The first friends I observed with were, of course, my family. On camping trips as a child I would view the night sky, not really comprehending what I saw but finding it intriguing. After a little schooling and a few years I found myself as a professional astronomer in a well-equipped observatory. But I observed with colleagues, not necessarily friends. Our attentions were often diverted by competition for budget funds and office politics. At a later stage in my career I found myself designing optical instruments and data systems but not observing at all. And so, I committed the unpardonable crime (in some professional astronomer's eyes) of purchasing a small telescope (a 20-cm S–C in fact) and becoming an ‘amateur’ astronomer. I even joined an astronomy club and therein found kindred souls.

The astronomy club environment

Astronomy clubs have suffered an image problem in recent years. They often attract rather single-minded loners with an overbearing passion for one thing – astronomy. The nature of the telescope as an instrument encourages single-observer projects, for there is usually only one eyepiece per main telescope. Before the advent of government sponsored team-research astronomical projects, astronomy was largely conducted by rich or self-sacrificing individuals not well understood by their contemporaries. Indeed, some rather odd folks have set the foundations of astronomy in place. Thus, astronomy clubs, like computer and chess clubs, have often been called refuges for nerds.