Anyone can discover a comet using only your home computer. Hundreds of comets have been discovered mining data from SOHO: http://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/index.php?p=cometform And although I'm not very familiar with some of the on-line celestial image archives such as the SLOAN survey and Hubble archives, amateurs can mine those images for possible new discoveries, as well. I believe a previously unknown nebula was discovered in the last year or two, from examining survey images on-line. To me, none of this is a substitute for being under the sky, but as Patrick has pointed out, you need to have time available to gather data for discoveries or research projects. Generally raising kids or working 50+ hour weeks won't mesh with long nights at the telescope. If you can afford it, automated observatories can help, but again, there's nothing like being at the telescope.