The hobby is the process, not the photograph.

That said, Starlink affects the process only for about an hour after sunset and another hour before sunrise. And there are so many other things affecting that process that Starlink is neigh negligible. Well, actually, photographing Starlink itself is very satisfying and beautiful and a challenge in itself.

I don't think that people actually making these complaints are in the hobby.

So, the process of deciding what to image, pitching the idea as worthwhile, getting approved for scope time, and then getting the results to present how you want to would be underwhelming for you? As an amateur? You've got some pretty high standards if so.

You and I both know that if this were to happen, it would be the first gallery of where ever you host your results. It would be framed on your wall somewhere. It would be the story you told everyone about.

I love the "hobby" as well as it pretty much forces me to get out into nature well away from city lights. But I would absolutely do all of the things above and behold it as the crown jewel of hobby achievements.

That's a completely different hobby.

"Oh, you like golf? Have you considered paying a pro to give you one of their old scorecards? It'd be the best score in your collection!"

No, it's more like you got permission to play on course you don't normally play having Tiger Woods as your caddy using his clubs and then you get to make the score card say whatever you want. But only if you really want to buy into the premise your response made any sense in the conversation

Do you... not buy into that premise that my comment makes sense in context? I thought it was pretty clear.

The issue I take with your new scenario is that you're not the one swinging the club. You've been working on your stance, grip, and follow-through, but none of that is relevant because the clubs Tiger uses are 400 feet long and in space.

And how is this any different from people that are more advanced in their hobby with a setup in a remote location[0] with better viewing that your home so that just type in a few commands for their gear to start working and then receive an email/notification when things are done?

Again, your premise is just strange. If you are using an auto-guide setup tracking on its own, then you're really not working the hobby as if you had your eyeball on the eyepiece manually tracking a guide star on an alt/az mount instead of equatorial mount. At this point "hobby" is really undefined in context, so saying that someone with more expensive toys is any less of a hobby than someone with less expensive gear is just moving the hole while someone is on the tee box to continue with this wild comparison

[0] https://nmskies.com/

Unless you built your camera and your telescope yourself im not really seeing the difference

If you do grind your own mirrors, more power to you, I've thought of taking up the hobby myself.

Even without grinding your own mirrors, a lot of thought can go into the sensor, telescope, tripod and tracker, filter selection, exposure times, etc. Some of that transfers, some doesn't. Not to mentions the hardships like lugging all your stuff to the nearest desert and staying up checking on your shots and swapping filters. Necessary? Maybe not. A point of potential pride? Maybe.

Also I do happen to know at least one guy who grinds his own stuff. Legend.