Re: [APML] Science in Astrophotos?

["Philipp Salzgeber" <philipp@salzgeber.at>]

Astrophotography is not a science and it is not an art - it is a hobby! (at least for most of us!)

If I hang a nicely framed astro-image above my couch in our living-room you may call this a piece of art.

If I find a comet or discover a nova on an astrophoto this could be scientifically important.

BTW:
(just some random ideas about the scientific value of astronomical images:)

Images are important for science, not only if they are quantisized and calibrated to the last bit!

Heck, some people even make important discoveries visually! (Rotation of Uranus, most comets discovered by amateurs)

Of course much of scientific research is based on hard data, but if - for example - you are studying star formation, then you will
have to take a close look at pretty pictures of HII regions, to study and interpret the way these clouds of gas and dust are shaped,
illuminated or ionized by the newborn stars. There is a lot room for visual interpretation of pretty pictures!

If you want to study the details of the inner corona of a comet you will take a picture and process the **** out of it just to see
the forms of the jets. This processing goes way beyond what would be accepted as ethical on this list.

One could take a nice deep amateur galaxy image put it into Photoshop, invert it, equalize it and start to search and interpret the
Halos of Galaxies, looking (and finding) gas bridges, etc.

The best example for a pretty picture with great scientific value is the Hubble Deep Field. Of course, it was produced by a VERY
scientific instrument, but it is just a colorful picture. Many, many astronomers are doing science by just looking at the shapes and
colors of these anonymous blobs captured by the HST.

The scientific community has problems with Halton Arp, but not because he is using images as a scientific tool, but because his
views and interpretation contradict the so called standard model.

ah - excuse this rant, I was just in the mood for it...

Philipp


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