Observations on observational astronomy

Astronomy: So hot right now.

We have the a spacecraft rendezvousing with a comet right now for the first time in history and in a year we’ll get our first look at the has-been planet Pluto with the New Horizons spacecraft. In about 3 years, we’ll be treated to a total solar eclipse right here on the west coast.

I’ve been doing a bit of astronomy myself. While I’ve always had an interest, it never occurred to me that amateur astronomy could be a realistic hobby. I wrongly assumed even the cheapest telescopes would be thousands of dollars, ones powerful enough to see anything interesting at least. How wrong I was.

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