Your spouse opinion?...

[xtreemchaos]

my wife love it,she likes a look through our scopes from time to time..charl..

[Scott]

The extent of my wifes interest begins and ends with her opening the bedroom window when she goes to bed saying "anything good up there?". She cares enough not to use lights at the back of the house where possible and hason rare occassions glanced at saturn and jupiter. I'm not phased that she's disinterested, I don't care much for digging up rocks and looking at them with a microscope (thinking about it, our hobbies are as far from each others as possible in respect to instruements used ), but it's not my hobby so who am I to judge. We don't really badger each other about cost of things and the kids eat at least once a day so no-ones complaining (except the kids ).

[Gutross]

We are very limited on funds and my wife had bought me a celestron firstscope with some extra money after bills and groceries. since then i bought a small barlow/ep/filter kit to push the small scope to its limit. that is all that i have spent on my hobby so far. having a friend that owned an ok scope he never used was a huge plus, especially when he purchased the cables to be able to connect to a laptop he supplied! all he asks is to be able to come over every now and then and have a personal star party!

but back to the origional question

my wife is fully suportive of my hobby, and wishes we could afford to get me a proper scope and some good eps. shes even sat through my research in what i want to purchase. Which so far includes an 8 inch Mak-Cas or 10 inch dob, though i think we are leaning towards the Mak-Cas with a decent goto mount.

as far as ep's are concerned ive shown her that i am interested in a baader zoom lens and she thought that was pretty cool, though a bit pricy. when i told her its not expensive if you compare the zoom to 5 diffrent ep's of the same quality. and ive shown her a couple wide view eps that am interested in. she asked me why, so i explained that i can use the wide view for scanning around taking in a bigger picture, and once i find somthing of interest i pop in the zoom and get a closer look.

I dont think she could be more supportive, and i am happy about the fact that once i make a decision on what im going to save for she listens to my reasoning, usually inputing a few questions here and there so she knows i am certain of the decision so i am not disapointed in the performance once it arives.

it will be some time before that next scope and new ep's will be purchased. and i know she will be as excited for me as i am for the new kit when it does eventually arive

[scarp15]

I met my Wife through NOAC (Newcastle Outdoor Activities Club) I was a founder member and she came along during a period when the club was a bit quiet and less active. I have always enjoyed hobbies namely in outdoor pursuits and astronomy subsequently evolved through the enjoyment of simply being in the great outdoors. She is therefore quite accepting of this though does not participate as such herself.

[Altitude]

I wouldn't even consider being with someone who didn't have at least a passing interest in my hobbies (and vice-versa). but then again, i'm quite happily single and have no intention of changing that.

Unfortunately, "flirting" before marriage can make a girl "falling In love" with her boyfriend's interests and hobbies. Remember how she "loved" to go with you to watch football game, or happy giggling around with your best friends? Well, how often down the road football becomes "stupid racing on the field of never grown up children" and your best friends a "bunch of clowns". I've heard somewhere that "Man hopes his women will never change after marriage. And woman is confident that she will change her man". Fortunately it's not always true, but it happens...

[Astro Imp]

If I hint there is something I would like the usual response is "if you want it buy it". 

The problem is I usually feel guilty and end up not going ahead. I've been trying to convince myself for over a year that I need a bigger scope.

[rustyjames]

She doesn't complain I don't delete eastenders.....

[ollypenrice]

It's a shame that, so far, all responses (I think) have been from men. As an astronomy provider I have catered for at least a dozen couples where the women were the astronomers, some of them serious imagers well known on this forum.

Olly

[bish]

My wife has no interest but  isn't bothered if I buy new kit.  She did say the total eclipse was the best thing she had ever seen though.

[niallk]

I can't even get my wife to take a peak at Saturn!

But she knew I wanted to buy a bigger scope, and when I made some extra bonus money she actually encouraged me to buy it as I don't normally slurge on anything much for myself... She's also very understanding about me going outside on a clear night - its rare enough thanks to the weather! Nor does she say anything about storing 2 scopes now indoors

I'm a lucky bloke to have her

[FenlandPaul]

Sorry for another male post, Olly, however....

My wife and I always try to support each other to live as rich and as full lives as we can. She thinks my hobby is "sweet" and she loves the fact that I enjoy it so much. She doesn't share my interest ("I don't need to look through a telescope to enjoy how beautiful the moon and stars are") but she's always up for a quick peek if I've got something impressive in the eyepiece. A few months ago when I had an awesome night in the Leo and Virgo clusters, I told her about it the following morning and she was blown away ("wow, 30 new galaxies all in one night - amazing, just amazing"). But there's no way she'd stay out in the cold for hours to enjoy it. She likes knowing I'm just out in the garden, which I suppose trumps being at the golf course or the pub for hours.

When it comes to the money, I think she has a very generous approach. We both try to be generous with each other, but she'll also question why I'd need to spend so much on something. Not in an adversarial way, just a healthy conversation about how much we should spend on different things. Absolutely fair enough.

To me, this is something I love but at the end of the day it's just a hobby, and I would give it all up in an instant if I genuinely thought it was detrimental to our marriage. Overall I think it enriches or marriage; my wife likes seeing me excited about something and I really cherish the quiet nights in the garden with just me, my dob and the universe; I feel calmer and grounded when I've had a nice session. It upsets me that the hobby can cause some of the strife that some have talked about here and I guess I'm really grateful that I've not experienced the same.

Oh, and she thought my SkyMax was "lovely and shiny". I agree.

[mog3768]

I think I am so lucky my wife is so interested in astronomy and is always active in encouraging me

in new purchases. It is usually me that is hesitant to spend large amounts.

She likes to know what is on the viewing list each session and is always asking questions about

astronomy.

[laser_jock99]

I sometimes show the wife a view through a scope and she is rarely impressed. Many people think they are going to see Hubble like images.

My astrophotos get an occasional "oh that's nice" but the usual comment is "you're not going out all night taking pictures of stars AGAIN are you....?"

[Stub Mandrel]

"You only just got a tripod, why do you need another one? If you can afford that you can afford to pay for all of the skip..."

"You've already emailed me that photo" "But if you look really carefully there's a tiny white dot just there in this one...)

[JamesF]

My wife couldn't be much less interested.  She'd quite like to see a meteorite, but she's not desperately keen to sit outside in the cold for a few hours in the hope of spotting one; she'd also quite like to see the aurora and I think that's the limit of it.

James

[Physopto]

My wife was the one who originally suggested astronomy as a hobby. She wanted something for us both to do together. We went through loads of ideas until she suggested astronomy, possibly as a course at the college. I have spent too many years in education and just said we'll buy a scope. So I looked around and found what we thought we wanted.

OK so far!

We got the scope and then I said we needed warm clothing, OH dear here it comes..... "Why?" Was the response. "Err, well pet we do it at night, ,,,, in the winter mostly!" cannot print the resonse to that. Then after a short pause "I thought we would have had a glass of wine and look at the stars, not freeze my ........"

Still we attend the local Astro club and go off to star parties, we have both made lots of new friends. At the star parties she watches her SKY and I image, well I try to anyway. She likes the images I do get. So to me that seems the ideal result, as we are both happy. As a bonus I get Astro gear for presents, so cannot complain.

Derek

[trazor]

I am very lucky, my wife prompted me to buy better equipment, and an observatory.

She wholly believes in the philosophy that you only live once, so enjoy it as best you can.

We are not taking it with us...........

[MAN or ASTROMAN]

As an aside-I asked my mate what he was doing since his recent divorce. "Anything I like" was his reply. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'm single so it is impossible to comment. Right now, my money is mine. If i was in a relationship..........my money would STILL be mine but i'd have priorities.

[Snaxmuppet]

My wife is as keen as I am and actively encourages me to take it further :)

[gkec]

I asked her and she replied "it doesn't bother me so long as I know you are out in the garden so I don't lock you out like last time.  Also I can watch what I like on telly and I like the photos".  

She will come out to have a look but usually trips over the tripod and complains about how cold it is.

[webtubbs]

My wife has zero interest in Astronomy. When I first got my scope I showed her the moon and she was a little impressed, but then I showed her Saturn and her response was "Is that it? I was expecting more". I blame Hubble for her response. But otherwise, she's supportive of my hobby as long as it doesn't cost too much. Little does she know that I already have a large wishlist that may require me to sell a kidney to afford

[Qualia]

To give some idea of not only my partner's opinion with my interest in astronomy but also that of nearly all the Spanish people I have ever known, it is part and parcel of British Eccenticity. As individuals, we appear to be islands of "individuality, heresy, anomalies, hobbies, and humours” (Santayana). Oddballs who are obsessed with some unusual hobby and will give the time, money, passion, sacrifice and effort to support it. Whereas I feel most folk around me will try to fit in and do what is considered normal of them, to their mind the English tend to do anything to encourage and treasure their oddness.

As such, my interest and active participation in stargazing is accepted, it is smiled upon and permitted but nevertheless it is odd. Cuiriously, and by way of passing, there's no direct translation of the word 'hobby' in the Spanish language and the word 'individuality' carries with it an awful lot of negative baggage and connotations . 

[JamesF]

How strange.  It's not as though the Spanish haven't had their fair share of eccentrics and "free thinkers" (for want of a better expression) who have made significant contributions to human culture.

James

[Physopto]

To give some idea of not only my partner's opinion with my interest in astronomy but also that of nearly all the Spanish people I have ever known, it is part and parcel of British Eccenticity. As individuals, we appear to be islands of "individuality, heresy, anomalies, hobbies, and humours” (Santayana). Oddballs who are obsessed with some unusual hobby and will give the time, money, passion, sacrifice and effort to support it. Whereas I feel most folk around me will try to fit in and do what is considered normal of them, to their mind the English tend to do anything to encourage and treasure their oddness.

As such, my interest and active participation in stargazing is accepted, it is smiled upon and permitted but nevertheless it is odd. Cuiriously, and by way of passing, there's no direct translation of the word 'hobby' in the Spanish language and the word 'individuality' carries with it an awful lot of negative baggage and connotations . 

Weird really, as isn't Pixinsight written by Spanish programmers?

Derek