I think the obsession with deep space objects is missing the point of backyard astronomy

Last week at our local club meet in Tucson, everyone was showing off their Andromeda shots from the same dark sky site. I get it, it's a classic target. But three years ago I started just tracking the moon's phases from my light-polluted driveway. I've got a full cycle of waxing crescents from 2022 that tells a clearer story about our own neighborhood in space than any fuzzy galaxy. The constant push for 'deeper' feels like it pushes new people away before they even learn their constellations. Has anyone else built a project around something simple like the moon or planets?

2 comments

2 Comments

karen40511h ago

But what do you even do with a moon phase project... like, is it just for the pictures or does it change how you look at the sky?

jade6398h ago

Change how you look at the sky" sounds like a stretch for some moon pictures.