Amateurs Astronomers Make Increasing Contributions

When I travel to amateur astronomy events, I go with high expectations. I expect to meet interesting people, I expect to come away with good ideas for S&T articles, and I expect to have a good time. Usually, my actual experiences far exceed my expectations. And my trip to the annual Society for Astronomical Sciences (SAS) symposium was no exception.   

The meeting was held May 24th to 26th at the Northwoods Resort in Big Bear Lake, California — about a 2-hour drive east of downtown Los Angeles in the San Bernardino Mountains. As has been the case for the past three decades, the SAS meeting was held the same week as the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference (which I also attended).

The SAS and AAVSO are the two leading organizations in the U.S. for bringing together amateur and professional astronomers. The AAVSO has been around a lot longer (the organization will be celebrating its 100th anniversary later this year), but the SAS promotes a broader array of scientific projects. And this year's symposium showcased the impressive variety of research that amateurs are engaged in, and the tremendous potential for future pro-am collaborations.…

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