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Hmm, an interesting topic. I'm 26.
It's been evident to me right from the first time I turned up to an astronomy club meeting that the majority of amatuer astronomers were 50+ and male. Since then I've come to know a handlful of fellow AA's under 35 and only one my age and one who's younger.
It's only become recently apparent to me how anti-social the hobby is, so I agree with fringe_dweller on that respect. I recently bought a place and moved in with my girlfriend. After moving the observatory here I realised how astronomy really is a one man sport if you're keenly observing/photographing. There's a lot of concentration required, always lots to do (taking images, tracking, processing, planning, de-dewing, whatever it be) and it's not like there's 2 eyepieces on the telescope so more than one person can go wow at the same thing (taking turns isn't quite the same).
If not doing "serious observing" like all night imaging etc then the hobby becomes more social:
When we have friends over (our age group) they are always keen to spend some time viewing and see the setup, most are quite interested through the end of the night. I think one big draw card is that I base much of my setup around computers/electronics (coming from a computing background) so half the interest is in computers and half in astronomy, so with most young people having some knowledge/interest in computers it's easy for them to see conversation & involvement there. Also they can see the colour images after a 60s exposure and everyone in the observatory gets to go wow at that. Take those same people to a viewing night where there's 10 8" dobs, I doubt there would be much interest at all.
When observing at my observatory with the other "young" keen AA's I know, observing usually takes a second seat to good music, chatting about anything and eating/drinking. That usually works out really well and is something more young people would be interested in. Dim white light is the norm (how else can you easily see the beer & food) not red (to indicate the level of seriousness we take on those nights). But when you see the "public face" of astronomy clubs, you don't see U2/INXS/REM being played from a 8 speaker surround sound system with a nice computer driven 'scope setup and some drink & food, you see old people using DOB's on a school oval and talking about lots of geeky stuff like magnitudes, NGC's, SAO's, etc.
There's a few other quick points: a) I know that if a young person turned up to a "no-viewing" meeting of the local astronomy club, they'd never go back for many reasons. b) I know how little time people in my age group have between work, saving for their first house, holidaying, etc and that time doesn't come back until the kids leave home. c) The hobby requires reasonable dedication when there are many other things to dedicate time and money to.
Dob owners, older (than me) people, etc don't take offence - I get along with you all just fine! and I love those big Dobs! I just think I can see what other poeple my age might see "first impressions".
Lots more I could say on the topic - it's an interesting one that has many aspects. I wish I could incourage more younger people in to the local club & hobby, it's good having people similar aged and right now they're as rare as hens teeth.
Roger.
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