astronomy

Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer)

Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) rather than just read about it. In short: Steven Michael Gottlieb (born April 4, 1949) is an American amateur astronomer, researcher, writer and lecturer. Biography Gottlieb grew up in the Los Angeles area, later moving to Northern California.

Key takeaways

Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Steven Michael Gottlieb (born April 4, 1949) is an American amateur astronomer, researcher, writer and lecturer.

Biography Gottlieb grew up in the Los Angeles area, later moving to Northern California. In 1973, he earned a master's degree in mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. Settling in the town of Albany, he taught high school mathematics in the East Bay for 37 years.

Amateur astronomy Gottlieb began systematically observing Messier objects in 1977, using a 6-inch reflecting telescope. He employed many different scopes over the years, observing from dark sky sites near the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sierra Nevada foothills and star party events in California and elsewhere. By 2017, he had logged all 7,840 entries of the NGC Catalogue, completing the list after several visits to the Southern Hemisphere. His resulting compendium of visual observing reports has become a valuable resource for amateur astronomers. Gottlieb describes himself as a "hardcore visual observer", having never developed an interest in astrophotography. For him, "it's always been about the aesthetics at the eyepiece in a large scope". Currently his main telescope is a 24-inch StarStructure Dobsonian with computerized GoTo system. As of this writing, Gottlieb is the only known person to have visually observed all of the valid NGC objects.

NGC/IC Project As Gottlieb's interests developed, he researched at the nearby UC Berkeley astronomy library, comparing his observations with those of professionals and with the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. While so doing he discovered numerous errors and conflicting data, so began corresponding with other astronomers including Dr. Harold Corwin of the University of Texas. Gottlieb thus became one of the principal investigators of the NGC/IC Project, a collaboration among professional and amateur astronomers to identify and image objects, compile historical observations and correct mistakes in the NGC and IC catalogues of deep-sky objects. While helping to put the catalogues in order, he also worked with various telescope makers to correct the databases of computerized DSCs (digital setting circles) and GoTo systems. Later he gathered the list of objects and wrote descriptions for the "DeepMap 600", a popular folding star chart.

Astronomy writer, public lecturer In the 1980s Gottlieb began writing articles for astronomy magazines about observing galaxy groups, various types of nebulae, supernova remnants and other topics. He is a Contributing editor for Sky and Telescope magazine, and his observing articles are often featured in the "Going Deep" column. Gottlieb promotes visual observing through public lectures for astronomy and science groups in Northern California and elsewhere.

References

External links Steve Gottlieb's Deep Sky Gottlieb's NGC Notes

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer)

In research: Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1949 births, Academics from Los Angeles, Amateur astronomers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) in simple terms?

Steven Michael Gottlieb (born April 4, 1949) is an American amateur astronomer, researcher, writer and lecturer. Biography Gottlieb grew up in the Los Angeles area, later moving to Northern California.

Why does Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer) matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Steve Gottlieb (amateur astronomer).