Rekindling the Enthusiasm for Astronomy - Page 2

h0ughy (David) · #21 12-11-2008, 04:43 PM

for me it can and is a long time between photons. Setting up kills me and thats why i am going to do some thing about it - build an observatory. so that i can go out and set up really quickly and shut up shop just as quick. Photography is a interest, as too the family, work just gets in the way. I love star parties - you get everything rekindled again and a fresh look on life. You will never stop until you are not breathing, its just the intensity that varies!

sheeny (Al) · #22 12-11-2008, 05:29 PM

A bit over 20 years ago I took up astronomy, and then I was under a lot of pressure to back off on it from my ex-wife (not ex then

)... it seems I was spending too much time outside at night, not inside with her and the kids... So, trying to appease, I did less and less astronomy until I decided to sell the scope since it wasn't being used.

Other hobbies and interests filled the gaps, including search and rescue.

After pulling out of search and rescue I had a heap of time on my hands and got back into astronomy a few years ago

. And like everyone else, my interest has ebbed and flowed.

IMO there is no doubt, that:

bad weather has an adverse effect. Too much gets you out of the "habit" of setting up and doing it - you learn to fill in your time with other things.
Too much good weather and enthusiasm can result in burn out... nothing a bit of a break and a few good nights sleep can't fix though usually...
little changes can have a big affect (adverse or positive). I have done fairly little astro work since moving to the new place because the gear is out in a separate shed and not well organised and accessible. I also have to carry it further to set up than I used to have to to put it in the truck and drive to my dark sky site.
If you master something to the point that it is no longer a challenge, interest can wane (not that I've got there yet)... so always look for different or new things to try and do. My brother is a classic for this... he starts a hobby and its his passion until he masters it, and then he doesn't do it any more.
If the challenges you face overwhelm you, you can lose interest as well so keeping your goals and challenges in that sweet zone it important.

So for a while I deliberated about going to the dark side and getting a big DOB, which would be great, but I figured that once I have my gear in an obs I can make use of it for short periods and frequently if that's all that's available. So I am hanging out for the Skyshed POD... and I'm quite confident that when it arrives I'll be back into it

. I figure the obs will make it easy for me to use the gear I have more often with minimal setup time, where a big dob will always have a significant cool down time so I may not use it as much... as much as I'd love a big scope!

Al.

Hagar (Doug) · #23 12-11-2008, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starkler

Thats something i was thinking of picking up again after not bothering the last 5 years. Hows the Ovens doing these days up your way?

Hi Geoff The ovens is fishing well but a lot of very small fish. The Kiewa and Mitta Rivers are fishing a lot better with much larger fish. In fact the Mitta River is the pick of the bunch with daily flows of 350ML/day.

Jen · #24 12-11-2008, 06:37 PM

Not having enough spare cash in the bank to buy new toys makes it hard for me to take my hobby to the next level
Hey does anyone know what time the armour guard truck turns up next

erick (Eric) · #25 12-11-2008, 09:59 PM

There are more things listed in my Argo Navis catalogues than I can possibly see in what's left of my lifetime. I think I'll be right for many years to come!

Love the peace and quiet and the solitude.

Mind you, I miss the bit of snorkling I used to do - also peace and quiet and solitude! Just don't get to Queensland any more.

matt · #26 12-11-2008, 10:20 PM

Yeah. I know what you are saying, Mike.

As many have said, it's good to have other hobbies or preoccupations, other than just astronomy.

The conditions certainly haven't been encouraging, especially for we planetary imagers. Not for a long time.

I think a nice stretch of really good seeing and some fabulous data would see the enthusiasm levels pick up again.

But it's also natural for things like astronomy to take a back seat with the ebb and flow of life.

I also think it's hard to keep your interest up when you've achieved many of the goals you have set yourself, and perhaps haven't sat down to consider which direction you'd like to move in next?

I go through periods of intense activity and interest, and then find other interests jostling for my attention. It's perfectly normal, and healthy...I think.

Not to worry. You'll get fully back into it. Or you won't.

No drama. It is, after all, just a hobby. A fabulous one, but still just a hobby

iceman (Mike) · #27 13-11-2008, 12:38 PM

Hi All

It's great to read all your feedback and see that many of you have gone through similar feelings and not just in astronomy - it happens for every hobby.

When I take up a hobby, I get immersed in it. Most of my hobbies become passions. I don't do things by halves. Astronomy was no different. I guess it was a bit of burn out combined with the bad weather, and the increasing interest in my other hobbies.

Just not enough time in the day or days in the week to do what I want to do.

Moderation and Balance.. I guess that's the key.

And a few said it - astronomy will always be here. It's not like a physical hobby that you just can't do well when you get older. The galaxies will still be in the same spot. The stars will still rise in the east and set in the west. It will still be clear on full moon and cloudy on new moon. It will still rain when someone buys near gear

Just getting my thoughts down on paper has helped - and I do need to decide what my goals are going to be and start planning how to achieve them.

Thanks guys

xelasnave · #28 13-11-2008, 12:42 PM

Start working on the Theory of Everything all you need is a comfy chair..
alex

ving (David) · #29 13-11-2008, 01:21 PM

i believe in that setting astronomical goal will ruin your astronomical future...

set goals and you will feel you have to go out to complete them regardless of weather you feel like digging the gear out or not.... i recon this course will make a person tire of it really quick.
Play it by ear. go out when you feel like it and not when your goals dictate it

wraithe · #30 13-11-2008, 01:28 PM

ROFL, sounds like your suffering the same issue as nearly everyone i know that has a hobby...

I try not to dwell on a hobby too much if I have lost interest in it...
My hobbies are strange, one is technology(computer side of things), model trains, shooting(rifles), horses, farming, oh the stars(still havent had real scope, and havent owned one for 15 years) and quilting...

The model trains are more in the scenery side and my son enjoys driving them, so having an interest in playing with electronics allows me to do all the wiring and installing digital control...

Rifles, well I grew up on a farm and Mum was a brilliant shot(her eye sight is stuffed now, she shoots round corners), and the fact we used them for both livestock disposal and vermin control, you kind of get wrapped up in them easy...

Horses, its in the blood, cant find the key to shut them down so cant just store them, they are a life thing, like kids(they are my life, but i want the off button for them too)..And included in this is farming, I just love new cut hay or the smell of grain when its harvested...Being outdoors and being able to crank the music up without someone complaining(yeehhhhh)..

As for computers, well after all my years of being a Operating system junky, I have just one OS on my laptop, the TV(yes a computer) hasnt been on for about 3 months now...And I am totally bored with using the coputer for anything other than what is required... I use to have 3 or 4 computers running at once and a fixer for someone else, now I just chuck this one on to check forums and emails then shut it down and go do something else...
Its not the first time, about 17 years ago I put my pc into a box and put it in the shed, it was nearly 10 years before i took it back out, trouble was, it may have worked great but was a dinosaur by then..
Now I am getting to the same stage but the pc's are usable with other interests..

I have never given up on a hobby or sold everything because I have had enough..I just put it to the side and find that in time I wander back to it.. People wonder why I have model trains on the shelf, or why I have a gun cabinet...but honestly, if you have a passion and you need a break, then its just like working, you do need holidays and sometimes its good to just take that holiday and come back when your rested...

Now I must go feed a horse and maybe finish that damm quilt I started last year...

Satchmo · #31 13-11-2008, 01:46 PM

Mike wrote: "I found myself hoping it would be cloudy when I stepped outside. I found excuse after excuse not to setup my gear. I found myself being pickier and pickier with the conditions and wouldn’t bother to image Jupiter unless the seeing was well above average (which this year, has been very rare indeed)."

Mike sounds like you need to take a breather from the self- imposed goal orientated and time intensive direction you've taken. I would knock up a dob mount for the 12" , put it on wheels. Then you can roll it out before dinner, and if it clouds over or you can't be bothered just roll it in.

A bit of aimless hassle-free contemplation of the heavens would probably recharge your batteries for the more labour intensive stuff. I made it through Winter with just the ocassional 5 minute scan of the heavens with hand held binoculars, which kept my imagination sated.

Now I'm looking with enthusiasm at 3 different projects: a paralleogram bino mount for my 25 X 100's, , a Dobsonian mount on a tall tripod for my 6" F8 Refractor and a new lighter weight mount for my 14" Dob.

matt · #32 13-11-2008, 02:50 PM

Taking a 'relaxed'....'aimless' approach to astronomoy is, I would have thought, a 'goal' in itself? And certainly a good one

iceman (Mike) · #33 13-11-2008, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt

Taking a 'relaxed'....'aimless' approach to astronomoy is, I would have thought, a 'goal' in itself? And certainly a good one

Absolutely, and that could certainly be an outcome for me.

By setting a goal I didn't necessarily mean getting further entrenched or starting something which sucks the fun out of it.

matt · #34 13-11-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman

By setting a goal I didn't necessarily mean getting further entrenched or starting something which sucks the fun out of it.

And neither did I, Mike....neither did I

I know what you/I meant

xelasnave · #35 13-11-2008, 03:39 PM

I have been just laying in bed with the 80 binos looking along the Milky Way with no particular place to go and just taking in the beauty and grandness and the fact I look to the center of out galaxy .... fall asleep and dream
Still I have been thinking it would be good to see if one could replicate a Hubble Deep Field with modest gear....

alex
alex

Satchmo · #36 13-11-2008, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iceman

Absolutely, and that could certainly be an outcome for me.

By setting a goal I didn't necessarily mean getting further entrenched or starting something which sucks the fun out of it.

Mike , that went straight over my head

Do you mean the pressure of improving on your Jupiter shots which became a chore was not something you had intended?

Satchmo · #37 13-11-2008, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt

Taking a 'relaxed'....'aimless' approach to astronomoy is, I would have thought, a 'goal' in itself? And certainly a good one

May be a 'goal' in itself but its an easy one to achieve..Chill out and don't beat yourself up that you aren't `achieving' anything, at least not with easily measurable results ( which comes at what cost ? ) .

matt · #38 13-11-2008, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satchmo

May be a 'goal' in itself but its an easy one to achieve..Chill out and don't beat yourself up that you aren't `achieving' anything, at least not with easily measurabe results ( which comes at what cost ? ) .

I am chilled, maaaaaaaaannnnn. Fully chilled!!!!!!...and there's no self-assault going on here

Satchmo · #39 13-11-2008, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt

I am chilled, maaaaaaaaannnnn. Fully chilled!!!!!!...and there's no self-assault going on here

Coooooool....

jjjnettie (Jeanette) · #40 13-11-2008, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jen

Not having enough spare cash in the bank to buy new toys makes it hard for me to take my hobby to the next level

I've been doing this hobby on the very strictest of budgets too Jen.
And I think that this is what is keeping me keen.
There is still so much more for me to learn. So much more equipment that I would love to have, but can't afford, just yet.
Also I guess I've only been seriously interested in Astronomy for about 5 years, so I'm yet to get bored with the same old constellations, the same old nebulas, season after season.

I bet another Comet Holmes or McNaught would perk all the jaded Astronomers up, get 'em up off their duffs and outside with theirs scopes.