No "romance" in modern astronomy?

[docm]

I don't buy this premise. I observe remotely & with with CCD's all the time and it's as much fun as eyepiece, mainly because I can see more and don't get eaten alive or freeze my tail off.<br /><br />CNN link....<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><b>WASHINGTON (Reuters)</b> -- Geoff Marcy has looked at 85 different stars this evening, but he has yet to actually see a single one of them.<br /><br />The giant Keck telescope he is using, on the summit of Hawaii's Mauna Kea volcano, is sending images straight to a digital camera, to be analyzed by a computer.<br /><br />"There are no eyepieces anywhere. In fact, we don't have an eyepiece for the Keck telescope," Marcy, an astronomy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said in a telephone interview as he finished up a night of planet-hunting.<br /><br />"Some of the romance of astronomy is gone."<br /><br />Centuries ago, Galileo Galilei peered through a small, simple telescope to draw his pictures of four of Jupiters' moons: Io, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, as did Giovanni Schiaparelli, who spotted the "canali" (channels) on Mars.<br /><br />Marcy does not peer, and his methods are far more efficient than those of his predecessors.<br /><br />"We've done about 85 stars tonight," Marcy said. "We started at about 6 p.m. and it is 4:30 a.m. now. We never stop and we never take any breaks. The world's largest telescope is so precious that you don't want to waste a second."<br /><br />Marcy is in fact not even sitting at the telescope. The eight-story telescope is a 45-minute drive away, in the thin air above 13,000 feet (4,000 meters).<br /><br />He is connected by audio and video link to a telescope operator who points and clicks at his command.<br /><br />The $100 million telescope collects the light from stars and sends them straight to a spectrometer that, like a prism, separates li</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[qso1]

I agree, it should be about what can be discovered and the only way we can discover more in astronomy is through advances in technology. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Still, there's nothing quite like letting the actual photons hit your eye directly.<br /><br />It leads to the "Oh S***" response from peaple seeing Saturn through a telescope for the first time. One of my favorite moments on public nights at the observatory <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[deapfreeze]

Well in my opinion being fairly new to astronomy still. I think its great with all the technology but I like to see things through the eye piece. It gives me a sense of accomplishment. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#0000ff"><em>William ( deapfreeze ) Hooper</em></font></p><p><font size="1">http://deapfreeze-amateur-astronomy.tk/</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[kyle_baron]

<font color="yellow"><br />I don't buy this premise. I observe remotely & with with CCD's all the time and it's as much fun as eyepiece, mainly because I can see more and don't get eaten alive or freeze my tail off. </font><br /><br />Ever photograph a globular cluster? If you have, I'll bet that it is overly exposed (bright) at the center. Globualars are one type of deep sky object that appears MUCH BETTER in the eyepiece. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>

 

[qso1]

I can certainly understand the value of looking through the eyepiece, especially for someone doing it for the first time. There is a kind of nostalgia attached to it I suppose. For current astronomy dealing with exoplanets or other extremely dim and distant objects. An eyepiece is not of much use. Imagine if one could see an extrasolar planet directly through the telescope eyepiece. As it is, we cannot even directly image them now with the best current tech. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[deapfreeze]

It would definately be cool to see an exco planet through an eye piece. That would be a super telescope. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#0000ff"><em>William ( deapfreeze ) Hooper</em></font></p><p><font size="1">http://deapfreeze-amateur-astronomy.tk/</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

<br />As an astronomer who grew through sitting in the dark and cold to getting your data via the internet...I have to agree with Geoff. While there is nothing that can rival the feeling of looking at data and see that "oh my goodness" in it. Which is then quickly squelched by the nasuea that you will have to write it up eventually... <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> Anyway, why I was glad when I didn't have to sit out in the dark and cold, there is something about it. You are out there and just have your thoughts and the heavens to inspire them. You see the satellites and the meteors, the moon glow, you feel the cool night breeze on your face as you stand in awe with the milky way casting your shadow, you see kangaroo frolic in the dark (if you are observing in Australia), etc. You stagger into bed as the sun is coming up (and the damn little birdies start yapping) and you know you accomplished a good night's work. It is like a lot of things - sure we can do it better and faster in our life (insert process) - but sometimes stopping and smelling the roses is well worth it.