Of All The Gin Joints In All The World... Why Astronomy is YourHobby?

I believe that everyone has an 'innate' interest in some thing(s). I
believe there are certain subjects/topics that people can easily 'absorb'
and understand.

My interest in astronomy began in grade 9. I think it sprouted from a bet
my friend and I made. He said it was 93,000,000 miles (thats the distance
to the sun of course) I probably started reading into this subject and got
hooked.

I wonder sometimes why I am able to understand astronomy.......the
constellation, point out stars, telescopes, APOs, Naglers,Radians, EQ5
mount, Right Ascension & Declination, a Cepheid ....anything astronomy
related.

My brother on the other hand can absorb anything to do with computer
programming. He types up a few characters and brackets and produce me a
nice website or write me a astro program in various code language(??) in
minutes.

I am generally a curious guy that like to know a little about everything
(especially science).

I have heard of Scrabble clubs, Robotics clubs, kite flying clubs and I
wonder why do people like certains so much that they get a tingly sensation
whenever they do anything that has to to with their hobby.

I dont know why I enjoy astronomy, maybe its observing distant objects, or
the telescopes / optics. Or maybe I just understand it so easily and can
tolerate it that want to learn more and more. Whatever it is I just like
it.

VL






John Steinberg wrote:

An informal survey to consider the array of reasons astronomy interests
you. What factors motivate you, what personal history, why do you do
it?

John Steinberg wrote:

In short, for me it's mostly pure escapism from the myriad pressures of
daily life and just a real visual thrill to view objects of such
profound beauty. Post observing, I'm almost always on a genuine
endorphin high.

Like riding a bike. It's the endorphin high, kiddo.(nothing like it
xcept sex)


What drives your interest?

The people I meet. Pisceans, Sags, Aquarians...My husband, a Gemini. He
spins one way and then the other, Mercury on the loose. (much like
Pisceans chasing there tails.) Me, the Virgo/Libra is constant and
always questioning and balancing or trying to.... Looking for more.
..

And please feel free to be as long or
short-winded as you like.

And I just love looking at the constellations that *are* the special
folks I care for.. their stars in the sky. And I know I should never
start a sentence with the word 'and' but sometimes it just fits. HL

Im rambling like a push button gold station wagon (W2NGR) from 1962.

Jan, Dan, Howard, See you all real soon.

Much Love,
katrinaxx

On 10/21/03 21:30 +0900, John Steinberg wrote:

An informal survey to consider the array of reasons astronomy interests
you. What factors motivate you, what personal history, why do you do
it?

Hmmmm. Well, the short answer is "Mmmmmmm, purdy." The long
answer is the beauty of the universe, the sense of belonging I
get while observing, the sense of accomplishment I feel at
finding my target, the curiosity of comparing my interpretation
of what I see with how somebody else describes the same object
.... The thrill of hunting my prey with a camera with the intent
of trying to capture some essence of its beauty and awe ... I
think my reasons are at once both simple and complex. Looking
into the past is heady stuff. There's no shortage of wonder on my
part when I'm at the eyepiece.

My first exposure to astronomy was through my sister. She was in
grade 6 and had to do a science project on the solar system.
Somehow, I got the idea to buy her a telescope and I wound up
buying her a 60mm Tasco. Funny thing about that is I just didn't
get interested. She loved it, though, and I remember her dragging
me outside many cold nights to try and teach me about the stars.
It never worked. I never saw what she pointed out and I never
could find anything more than the big and little dippers. That's
pretty pathetic, especially when one considers that I lived about
a 20-minute drive from the Torrance Barrens, where one today
finds the Muskoka Deep Sky Preserve. Maybe my problem was that
there were just too many stars. (It really *was* an amazing site
to have a home.)

It took about 25 years and a "frequent flier club" telescope from
ANA for my eyes to open and the interest to kindle. I guess some
of us are just destined to be late bloomers. All I can say is
that I'm grateful that I survived those first days of trying to
use a 6mm paperweight with a 3x barlow before the diagonal. ;^)

trane
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// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
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