Tim Puckett stands next to the telescope he built. His team of internet-connected amateurs have discovered over 200 new supernovas.

Pro-amateur astronomy may be the best realm to illustrate the rich interplay of all these dimensions. Pro-amateur astronomy experienced a tremendous boost from the creation of the Dobsonian telescope – a telescope that can either be built by hand or purchased for a relatively small amount of money.

Although these telescopes are small (the largest ones use up to 16 inch mirrors), their imaging power can be dramatically enhanced by using the sensor arrays found in inexpensive security cameras, or ordinary digital cameras, coupled to personal computers. Such a telescope system can have the same effective power that the original 200 inch Mount Palomar telescope had before it was enhanced with digital technology. A very nifty instrument to say the least—especially for as little as a few thousand dollars. The opportunities to tinker with and improve it are limitless.

From a technical point of view, the situation is even more fascinating when one realizes that multiple telescopes in different locations can simultaneously capture and transmit images over the net, thus allowing triangulation to occur. But the real power of the net is as a social, learning milieu. Each local pro-am astronomy group can use the net to post images (open source in yet a new way) and discuss what each is seeing. They can swap techniques and plan joint distributed experiments.

Most importantly, they can start to interact with professional astronomers. One might wonder why professionals would be willing to spend their time talking to pro-ams. There are two reasons: First, the serious amateur has often perfected the practice of looking. Seeing faint objects in a telescope is not automatic and, in fact, not that many professional astronomers have developed that practice. Their specialty is usually more on the theory side. Second, the network of pro – amateur astronomers covers the globe, yet all are interconnected via the net. This means that the sky is being watched in both hemispheres on a 24/7 basis. When a nebula flares, it is often a pro-am ideally positioned somewhere in the world who first sees it. Depending on the reputation that pro-am has established for him or herself (just as in any open source community), the image can be flashed to a professional for additional validation, at which point the professional alerts the larger community and a decision quickly can be made whether, for example, the Hubble telescope should be re-directed to that location in the sky.

Clearly, a synergistic interaction between the professional and the pro-amateur is developing in the field of astronomy. Both are helping each other; the whole is more than the sum of the parts. And through these interactions the pro-amateur is becoming a legitimate peripheral participant in the professional practice of astronomy writ large. A learning culture is being created that is mutually beneficial to both.”