“The Amateur Scientist in Modern Society”, Dr Arne Henden
With all the talk of the OverWhelmingly Large (OWL) Telescope, the James Webb
Space Telescope, terabytes per night of data from the Large
Synoptic Survey Telescope, and 3-D hydrodynamic stellar modelling
programs on supercomputers, you might think that the time when
amateurs can contribute to astronomy has passed. Nothing could
be further from the truth - only in astronomy can an amateur
be the important key to our current scientific understanding.
This talk will concentrate on just one small subset of astronomy - the
study of variable stars - but the concepts can be seen across all
astronomical disciplines. Recent exploding stars, exoplanets that
you can watch transiting their parent stars, and special stars that
tell us important facts about their physical structure and evolution
will be highlighted. Observing methods that will help you get the utmost
out of your equipment will be described. Whether you just want to
hear about recent happenings in the sky or want to get involved
in real science, you should come away with a new fascination with
astronomy.
 |
Arne Henden became an amateur astronomer as a child when he first saw the planets through the Lowell Observatory 24-inch refractor. He never wavered from his desire to become a professional astronomer, and graduated from Indiana University in 1985 with a PhD in Astronomy. He worked at Goddard Space Flight Center, the Astronomy Department at The Ohio State University, and the research station of the U.S. Naval Observatory, before his appointment in 2005 as the Director of the AAVSO. His interests lie with instrumentation (hardware and software design) and observing variable stars. He is the author or coauthor of hundreds of scientific papers and one textbook. With his wife, Linda, and two cats, Arne resides about 2km from the AAVSO HQ, though with Internet, he seems to always be at work! |