Faint Fuzzy
From Slackerpedia Galactica
Faint Fuzzies are the primary source of income for the amateur telescope business. Most n00b amateur astronomers at some point get aperture fever, sometime via exposure to a Messier Marathon. This disease is brought on by looking at gorgeous pictures of nebulae and galaxies in Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines.
The first symptom is a feeling of confidence ("I can do that!"), following by betrayal ("No I can't") and then redirection ("It's my stupid equipment!"). The final symptom is the purchase of a new, larger and more expensive telescope.
The cure for aperture fever is to move to the boonies. The problem with this cure is that it is usually associated with divorce.
Without the cure, there is really no known solution. From urban and suburban skies, almost every deep sky object will look like nothing but a faint, grey fuzz ball in the sky. (Notable exceptions are the LMC, SMC and M42.)
A new possible cure is currently in early trials. Its treatment calls for the amateur astronomer to direct their energy away from frustrating fuzzies and towards doing real astronomical science. Deep sky faint fuzzy objects have often been studied to death by professional astronomers using huge cameras in the world's darkest skies, but amateurs still can do plenty of real hard science from light polluted skies by choosing more appropriate objects and tasks. Organizations like the AAVSO, SAS are spearheading this approach.
