Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21531606h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #316.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.317
Physics
Optics
Scientific paper
Who was the last spectroscopist to not use a spectrograph? Who was the last photometrist without a detector? Who is the last astrometrist with nothing but optics and a wire between him and his stars?
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Who was the last astronomer to observe visually at the eye piece? It has been pointed out* that this question is impossible to answer. Even if we limit the query to professional astronomers, such observers may glance through the eye piece to ascertain that their telescope and detector are set up properly, for educational purposes (in preparation to show others the view), for amusement, or to relieve boredom! However, if we restrict the question by purpose--the observation was made in order to obtain research results--there is some hope of a more definitive answer.
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Historians prefer a redacted record, so let us further confine the question to involve observations resulting in peer-reviewed publications. Implied here is that the observations were successful. The observer was still a contributing part of his or her research community.
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Data mining does not count. I am interested in intent. Unexpected transient phenomena, such as novae (super- or otherwise), eclipses, or the changing appearance of planets and comets might be observed visually, owing to logistical and practical limitations imposed at the moment. Discoveries, such as those of comet Hale-Bopp or SN1987, are particularly good examples. But these instances tell us little about the astronomer or the normal science of his or her time. No. I want to know: For whom was visual observing the preferred method? If there are those who ride the crest of new technology (detectors), must there not also be those in the trough of the old?
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*Fienberg, R. T. "Hilltop Holdouts.” Sky & Telescope, 113, #1, p. 126.
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