Golden Age Over?

[Guest]

Worth a read: http://midnightinthedesert.com/golden-age-astronomy-nearly/

 

I'm not the most optimistic of people, as you know but I'm not sure I'm in complete agreement on this. Yes, the world economic situation is cause for concern and much public opinion is against the idea of further spending on research that might not deliver tangible benefits in a government's term.

 

Yet, there is loads of data out there that nobody has managed to analyse. If professional astronomers are anything like their amateur cousins, we are quite resourceful at finding new ways of doing things when money is tight. Projects like Zooniverse prove that citizen science can work. With some of us coming up to retirement, we might have more time on our hands.