Ever Get Bored Looking at the Stars?

[borg_minion]

Hi,

I'm saving to buy myself a telescope. I just developed the curiosity of astronomy a couple of weeks ago. For some reason, I'm concerned that I'll get bored looking at the stars after about two weeks.

Did anyone else feel that way before you got into astronomy?

Part of my problem is that I downloaded the stellarium software and I've already seen several of the objects that I wanted to see with my telescope. I'm assuming the thrill of seeing these images live is self sustaining.

How often do you look at the stars and enthusiastic are you about astronomy now compared to the first time you looked through a telescope?

[Candy]

I don't see how one could get tired of "objects" in the sky so beautiful. It's all about location, location, location. I'll wait for the amateur experts to reply.

[Maksutov]

[edit]How often do you look at the stars and enthusiastic are you about astronomy now compared to the first time you looked through a telescope?Every clear night whenever possible. Just as enthusiastic as when I started ~45 years ago. My only complaint is the time goes by too fast.

A suggestion. Before investing in a good telescope (which means spending quite a bit of money to most folks), find out if there's an astronomy club in your area. If so, go to a few star parties, look through the scopes, talk to the astronomers, and then finalize your conclusion.

Meanwhile, hope you get "hooked" (or should I say, "assimilated"?). It's a wonderful hobby, and for some, leads to a career.

[Tog_]

Stars can get boring after a while, that's why there are nebulae, glaxies, planets, etc.;)

The biggest pitfall for me was the "Griswolds at the Grand Canyon" bit from the firt Vacation movie. You spend a few minutes finding an object, then look at at for all of 20 seconds, figure you've seen it and move on to the next. After a while you've seen everything you can think of to see. I think this is the point when many give up.

Once you've 'seen' everything, go back and lok at it. Give the Dumbell (M27) a good 5 minute look. Depending on the scope, there is a good chance some new feature will pop out at you from out of nowhere.

One of my favortie nights was alone in the desert where I spent a good 30 minutes on the Veil Nebula with a 16 inch scope and an oxygen III filter. At first glance there was a tornado looking thing. After a while I could make out finer wisps. The longer I looked, the more detail I saw. The the Coyotes that hade been baying all night ong to my west were answered by a different group, much closer, to the east, and ot sort of wrecked the mood :eh:

[Romanus]

My enthusiasm waxes and wanes, but it's always been relatively high even on the "ebb." I don't know how it is for others, but for me once the initial high of "I want to see *everything*!" wore off, I settled down, got a better feel for what my telescope and I were capable of, and started focusing on items of particular interest. For some people, it's the Moon, for others, the Solar System, and for still others, "deep-space objects." Personally, I've always been enthralled with double stars and star fields in general, but that's at least partly because I live have a small telescope, and live in an area with moderate light pollution. Your mileage may definitely vary.

But to get back to the question--yes, I'm still stoked. When I find a double star or cluster that I've looked for fruitlessly for ages, it gives me a fantastic charge. It's a moment where it's just me and the night sky; everything else disappears for a magic moment. I know that I've only seen the tiniest fraction of what's out there, and it's a deeply humbling experience, but in a good way, and I never get tired of it. :) As for what I'm itching for, it's to see a globular cluster through a big scope.

[mickal555]

Stars can get boring after a while, that's why there are nebulae, glaxies, planets, etc.;)

The biggest pitfall for me was the "Griswolds at the Grand Canyon" bit from the firt Vacation movie. You spend a few minutes finding an object, then look at at for all of 20 seconds, figure you've seen it and move on to the next. After a while you've seen everything you can think of to see.

I do this :o

I'm trying to get all(from my latitude 27S) the messiers and caldwells first... It's the thrill of the hunt :D.

My enthusiasm waxes and wanes, but it's always been relatively high even on the "ebb." I don't know how it is for others, but for me once the initial high of "I want to see *everything*!" wore off, I settled down, got a better feel for what my telescope and I were capable of, and started focusing on items of particular interest. For some people, it's the Moon, for others, the Solar System, and for still others, "deep-space objects." Personally, I've always been enthralled with double stars and star fields in general, but that's at least partly because I live have a small telescope, and live in an area with moderate light pollution. Your mileage may definitely vary.

But to get back to the question--yes, I'm still stoked. When I find a double star or cluster that I've looked for fruitlessly for ages, it gives me a fantastic charge. It's a moment where it's just me and the night sky; everything else disappears for a magic moment. I know that I've only seen the tiniest fraction of what's out there, and it's a deeply humbling experience, but in a good way, and I never get tired of it. :) As for what I'm itching for, it's to see a globular cluster through a big scope.

I saw omega centori through a(high quality) 16" scope with a really high quality eyepeice... It was spectacular! I looked at it for about 10minitus...

I saw the dumbell through a 30" once.... That was amazing :D

[Kristophe]

I don't own a telescope; there's a chance I ne'er will. I also don't know my constellations. I don't scower the sky for a list of objects. I lie down in my back yard, sometimes for hours on end, and just look up.

The sun is about 1.5 million km in diameter, and 150 million km away. Essentially every single dot you see in the sky is at least that big, but it's so far away that it appears as a speck. It hits me every time. Even the closest of stars is so far away that it's nothing more than a featurless, disembodied twinkle. That hits me every single time.

[Saluki]

You would be amazed at what you can see with a good pair of binoculars. I would recommend you get a pair of binoculars made for star gazing before you shell out for a decent telescope. It will give you a chance to test your enthusiasm for the hobby, and they will still be quite useful even after you get a scope.

Look for binoculars that are not "wide angle", you want a 7º field of vision (or 367 feet per 1000 yards). Also look for binoculars that have a large aperature, rather than huge magnifications. This will let more light in, and allow you to see the objects better. Something like a 7x50 or 8x60 is ideal. If you go over 8x magnification, you will probably need a tripod to keep them steady enough. If you are willing to get a decent tripod, 10x80 would be even better.

[turbo-1]

It's possible to get bored looking at stars if you do it haphazardly. If you get a nice comprehensive guide like Burnham's and start chasing down interesting doubles and challenging your observing skills, you may never want to stop. There are lots of ways to enjoy yourself with astronomy. You might want to attend a star party or two and ask the amateurs what they like to observe and why. You certainly should do this before you spend any money on a telescope. What's the point of laying out money even on something as inexpensive as a small dobsonian if you soon find that you would be happier with a modest-sized apochromat?

[Wolverine]

How often do you look at the stars and enthusiastic are you about astronomy now compared to the first time you looked through a telescope?

As often as conditions (http://cleardarksky.com//c/MnsfldDmTXkey.html) allow. I become even more rabid about getting on the eyepiece as my experience grows. Or, even just staring up at the night sky sans optics, I'm just totally hooked.

[3rd Rock]

You are wise to ask yourself this question before splashing out hard earned wonga on a scope. In my early days of observing I very nearly lost interest because I didn't have enough targets to find. Part of the fun is researching and listing **in advance** what you want to see. That way you always have a list of stuff that you want to see which is much longer than the time you have to look for it. The result is that you never get bored at the scope. As you mature into the hobby you will find that you become less concerned with how pretty an object is (although that still matters) and more concerned with hunting it down and finding it (as the objects on your "to find" list get harder and harder). Stellarium is a good bit of freeware but it does not contain very many deep space objects. For inspiration concerning what things to put on my list I use the monthly magazines and the cartes du ceil software. I can recommend a freeware prog called astroplanner for actually keeping and arranging your list of potential objects. You just type in the names of the objects that **you** want to see as and when you read about them. Astroplanner will then tell you, for any given time and location, what objects on your list are visible and highest in the sky etc, it also allows you to record your own observation notes against the object when you have seen it. You can set it to create a list containing only stuff that you haven't seen before. It's really quite useful. I still go out every time it's clear (that's not too often here in the UK) and I personally am **more** enthusiatic now than I was two years ago when I got my first scope. My advice: buy the scope, if you are interested enough in the subject to post here then you'll get hooked sooner or later anyway, so why fight it? :-)

Carpe Noctum

Jon

[Titana]

One thing i really like about astronomy is that (at least me for me) it never gets boring. There is always something new to learn about. There are always new discoveries about are universe and i believe there will always be. Ever since i started my interest in astronomy (5 years already) i have been observing the stars and one thing is for sure i never get bored. First you will start off with learning how to locate different objects in the sky from there your intrest will grow and you will always want to learn and see more.



Titana.;)

[redshifter]

I've been hooked for about 8 years now and my interest seems to increase, not decrease. So no, I'm not bored with the stars. I guess that would depend on what equipment you eventually get (a 100 dollar dept. store telescope will kill almost any interest in astronomy) and your personality. Some people I know would get bored with pretty much anything after a couple weeks, they jump from interest to interest without ever really exploring it.

[Kelfazin]

Stars themselves don't hold a whole lot of interest for me, and that may be because living where I do, light pollution from Phoenix (not to mention my neighbors backyard floodlight *sigh*, why are some people so afraid of shadows) drowns almost everything except Sirius right out of existence.

But what I DO find fascinating are the planets and their moons. When you can actualy see them change position as the night progresses, it's just amazing.

After I've spent a few hours looking at the planets, I usually switch over to my CCD and start imaging nebulas and galaxies. I love to sit and watch the image as it gets more and more complex and detailed as the images stack, and you can suddenly see all this amazing texture that the human eye just can't see on its own.

And as Kristophe said, there are lots of nights I just sit back and stare, it's the best show in the universe.

So while you consider what to buy or whether to buy, keep in mind there is more than just stars up there, and it never gets old.

[Kaptain K]

...a 100 dollar dept. store telescope will kill almost any interest in astronomy...
This is true of just about any hobby. The beginner's stuff is designed for a quick, one time profit and is almost guaranteed to turn off any long term interest in the hobby.

[aurora]

This is true of just about any hobby. The beginner's stuff is designed for a quick, one time profit and is almost guaranteed to turn off any long term interest in the hobby.

I've seen people get an ultra-cheap telescope, and then struggle trying to see anything through it (tiny eyepiece field of view, wobbly mount, flimsy adjustments, toy finderscope). They then conclude that astronomy is too hard, or that the problem is that they are too stupid to do astronomy, when the problem is entirely with the equipment.

There are an intrepid few who persevere in spite of the poor equipment and go on to a lifetime of enjoying the night sky. But the sad thing is that many others are lost to the hobby forever.