[sac-board] Re: Ramblings and a Proposal
- From: Michael Collins <cal_donley@xxxxxxx>
- To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 29 May 2013 22:45:24 -0700
On 05/28/2013 09:11 AM, Richard Harshaw wrote:
> But that made me aware of something else that (to me) is irritating-a
> growing amount of imaging traffic on SAC-Observing.
I have no objection to image notifications going to the az-observing
list. Tom's request that such messages should not be posted to sac-forum
as well has so far been effective. It would reduce unnecessary traffic
further if people who want to provide nothing more than compliments
would do so directly to the photographer. If I'm not mistaken, EVAC
configured their list server a few years ago so that the "Reply-to:"
address was the author rather than the list. That might be a change to
consider. In cases where an image prompts discussion or questions of a
general nature, I would consider this to be appropriate for the mailing
list and a practice to be encouraged. I suspect most people simply hit
reply (just as most people simply top post),
so changing the behavior of the list server may be all that's necessary.
>
> So to that end, I propose that we set up a new list, SAC-Imaging,
> and ask all imagers (and commenters) to use that list.
I'm not in favor of further fragmentation of discussion forums. More
than likely, a specialized imaging mailing list would get so little
traffic that people would eventually post to az-observing anyway.
> Which brings up a second and more delicate issue. I joined SAC in
> 2007 because of its reputation as an OBSERVING club. At that time,
> SAC boasted many active world-class observers (Coe, Crayon,
> Fredericksen, and the like) and our databases were the standard
> around the world. Our observing programs ran circles around
> anything the Astronomical League offered.
> ... More and more of our Show-and-Tell time is devoted to imaging. (I
> can recall when a lot of that time was spent talking about how to
> sketch, how to star hop, how to find really faint fuzzies, how to
> observe LTGs, and the like). I estimate that now 80% (or more) of
> S-and-T is imaging. And in 2012, fully half of our general meetings
> were devoted to imaging.
To a large extent, discussion on the list and show and tell topics
probably follow the interests of the active members. In the present
epoch, it seems that the most active members are those who are dedicated
to imaging, so that's where we see the most emphasis. While I'm
personally active in a different observing discipline, I've never sensed
any general interest in what I do, so I don't make it a habit to submit
reports to the list or put myself on the member presentation list. I'm
okay being boring, but I try to avoid being annoying on top of it.
> If that is the direction the club as a whole wants to go, so be it.
Things change over time. I suspect that 50 years ago, one of the
primary benefits of membership in an astronomy club was access to people
who could figure the primary mirror for a Newtonian. How many SAC
members have attempted that since Leon Knott rolled out of town? Twenty
years ago, I recall a lot of discussion about film hypersensitizing, but
those days are gone now, too.
> I am concerned that SAC is becoming like just another astronomy club,
> where a bunch of folks gather every month to ooh and ahhh over the
> latest images but don't learn astronomy.
The thing which drew me back to SAC a few years ago was the consistent
quality of the speakers. Geek that I am, I'm all for people like Gerard
van Belle, who are doing things that are far beyond my realm of
experience. Or Mike's talk last Friday, which covered details about
basic topics very thoroughly. I think we have to recognize that a lot of
people really like the images modern equipment make possible, and
appreciate the effort (not to mention budget) which makes them possible.
Of course, if you're interested in initiating a new observing program
for the membership, I'd be most happy to give you the floor for 5 - 10
minutes during the June meeting. :-)
-- Mike --
--
cal_donley@xxxxxxx
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