitting the two! In telescope making, unique design ideas are quite gratifying, an opportunity to display your craftsmanship. Purchasing the best equipment money can buy is a motivator for some people, as is showmanship: by this I mean, "I have this telescope. I want to show you what I can see." In CCD imaging, understanding and using the latest technology is a challenge; the art of image processing is exciting to master and the images you create are awesome.

   Of course, many other factors contribute, too.

• Thirst for knowledge. Become educated in astronomy by going to seminars and classes and by reading.
  
• Explain the universe to the public. At star parties, be where the public is. Awesome stuff and gee-whiz are often the results. Explaining something that interests people, a comet like Hale Bopp, or an eclipse is more gee-whiz.
  
• Educate others. Participate in Project ASTRO. Do Starlab portable planetarium shows.
  
• The pace you set is your own and no one else's.
  
• The gee-whiz effect is everywhere. It's the camaraderie within the amateur community.
  
• Get involved or be alone with peace and quiet,

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