Abolish Amature Astronomy

[WWPierre]

Heh, heh.......thot that would get ya.

What I mean is that the term "Amateur Astronomer" is totally redundant, and it's usage should be discouraged henceforth.

We are all Astronomers, and some of us are professionals. If we are not getting paid, we are still Astronomers. There is no need to add "Amateur".

Even if you take a stronger position, and demand that a "real" Astronomer do science, the argument still holds water. We all do science, if only for ourselves.

Fellow Astronomers, it's time to shed this demeaning adjective and announce to the world that we are Not Going to Take It Any More!

[Leo]

Where do I sign?

[Dublin sky watch]

I feel when I am at my scope and attaching all sorts of gizmos to it...I feel like an astronomer as well as a scientist. When people ask me about night sky stuff I always say I do astronomy as a hobby. I do feel like a professional when I look at the equipment I have built up in the last year or so.

[jimt]

From one Astronomer to another, I approve this message.


Jim

[andyp180]

way to go pierre,nice thread.
i like what you said,and declan too.we are all scientists in our own right,and
astronomers.with the outlay of equipment and the price it can cost us,i
believe it to be much more than just a hobby to us.
it blends in to our way of life,much more than a hobby me thinks.
clear skies,
andy

[greeny]

An amateur (French amateur "lover of", from Old French and ultimately from Latin amatorem nom. amator, "lover")"

Why are you people ashamed to admit you do it (astronomy) because you love it? It is like dating a girl and be ashamed of it.

[Leo]

Because it's not really the same thing in my opinion, loving astronomy and actually doing astronomy are two different things.

Some of us even study astro-physics in our free time to try to comprehend the Universe as much as we can, and make up theories. we take pictures that sometimes are not only pictures for the beauty of it, but valuable data! Anthony Wesley for example took a picture of Jupiter while a meteor hit it. That would have just gone unnoticed of he and Chris Go wasn't imaging it at the time, and the Hubble team wouldn't have pointed the HST on it to try to figure out what happened, which is what astronomers do.

We're just not paid to do so...
I think the right term could be non-profit astronomers.

You woudn't call non-profit lawyers amateur lawyers!

[PBalu]

I am guessing astronomers are considered full time professionals doing only astronomy. At least that is what I suppose the classical understanding of an astronomer is. We may not be full time astronomers but just looking at how much time I spend on the forum and the others do here learning, discussing and helping newcomers to the field, we can consider ourselves astronomers in our own right.
I am with you Pierre.

[blaise]

I used to bicycle so much that I think for a while it defined me. However, I would not call myself a cyclist. A cyclist is one who does it and gets paid for it. I used to work at an electronics company and my title was "Systems Analyst." I could legitimately walk around and tell people I was a "Systems Analyst" because it was my job, I was paid for it.

If I bumped into someone who "taught" at an afterschool care place like "Little Soldier Afterschool Academy," and they called themselves a teacher, I would be offended. Why?

I owe more money for my education than I will be able to pay back before I die. I spent 8 years in college and took more tests than I can count to become a certified teacher. I think it demeans my efforts when someone who does not do something professionally to label themselves so that it appears they do. Normally, titles define what we do for a living.

A title such as astronomer should define not just who you are, but what you do to exist (to make ends meat-if you will; a career).

[Astronut74]

The gap between "Professional" and "Amatuer" is closing every day. "Professional" Astronomers are realizing that they need the "Amatuers" because they have something that the "Professional's" do not have -time. The equipment that is on the amatuer market is really not that far behind that of what the pros use. Tim Ferris wrote a book called "Seeing in the Dark" about this subject, and it has turned out to be one of my favorite books. It is true that the word amatuer means to love. However I may be speaking for just myself, but I am not into astronomy just because I love it. Im in it because I HAVE to be in it. I dont have a choice. Astronomy is as much as a part of me as my heart.