Do you think that the whole concept of 'SPACE' intimidates or even threatens some peoples ideas ? It can be pretty frightening when you think about it's immensity as an actuality. It's just so .... BIG!!
I think also that the names, weird designations and hieroglyphics of Astronomy and the jargon is just too much for some. There is a lot of crossover in this hobby and you need to have a number of skills in optics, photography
, physics
, computers
, software, engineering, electronics, chemistry
, woodworking, construction .. ...
Hmm, I think I just defined why I LIKE astronomy ....
(Sorry about all the icons, just couldn't resist
)