Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2020

10 OUR EXPERIENCES ious is the ease with which anti-in- tellectual conspiracy theories, such as Flat Earth and Moon Landing Hoax “movements,” can gain sup- port thanks to fancy websites and click-followers unconcerned with the consequences. Problem and solution There is no hiding the nighttime sky, for which countless generations have seen it as a calendar, a stage, or an omen. Excluding the occa- sional supernova, you are observing the same stars in nearly the same arrangement as your ancestors have for several millennia. When we con- sider the profound roles of celestial mechanics and spectroscopy, we find that our rapidly-improving technologies owe their existence to stars that have changed little since even the most primitive theories were developed to describe them. Just in the last century has our view of outer space been dramatically altered by the inclusion of Earth it- self as part of the backdrop thanks to missions programmed to “turn around” and take pictures. While the heavens have not changed significantly in all this time, our ability to see what is up there has. The most significant change to amateur astronomy recently is how our access to high- resolution images from world-class equipment has changed our rela- tionship to the personal telescope. In CNY, Attilla Danko’s Clear Sky Charts are more famous for the an- nouncements a subscriber doesn’t get due to over- cast conditions. It is diffi- cult to argue against the speed, convenience, and weather-indifferent accessi- bility of using your web browser as an eyepiece, this at a time when the mass produc- tion of observing equipment from reputable companies provides new observers with telescopes that can MARCH-APRIL 2020