Expert: Ed - 11/12/2011

Question
Several of my friends and I have a lot of interest in astronomy and wish to get into backyard astronomy.  In the past I have spent time looking at what I could with very cheap telescopes or binoculars.  I always wished there was more I could do besides simply look.

My question is this:  Is there anything to do in the way of backyard astronomy beyond simply looking at things?  Is there any way a person, on a tight budget, can make some kind of discovery or contribution to the science?

Answer
Todd, what a great thing to do when you are on a budget.  Good for you.

This is probably one of the most interesting ways to get involved.  It's called SETI at Home.  This program has had some problems in the past, so read the wikipedia article about it and decide if it's something you want to get involved with or not.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI@home

Another way that people have historically gotten involved, is to help watch for comets and asteroids.  To be really good at this, it is necessary to have a pretty good idea of what the regular sky looks like.  Then, you will be able to identify any objects that look out of place.  If you spend some time getting your mind acclimated to the skies, then you could start really watching for comets and asteroids.  Here is a good website to be aware of.  These are the people you should report a new object to, if you see anything that shouldn't be there.
http://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/mpc.html

There are also starting to be some mass participation efforts started, using crowdsourcing.   Here is one example:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/07/29/crowdsourced-astronomy-proj

Just google crowdsourcing astronomy, not in quotes, and you will see tons and tons of other possibilities.

Another way to get involved could be via computers.  If you know about computers, and like working with them, the sky is the limit, ha ha.  Many astronomers believe that astronomy will be one of the first fields of study in which computers will reach what is known as the "technological singularity," (worth googling, if you don't know what that is).  It basically means that someday, in the lifetime of people who are actually pretty old today, computers will be able to collect, collate and interpret data about the universe better than humans can.  After that point, the best we will be able to do is try to keep up.  If you think you can help to design artificial intelligence programs that will advance astronomical understanding, there is still time for you to make a contribution!  Fifteen or twenty years from now, the computers might be too far ahead of us all for any of us to make significant contributions.

A final place to look is in the astronomy chapter in the reference book Magazines for Libraries.  I have written the astronomy chapter for years.  There are a lot of magazines which could give you ideas, about how you could personally contribute.  See if your local library has a copy!

I hope this is helpful.  Keep Looking Up!!
-Ed