Idea to Recognition - 25+ Years in the Making: An Amateur Can Still Still Make A Difference

Sun 5th
11:45-12:30

Idea to Recognition - 25+ Years in the Making: An Amateur Can Still Still Make A Difference

Surjit Wadhwa

Astronomical Society of NSW

Can amateurs still make a difference in the professional sphere. For many decades amateurs have been restricted to variable star observations, occultations, visual discoveries of transients and more recently detection of extrasolar planets from archival survey data. Even theses avenues are becoming more restricted with the advent of rapid neural networks that can scan archival and new survey data much more efficiently than amateurs.

In this presentation I will discuss how my interest is astronomy research was ignited and how I imagined simple concepts through thought experiments as the physics and mathematics was beyond me. Over the years my thought experiments suggested that a certain aspect of contact binary evolution was incomplete. I could not mathematically prove what I was thinking. Taking a simplified approach I the heads of all astronomy departments in Australia to allow me to pursue my ideas through a Masters degree. Not one university replied!

Not to be deterred I visited the head of astronomy at Western Sydney University (WSU) to pitch my idea in person. His response was we have no experts in this field at the WSU however I will send your proposal to a friend in Serbia. That was late 2018. What followed is the stuff of dreams. In 2026 I graduated with a PhD in astronomy from WSU with absolutely no background in high level physics or mathematics. The talk will deal mainly with the events from 2018 to 2026.

Amateur astronomer for as long as I can remember. I have been a member of the ASNSW for about 40 years and have previously served on its committee. I am currently a visiting fellow at the WSU and continue to observe contact binaries. I have been involved as a supervisor to some undergraduate and post graduate students. I currently dipping my hand into astrophotography with the newer robotic telescopes.