Scope and Training for Amateur Astronomers of Developing Countries for contribution towards Astronomical Discovery

Parag Shankar Mahajani
2010 Proceedings of Accelerating the Rate of Astronomical Discovery — PoS(sps5)   unpublished
Developing countries like India have a huge population already trained to the level of basic schooling, but there is little awareness about astronomy in the society at large. The basic capabilities required for arduous work leading to an astronomical discovery exist but there is a lack of awareness, knowledge and confidence about the subject. Past data show that simple techniques can lead to Astronomical Discovery. Significant discoveries have been made in the past by dedicated amateur
more » ... rs in fields such as comets, novae, supernovae, variable stars and asteroids. As a science writer, speaker and researcher, I would like to discuss the challenges and opportunities that exist for young people (aged up to 30) in India and similar countries to make astronomical discoveries. The paper discusses methods to motivate and guide young people to make astronomical observations with small telescopes, perhaps ultimately leading them to a discovery. PoS(sps5)006 2  Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike License.
doi:10.22323/1.099.0006 fatcat:efvjb2rykbdo3k5m4w4252bbru