The Telescope Economy

One of the core missions of the LA Astronomical Society is community outreach through public star parties held at Griffith Observatory every month, as well as star gazing and telescope making workshops at Garvey Ranch Observatory every Wednesday night.

Astronomy is said to be the biggest gateway science for getting young people interested in STEM majors that subsequently go on to benefit all of society. The LA Astronomical Society travels around to schools every week to foster science in young children.

“It wasn’t until my late thirties that I looked through a telescope and it changed my life,” Geovanni Somoza, President of the LA Astronomical Society, says. “I don't want that happening to any other kids, I want them to be able to look through telescopes and be amazed how our universe is.”

Amateur astronomy is also one of the few hobby sciences where amateurs actually make important and useful contributions to professional science.

Professional astronomers often work hand-in-hand with teams of amateurs, such as the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, to make a variety of discoveries that would not be possible without this collaboration.

Individual amateurs also play a vital role in professional science. Due to a lack of funding in astronomy, professionals are no longer given telescope time or money to track variable stars, so individual amateurs have taken over this responsibility.

Amateurs throughout the world, track variable stars and enter them into the American Association of Variable Star Observers Database. This data provides crucial information that professionals use to create equations for their observational research at the large research telescopes-- something that would not be possible without amateurs.