Hi, I'm Andrew and I'm an Astronomaholic.
My problem started last Christmas when my mother in law purchased me a book on astronomy. In the following 2 days I read the thing from front to back (I should have seen the warning signs then). As a result I purchased some 15x70 binos. I enjoyed using these and managed to find a few of the objected listed in the book. Some symptoms of Astronomaholism then started to emerge. I would often look up at the sky during the day and hope that it would be clear that night. I also purchased several more books and read these within days of purchase.
After a while the binoculars were alright, but I just wasn't getting the same high as I did when I started. I needed something stronger. So after a bit of research I got a 10" dob for my birthday which after a few mods was just what I needed. At this point I was hooked. During the day, I all I would think about was when I was going to get my next fix of observing. I even started talking astronomy to my wife, who now calls me an astro nerd. I even dream of dark skies where there many galaxies and nebula as naked eye objects. Also everything on my Christmas list is astronomy related.
Finally the other day I finally realised that I had a problem. When I was having a cup of coffee and I noticed that the swirling pattern in the top of it when I stirred it looked a lot like a Sa spiral galaxy
. This was when I decided that I needed help.
My question is, is there a cure for this addiction or am I doomed to a lifetime of talking NGC and IC numbers, and hoping the damn moon will go away so I can see what's out there
? I'm afraid that if I don't curb this habit now I could be stuck with this addiction and it may cost me a lot of money and sleep in the future (I would hate to have to turn to crime to fund my habit
).
Any help from fellow astronomaholics or those that have kicked the habit would be grealty appreciated
.
Regards