Amateur astronomers may only contribute a little on an individual basis (it is not their primary job, after all), but collectively, they contribute massively in

Amateur astronomers may only contribute a little on an individual basis (it is not their primary job, after all), but collectively, they contribute massively in some sub-disciplines. Two fairly prominent examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Association_of_Variable_Star_Observers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Association_of_Variabl... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_zoo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_zoo As a side note, astronomy is not simply about discovering objects. Furthermore, many amateurs have access to pretty impressive hardware; they are not as limited as you might think.