Observation basically means watching something and taking note of anything it does. For instance, you might observe a bird flying by watching it closely. The sciences of biology and astronomy have their historical basis in observations by amateurs. There is pleasure in observation, which explains the participation of hobbyists.
In cosmology, the original observation was that we seem to live in a firmament.
The sun seemed to rise and set, travelling on a huge transparent bowl which was set around our world.
Various paradigms which explained our world, came and went, but the universe seemed static. Even Einstein believed this.
In the 1920s Edwin Hubble of Mount Wilson observatory[1], observed that the galaxies, on the whole, were moving away from each other. Thus we live in an 'expanding universe'. The speed of expansion was apparently constant (Hubble's 'constant'), as evidenced by light from the galaxies, which was doppler-shifted in color toward the red side of the spectrum.
Gamow's prediction: One consequence of this hypothesis was a 5 - 10 Kelvin black bodyradiation temperature for the universe, after it cooled during the expansion.
In 1965, Arno A. Penzias and Robert W. Wilson announced that microwave radiation was surrounding us in all directions, at a level which was of the order of magnitude predicted by Gamow.
Penzias and Wilson got the Nobel Prize for this discovery.
Reference: J.A. Peacock, A.F. Heavens, A.T. Davies (eds.), 1989. Physics of the Early Universe. Proceedings of the 36th Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics (SUSSP). ISBN 0905945190.
Hobbies that involve observation depend for their interest on items being observed. A knowledge of these items and their habitats will develop over time in the observer, who may draw upon the experiences of others as conveyed in books or websites or by word of mouth. Most such hobbies involve classification of the items seen, with the precision and reliability of such classifications generally increasing over time. Depending on the geographic dispersal of the creatures or things being observed, pursuit of the hobby might well require or entice travel. When spotting natural creatures, an understanding of their migrationpatterns may be essential. Specific creatures may only be visible in particular places at certain times of the year.
There are parallels in those hobbies relating to man-made items. International political events may sometimes generate a gathering of VIPaircraft, and an international football match may cause a sudden influx of charter airliners to the region where the match is played.
There is likely to be a social aspect to such hobbies, since fellow enthusiasts will normally alert a hobbyist to forthcoming (or even current) opportunities to witness unusual items within the scope of the shared pastime. New technologies such as mobile telephones and the Internet have clearly increased the opportunities for passing such information between fellow enthusiasts when it is timely.
