Next message: Alexandre E Eremenko: "Re: Astronomy and Celestial Navigation"
Dear Guy,
> I wonder how many of the list participant are also into astronomy?
> In addition was it astronomy that got you interested
> in Cel Nav or was it Cel nav that got you interested in astronomy?
I am interested in both. Probably the interest in astronomy came first.
There were few times in my youth when I seriously considered
astronomy as a profession. As a student I visited one of the main
observatories in Soviet Union (Burakan in Armenia) and professional
astronomers there explained me that modern astronomers to not look
at the stars and galaxies through a telescope at night anymore:-)
That they live in the city, do calculations (on computers)
and look only on
photographs. And photographs are taken by "lab technicians",
or automatically. And I decided not to try to become a
professional astronomer.
Even earlier, in the late 60-s, I considered a profession of a navigator.
But the spread of calculators (first) and satellites (second)
convinced me that this profession will shortly become extinct
(or not so interesting).
So I became a math teacher...
Later I moved to the US, and discovered this list Nav-L,
and understood that one can still practice Cel Nav as a hobby:-)
I have neither a boat nor a telescope, and always lived very far from any
sea. But I travel a lot and use every opportunity for sailing,
stargazing
or to looking into a telescope, and practice Cel Nav from my balcony.
Alex.
