Do you like "doing science"?
Are you interested in doing "real science"? Not experiments that show what researchers have done, but actual real science?
We are in an information explosion age.
Computers are good at doing a lot of things, but there are some things that minds can do that machines still cannot.
Perhaps the most used portal for hooking "amateur" scientists to "real" science is Zooniverse.org. It lists projects that need human brains to analyze data.
For example, in the Galaxy Zoo Project people can tell whether a galaxy's shape is spriral, elliptical, or weird better than a computer. They'll have you scroll through a bunch of galaxies and clicking a shape. Crowd-source the classification and then let the computers do the big statistical anaylsis and machine learning. It's real scientific research and just that simple.
Obviously, there are other more complicated projects, whole catalogs. A great way to learn science is to do real science. Jump in!
Do you like space travel? Do you want to build some rockets? Do you want to learn how rockets work without starting with the math? Kerbal Space Program is THE spaceflight dynamics GAME. From their description:
In Kerbal Space Program, take charge of the space program for the alien race known as the Kerbals. You have access to an array of parts to assemble fully-functional spacecraft that flies (or doesn’t) based on realistic aerodynamic and orbital physics. Launch your Kerbal crew into orbit and beyond (while keeping them alive) to explore moons and planets in the Kerbol solar system, constructing bases and space stations to expand the reach of your expedition.
Space Science Software is often Open Software - meaning it's available for you to use. The same tools "pros" use you can use. As with astrophotography, "pros" don't often have the time to go after non-approved projects.
Here's a great example from Scott Manley, who does a LOT of spaceflight videos on YouTube. In this video, Is Apollo 11's Lunar Module Still In Orbit Around The Moon 52 Years Later?, Scott shows how an amateur space fan answered a question that a lot of people asked but never followed up on. The link starts at the end, his summary, but start it from the beginning for the whole story.