Astronomy as a Hobby..

[crisostomo]

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kinsai naai SpaceTelescope?? pls post here am planning of buying one

[rodsky]

kinsai naai SpaceTelescope?? pls post here am planning of buying one

You must mean a "telescope", not a "Space Telescope", unless you own the means to haul one up to LEO or beyond.

-RODION

[observer]

Wouldn't we all want our own Hubble?

I always thought astronomy is part education and part observation. The same thing seen by two individuals would elicit different reaction, given that one knows what it is and what it means while the other doesn't. Knowing that what you're seeing are events that have occurred several years into the past should be enough to give you pause and wonder. Why is it that when I throw a rock up in the air, it invariably falls down? However, I can see that big rock called the Moon up in the sky but it's not falling down. Why? Questions Newton himself asked that revolutionized our understanding of gravity. Or why do we have two high tides and two low tides in a given day? Or why is it that we have seasons? The answer is not what your parents told you when you bugged them about it as a kid.

Aside from astronomy's practical contributions (calendar, tides, weather forecasts, navigation, etc.), I think the understanding it provides us about the universe lets us realize our place in it.

With that out of the way, we welcome you into this strange hobby. May your telescope not languish in some storage room collecting dust.