8 ms·

What do people do with this astronomical data? Why do they pay for this?

• js2 3mo ago
  Astrophotography is a hobby like any other. People enjoy capturing their own images of the universe. Most hobbies with gear have setup costs and it's not unusual for that to be in the several thousand dollar range, and maintenance costs. $100-400/month for a hobby isn't all that much and it gives you exclusive access to your own scope in ideal skies that you can operate from your home.
  • asxndu 3mo ago
    Cool, makes sense.
    • whartung 3mo ago
      I'm putting one of the modern "Smart Scopes" on my Christmas list this year. I had a friend with a 10" Meade with which not much happened. Just a bear to lug around and set up and mess with, not even including trying bumble through getting astrophotography started. But the new-ish Smart Scopes looks fun and accessible, so gonna see if I can get one of those to play with.
      • js2 3mo ago
        I've had an 8" Celestron SCT since I spent my Bar Mitzvah money on it shortly after I got hooked on astronomy by Haley's comet. There were no smart scopes then and the Miami skies didn't lend themselves to astrophotography. Still, I tried. I still have that scope. It's on a wedge mount with motorized but manual tracking. Even an 8" is a pain to drag out and you really have to be dedicated because it turns out most folks don't have the patience to spend much time outside looking through a 1.25" eye piece. So when you drag it out, expect to be spending alone time with you and the sky. Still, I'm glad I have it. It's good for looking at the moon and planets, and the sun with correct filter. I still drag it out now and again. I'll never take the sorts of photos you can find easily on the internet. So I prefer to look at the universe with my own eyes. That's still exciting.
• thatoneengineer 3mo ago
  Why do people get into birdwatching? It's a hobby, there doesn't need to be much in the way of novel "data" for it to be rewarding. Though considering this guy found a nebula I wouldn't be surprised if there was some. The universe is big (citation needed) and good hobbyist telescopes are quite powerful; you have a lot of sky to explore and could easily be getting the best images ever of any particular patch of it.
• gehsty 3mo ago
  To get into Astrophotographg you probably need to spend £2-3k for some equipment, if you are based somewhere like the north of England this translates to a handful of clear nights per year. Sending your equipment here gives you an order of magnitude more clear nights. I wouldn’t do this as I like the fact my photos are taken in my back yard but each to their own
  • bonesss 3mo ago
    I saw an interview with the owner, one point he brought up in addition to atmospheric clarity is that many people need a long travel time to get away from light pollution, reducing available nights even further.
• QuadmasterXLII 3mo ago
  Back in the crypto craze I spent a fair amount of time trying to work out a Blockchain where mining a block requires spotting a supernova before anyone else and verifying a block requires checking that the supernova is there, but I never quite got the game theory to work out.