212 replies to this topic

[Goldwing]

I think at one time or another we each reach a place where we stay with the hobby or leave it.

So why it that, I think the big one is lack of time, followed by bad weather or not knowing the sky as well as we wish we did or even not having the dream scope we think would keep are interest.

 

I so often see in the classified ads here a running tread of sadness of the seller moving on and selling it all with no interest to replace it with another scope and think is this going to be me someday?

 

It shocks me when I add the cost of my equipment in comparison to how often it's used and see where the nervousness begins in the slippery slope away from such a wonderful pleasure of enjoying the night sky alone or with friends.

 

So have you felt the same and how have you kept your love going over the years for the great hobby of astronomy?

 

Thanks

Edited by Goldwing, 09 December 2014 - 02:22 AM.

[deepwoods1]

Sadly it was my EX! knocking over my beloved RV-6. She could have cared less. Divorce solved that problem! I'm sure this works both ways. Now both my kids have an active interest. My Girlfriend will look at anything I show her. Just purchased the Dynamax 6 from an older gentleman that couldn't get his kids or Grandkids interested. Such a shame is my gain. My favorite quote is from Van Gogh: For my part I know nothing, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. So much wonder. Can't imagine what my future Grandkids will experience.

[bumm]

I drift in and out of levels of activity.  I've been an amateur astronomer for many years, but there have been times I probably haven't taken my telescope outside for more than a year.  I love the night sky though, and during those slow periods, I go out naked eye and with binoculars, just because I love the night sky.  I don't do it because I feel I have to keep active, and I feel no guilt when I'm not in the mood to use my scope.  It's a hobby, and I feel no pressure to do it.  I couldn't QUIT astronomy all together, though.  It's a part of me.

                                                                                                       Marty

[Dadadee]

My 8 years old daughter, the one standing near the Dobson on my photo, keeps asking me to show her the beauties of the sky.  She is the one who not long ago said, I do not like summer because it gets dark too late, after I need to go to bed because I am too tired.  After asking us for 3 weeks in a row, she had the whole family to go to the Cosmodome, a museum about the space conquest, last week end.  She will not allow mw to quit astronomy. Lol

 

the only thing that could drive me away is light pollution.  With the equipment I already own, I could go for ever...  But you better not tell my wife.  I have more project!  Lol

[Goldwing]

I'm truly enjoying the great story's here 

[Bizzidy]

I just bought my first telescope and that thought crossed my mind also. In my growing up years my dad was always interested in teaching others about the night sky. He owned a couple great telescopes but our skies were polluted. Mostly we viewed on camping trips and retreats. He has not looked up for years now but I'm trying to resurrect his old Newtonianand get him jazzed again.
I'm not sure hiw long I'll be looking up, but now that my kids are getting old enough to stare through the scope, I figure I'll be at it for a decade at least. And like was mentioned earlier, after you gain a fair amount of knowledge about the sky, you can never leave astronomy, you can only take a hiatus.

[planet earth]

I think at one time or another we each reach a place where we stay with the hobby or leave it.

So why it that, I think the big one is lack of time, followed by bad weather or not knowing the sky as well as we wish we did or even not having the dream scope we think would keep are interest.

 

My brief musings on the subject..

For many, including me you leave the astronomy hobby but somehow that haunting interest never quite leaves.

It will always taunt you to come back again and again.

If you work, you need sleep, and with this hobby it usually leads to sleep deprevation.

You spend hundreds or thousands on scope stuff and feel guilty because you don't want to get out of that comfy warm old bed at 2am on that cold Winter's morning to see that triple shadow transit on Jupiter because your still half dead from the previous days work.

Then as time moves on you get older, you look more at your scope then through it, because your tired achy old carcus that feels like it's been sucked through a straw along with (NNBS) Newtonian Neck and Back Syndrome has pretty much done you in.

So in your sleepless deepest thoughtlessness state, your altered mind conjurs up that you need a more expensive eyepiece or a larger Dob because your malfunctioning brain from lack of sleep distorts your comman senslessness.

So now your living the rest of your life in this senseless fog, until your body breaks down and finally they pack you up tightly in your dusty old yellowed 16 inch sonotube that your wifes been bickering about for years, because she could of put a plant in it's place.

So if we still have even a remote bit of sound mind left before all this happens, we take a break, and take time to get more quality sleep in. 

The end.   

 

 

 

.

Sam

[Tony Flanders]

I think at one time or another we each reach a place where we stay with the hobby or leave it.
So why it that, I think the big one is lack of time, followed by bad weather or not knowing the sky as well as we wish we did or even not having the dream scope we think would keep are interest.

I don't think there's a single person who has ever left the hobby because they couldn't buy their dream scope. There might be some who have said that, but they wouldn't have lasted in the hobby no matter what telescope(s) they owned. Most likely it's a sign of unrealistic expectations -- no scope, no matter how dreamy, would have made astronomy glamorous and effort-free as they were dreaming.

There are a fair number of people who toy with the idea of astronomy but never really get into it -- never get over that initial hurdle. No doubt this is true for the great majority of people who buy telescopes -- and even more true for the ones who are receive them as gifts. I don't think you can really say that these people are leaving astronomy, because they were never there in the first place.

Mind you, such people might yet come back again. I did. I was given a scope as a child, but never really figured out how to use it, so that was a false start. Then I explored the scope through 7x35 binoculars when I was 20, but my interest became dormant for several decades. And finally, I purchased yet another scope and really got over that first hurdle.

Since then, my enthusiasm has waxed and waned, but unless I go blind I will never stop being a stargazer. Even when I have no access to a telescope, I still go out at night to check up on the positions of the planets and make sure the stars are still in their familiar constellations. (So far, they always have been.)

I think that's quite typical. I do know a fair number of people who became adept at using telescopes, but then drifted off into not using them. But they could easily restart at any time, unexpectedly.

[karstenkoch]

If you feel deeply emotionally and intellectually refreshed after a night of solo visual observing or even a 15 minute look, don't ever sell off your gear. You may go through dry spells, but you'll always be back. If looking at the night sky naked eye or magnified recalibrates your perspective on nearly everything, you're a lifer. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, keep the boxes

[Jon Isaacs]

My experiences and perceptions are very much in line with Tony's.  It's not really about one's equipment, it's not even about light pollution, it's about the experience of being out under the stars..   My interest does not change, what changes is my energy... That's a major reason why I have several telescopes.. Not every night do I have the energy to haul out a larger Dob.. some nights an 80mm refractor is a good match. 

 

I think there is something magical, some primeval about spending the night out under the stars..  It's not always quite clear to me why I am so drawn to observing the night sky through an eyepiece... it's not so clear what makes that magic happen, just why is it that every night, no matter where I am, I see as another observing opportunity..  Some times I get off track and the magic seems to have disappeared...  That typically happens when I am not observing the way I enjoy most.. For me, a night under the stars is like going for a walk.. I might have a few goals but in general, I just start walking and see where the moment takes me..  

 

So... Tony observes the way he does, I observe the way I do.. you observe the way you do..  I think for it to be a long term passion, the motivation has to come from within, there has to be something inside that is more than just an intellectual curiosity. Finding that place inside.. staying connected with it.. 

 

Jon

[jgraham]

For me, what can make this (and most other pursuits) is burn-out. The cure? Taking a break.

 

After 52 years as an active amateur astronomer and at least 3 major burn-outs and I'm still going strong.

 

This is a hobby, right? Enjoy.

[ArizonaScott]

A new work schedule and a lack of energy at the end of the day is what burned me out, my motivation lacks pretty much every afternoon.

 

I refuse to give up on this hobby or sell my equipment. I did have to let go of my largest scope to fund some equipment for my business, but I used a little of the proceeds for a new mount. Checking in here on CN every morning keeps me in touch with other amateurs and friends. Someday, I'll get back to this regularly, even if it means losing lots of sleep. I love it too much to let the interest die away.

[James6685]

Matching a hobby to one's self is a difficult endeavor filled with hard work.  So what keeps me going?  A few weeks ago my wife and I stepped out on the deck in the early morning to a star filled sky.  "What's that?" she asked.  That's Auriga.and up there is Gemini.  Take a good look and find the stick figures that make up the twins.  "Oh, I can see it,"  she said.  Oh look over there.  That's Leo just about to take a big chomp out of Jupiter.  Beautiful!  Then I think that ten years ago when I began this hobby the only constellation I knew was the Big Dipper.  Now I think about the delights that await me over the next months when those constellations are prime during my waking hours.  Life time learning is a wonderful thing.

[Doc Willie]

My astronomical mentor has basically given up. The major factor is her eyes. Because of cataracts, she was where she could only view through an image intensifier eyepiece. She dropped out of the club after a conflict with another member, and felt the club should have stepped in and taken her side. When he partner retired, she shifted interest to animal welfare, and that is about it. 

 

The role of retirement I can relate to. I only got into observing after I retired, and spent a year or so thrashing around looking for what I wanted to do. After retirement, it seemed I had trouble finding energy doing the things I enjoyed when I was working - I needed to do those things when I was working to keep some balance and sanity. After retirement, they no longer needed to serve that function, and my passion diminished. Something arose to take its place, and here I am. 

[aatt]

I took a long break when my son and daughter were born-probably a good 7 years. I was a stay at home Dad for three of them, but did not get back out even though I had plenty of time. I don't what happened, but one day I pulled out my old 6" and realized-"this is pretty cool why did I ever stop?" Of course, my latent aperture fever came back in and I bought my 15" within a half a year. Since then, over three  years ago, I feel like an addict: galaxy delirium tremens etc.during the lunar peak,going out in almost any conditions,  obsessively checking the weather, pondering the next upgrade and drooling over star maps.I realize that I may taper off, but I am confident it will never leave entirely. I have been seriously interested in visual astronomy, since my first Jason 2.4" scope when I was 8 yo.The memory of my first look at the moon through my fathers binoculars when I was almost 7 still thrills me.That was 41 years ago.I am in it for the long haul. 

[Feidb]

My interest in this passion (I don't call it a "hobby") has never waned... ever.

 

My passion has done nothing but increase at a progressive rate over the decades until it's reached my comfort zone. It's always with me. Even as a fiction author, my portrait is me standing next to guess what? My telescope. It's part of my life.

 

I think it waxes, wanes and fades out for a lot of people because of attention span. Let's face it. This hobby isn't for everyone to begin with. There are some that are tweaked by it, try it but aren't grabbed hard enough. Their attention span wanes and they move on.

 

Then there are those that go head over heels, pour what is a lifetime's worth of money (to us) into it, then when they don't get that immediate bang, guess what? They get bored and quit. Attention span.

 

Then there are those, kind of like me, where it grows incrementally. Slowly but surely (and don't call me Shirley). They start slow and work their way up to their comfort zone and by some miracle in today's world, they don't lose their attention span. They don't lose interest. It sticks.

 

Some are just destined to maintain an interest while others it's fleeting. Some by circumstance, become passionate, but have to put it on hold for maybe decades then find it again later in life.

 

It takes all kinds.

[LDW47]

My experiences and perceptions are very much in line with Tony's.  It's not really about one's equipment, it's not even about light pollution, it's about the experience of being out under the stars..   My interest does not change, what changes is my energy... That's a major reason why I have several telescopes.. Not every night do I have the energy to haul out a larger Dob.. some nights an 80mm refractor is a good match. 

 

I think there is something magical, some primeval about spending the night out under the stars..  It's not always quite clear to me why I am so drawn to observing the night sky through an eyepiece... it's not so clear what makes that magic happen, just why is it that every night, no matter where I am, I see as another observing opportunity..  Some times I get off track and the magic seems to have disappeared...  That typically happens when I am not observing the way I enjoy most.. For me, a night under the stars is like going for a walk.. I might have a few goals but in general, I just start walking and see where the moment takes me..  

 

So... Tony observes the way he does, I observe the way I do.. you observe the way you do..  I think for it to be a long term passion, the motivation has to come from within, there has to be something inside that is more than just an intellectual curiosity. Finding that place inside.. staying connected with it.. 

 

Jon

Very well said, I think you hit it right on the nose. You never lose that sense of being !   LW

[galexand]

it's been actually overcast (not even a sucker hole for my binocs) fon so long that i actually installed the 2" focuser i bought 4 months ago and collimated my starblast 6.  and on my skyscanner 100, i collimated it (sort of), cleaned out the synta grease/glue in the focuser, and made fake tube rings out of hose clamps so the eyepiece would be at a better angle.

 

i guess that counts as staying in the hobby...  but last night there were a few spots in the sky where the overcast had little thin spots in it, where you couldn't quite see stars but the sky was slightly blacker than the uniform gray that covered the rest of it.  i felt bad for not going out.

 

in other words, we stay in the hobby one month at a time

[evilmedic13]

Mine ebbs and flows mainly due to the craptastic weather, living in white zone of Chicago, and being a single dad. I still have my passion for it, but some days my body just says no. The days my body is ready, it's either the weather or schedule that takes it away. I'm sure once I'm finally and completely settled into the new home and everything stabilizes again, I'll be plugging away at 3am like I used to, before the divorce. 

 One of the plus's to the story is, my yard. It's much bigger,darker(no alley) and has a good 315 degree view of the sky. My 5 yo son loves it, and really liked the campout we did with daddy's "spinny scopes". Truly, that's all that really matters for me at this point. 

[LDW47]

it's been actually overcast (not even a sucker hole for my binocs) fon so long that i actually installed the 2" focuser i bought 4 months ago and collimated my starblast 6.  and on my skyscanner 100, i collimated it (sort of), cleaned out the synta grease/glue in the focuser, and made fake tube rings out of hose clamps so the eyepiece would be at a better angle.

 

i guess that counts as staying in the hobby...  but last night there were a few spots in the sky where the overcast had little thin spots in it, where you couldn't quite see stars but the sky was slightly blacker than the uniform gray that covered the rest of it.  i felt bad for not going out.

 

in other words, we stay in the hobby one month at a time

It's been like that for so long up here that in order to stay in the hobby I have taken up looking at the bottom of the clouds !   LW

[Binojunky]

I haven,t observed consistantly for a long time, ever increasing light pollution and poor weather are the main reasons, once in a while I set up my PST or take a brief look at the night sky with binoculars, the Canadian winter has now set in so its no observing fo the next three months or more for me, DA.

[Mr. Bill]

Between increasing light pollution and bad weather every new moon week (climate change?) you better have a plan B....

 

The dozen nights every year when everything comes together makes it marginally worthwhile in terms of equipment investment.

 

What is it then that keeps me going.....

 

Oh  yeah, Bortle 1 skies and the Milky Way overhead casting shadows on  the ground.

 

Edited by Mr. Bill, 09 December 2014 - 03:37 PM.

[csrlice12]

I find my interest wanes on really cold Winter nights.......but it really peaks on comfortable Summer nights.  I'm not adverse to viewing in Winter....Jupiter, Orion Nebula (am kind of missing Saturn right now)....but never really did like the cold, even as a child.  I'll probably go to the dark site (Blue Zone) once during the Winter, maybe twice if its a warm Winter.  I'll probably get out another two times at the State Park near the house (White Zone).  We really need to develop Transporter technology.....imagine taking your scope to Australia tonight, Hawaii tomorrow night, (dark side of the moon the next (hey, they use heated suits, right?).

 

WARNING:, if visiting the dark side of the moon, the Explore Scientific eyepieces must be left on Earth.  Eyepiece decompression is a terrible thing to see, lenses flying off everywhere, shrapnel, you get the picture....

Edited by csrlice12, 09 December 2014 - 12:13 PM.

[Abhat]

For me two things can kill the hobby. 1) Perpetual bad weather and 2) Lack of a good Grab & Go scope.

 

I am glad I bought 2 inexpensive refractors with superb optics. I can take those out at moments notice and keep my interest alive.  I have used them a lot this fall.  I am never going to recommend a 8"/10" Dob as a default choice to a newcomer living in Northeast. If you can't use it then you lose it quickly. There is lot to see even with these cheap scopes (even in light polluted areas).

[Dwight J]

I cannot imagine a time where I will not be essentially immersed in astronomy.  My interest has evolved over the years but has not waned.  Immersed doesn't mean enslaved by it.  I can let a perfect night go by when I am engaged in other activities without painful yearning.  There are so many aspects to explore that I can't live long enough to explore them all.  You can be as interested as you want to be.