Amateur astronomer finds new nebula!

chroot

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3479615.stm
Wicked cool! I'm always very proud to hear of amateurs making serious scientific contributions!

- Warren

Nereid

It gets better! It may be that this nebula has been visible before, only to 'disappear' again. If so, it will be large numbers of amateurs' photos which will reveal its historical behaviour:
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1183_1.asp

Dagenais

Don't amateur astronomers make the most discoveries like new asteroids?

Nereid

Not any more I'm afraid, most asteroid discoveries are made by dedicated NEO searches, analysis of survey images taken by big telescopes or as part of other dedicated surveys (e.g. 2MASS), and by dedicated EKB programs.

Bright, nearby supernovae remain an area where amateurs contribute greatly; the distant supernovae - there are now far more of these detected than nearby ones - are the province of big scopes (including the HST).

Comets are increasingly found as a by-product of dedicated NEO searches, but amateurs still discover most (except for those near the Sun; SOHO is the most prolific comet finder, ever!)

Discovery of novae is one area where amateurs make the unquestioned key contribution.

Amateurs also continue to provide the best long-term database of reliable observations of bright variable stars.

And lastly, amateurs play an important role in GRBs, perhaps the most intriguing area of astronomical research today.