Astronomy addiction assistance

[Sconesbie]

Too many clouds and I'm getting withdrawal symptoms. Are there any cures or things that can help? Just when I thought I was getting over it, I started getting the shakes and pacing the lounge room cursing that I can't get outside. My wife wants to help but doesn't understand the illness. What does everyone do when Mother Nature does this? It's not funny.

[tonybarry]

No Cure, I'm afraid. You have to suffer. Till the clouds part again.

Regards,
Tony Barry
(who is presently being rained on … again)

[Varangian]

Start building an obs.

[Sconesbie]

A what?

[OzStarGazer]

I think he means an observatory?

Anyway, I've got withdrawal symptoms too. Maybe we can found an AAA (Astronomy Addicts Anonymous) club.

[MattT]

How about making your next telescope? Sure fills in the time between clear skies and your end up with your very own and hopefully magnificent scope.

I did just that and ended up learning all sorts of stuff about optics that I didn't know before.

Matt

[redbeard]

Get another hobby going as well. I play the guitar when not observing. I choose to play happy music but others play the astro blues! Lol

Another tip is don't buy anything astro wise and the clouds will clear sooner

happy parallel hobbying

[Paddy]

Another hobby is not the answer. You just end up with more addictions absorbing the little time that you have. Suffering is inevitible!:help::)

[N1]

When nights are cloudy, there are a few other astro related things I resort to:

- Study the star atlas & hone star-hopping skills
- Try to memorise the current planisphere "reading"
- Study cloud forecast maps e.g. SkippySky or GFS to make sure I don't miss any short breaks
- Plan the next observing session based on the above or their digital counterparts (hopefully the planisphere doesn't have to be turned too far ahead for that :screwy:)
- Solar observing - not surprisingly, the sun is the most forgiving object when visibility deteriorates, depending on which solar features or events you are observing (partial eclipse coming up next month!)
- Daytime observing in general (some planets especially Venus, some stars), weather permitting
- Catch up with my local astro club
- Process or re-visit any images I might have (I do mostly visual). Now is also a good time to enjoy any existing finished images - to me this is the only real reason for taking them in the first place.
- Read up on astro blogs
- Figure out how to solve that bloody dew problem, which will only get worse as Winter approaches
- Clean scope & eyepieces
- Get on the bike for a physical experience of space and time :P

All this may be obvious, but there IS still plenty of astro you can enjoy when the sky is obscured. Go on. ;)

[OzStarGazer]

Sometimes when my addiction reaches unbearable levels I use Starry Night Pro. But it is like champagne vs. mineral water.

[rally]

Take up LRGB imaging

All your spare time can then be consumed by learning techniques, experimenting and just normal LRGB processing.

[doppler]

Or you could spend some time organizing your digital files and backing them up. This thread got me thinking http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=118764

[el_draco]

Alcohol... then when all the pain is gone, a smack in the middle of the face with the empty bottle. STARS!! Pino- M Class, Chardy - OB Lots of stars and then it all goes dark... Peace. :screwy:

Addiction... Resistance is futile :sadeyes:

[pgc hunter]

Living in Melbourne I know all about clouds, crap seeing etc. Once again, I was victimised tonight by this abomination of a climate.

The cure? Beer, and a punching bag with a printout of Melbourne's forecast taped to it.

[cometcatcher]

Radio astronomy. It's still astronomy and you can do it with clouds!

[Shano592]

...Now where did I leave that 42m dish...?

[Irish stargazer]

Couldn't agree more. I got into photography and collecting lenses during the cloudy season and now I am completely broke:D

[cometcatcher]

I started grinding mirrors to pass the time in the flood of 1990. I think it was 6 weeks before I could even Sun test my first one lol.