I think the hobby is getting older, but so are most non-tech hobbies. I'm no longer young, but at 40 feel like the aging demographics of the hobby have existed since I bought my first scope at 12 years old. Other posters have talked already about the alleged demographic and cultural shifts that have brought this on, but I think there are at least three additional trends:
- Young People (e.g. under 40) Don't Have Time for Hobbies: I think this is the most overlooked trend by people 60+. Unlike the 1950s or 60s when the "typical" CN member was a child getting their first scope, parents don't have nearly as much time to invest in children's hobbies. Both members of a typical U.S. household work full time jobs, often with extended schedules, and kids are enrolled in multiple sports and other after school activities from a very young age (if your kid isn't playing soccer at 4 in my community, they might at well forget joining at 10). Saturdays also fall victim to these activities and there isn't enough time or energy left to stay up all night unless you are really passionate about the hobby. This is also true in other time-intensive hobbies like hunting, fishing, etc.
- Light Pollution and Target Selection Lead to Disappointment: It is no secret that light pollution has gotten exponentially worse in most major cities over the last 50 years. At the same time, the targets of choice for beginners have shifted away from the moon, planets and bright DSOs to faint emission nebulae and galaxies, which are hard visual targets, even under a dark sky. They are impossible in most suburban and urban areas. Even if a beginner finds an object like M31 under a light polluted sky, they are likely to be extremely disappointed. However, almost anyone can find the moon and if encouraged to explore appropriate targets, even a 60mm scope can lead to countless hours of never seeing the same thing twice. Astrophotography and EAA are a partial solution here, especially with the advent of smart scopes like the SeeStar, which is probably what I'd recommend to most beginners these days unless they were absolutely clear they are interested in visual.
- Clubs are Dead Unless they Offer Value: CN and other internet groups (on Facebook, Reddit, etc.) are the club for people these days. Very few people in my generation have the time to attend a monthly meeting half an hour away while leaving their partner to take care of the kids and house for an evening (see also the decline in sports like bowling which my Dad did every week in the winter leaving us with my mom). Value has to be something more than a random club member talking about a topic. YouTube has replaced that for educational purposes and sites like this one have done it for interaction. Clubs can still provide value if they own or lease land for a club observatory or dark site, but if they don't have that then they don't serve a purpose.
I guess I largely agree with the premise that this is a graying hobby, at least among die-hards. However, the rise of astrophotography and social media has made the general public and the number of casual astronomy minded people rise through the roof. I am a member of several social media aurora chaser groups and there are a ton of people who are interested in that type of phenomena or other special events like eclipses, meteor showers, etc. If we are honest, that is always how this hobby has been. The number of people taking a 15 inch Dob to a dark site 10 times a year or that own a $10,000 bespoke astrophotography setup has never been large. The number of casually interested people is much larger, but they aren't going to join a club or show up in large numbers with gear at a star party.
Edited by weis14, 15 January 2025 - 08:50 AM.
