Journey Through Astronomy #0

Figure 1: Taken a long time ago with a Moto G3.

For some strange reason today, I got a whole bunch people pinging me about telescopes and beginner astronomy equipment. Maybe spring is just around the corner and we could all use some fresh air after a freezing winter. Maybe it was the sliver of moon last night and the clear dark sky that enabled the show. Whatever it was, it re-ignited my long standing interest in the subject. Over the years, I've owned several scopes, pointed it upwards many times, but haven't really dived in deep. I am by no means an expert. I consider myself less than a beginner actually.

So in pondering what type of honest advice I can possibly give to these astronomy-geek hopefuls, I think: I could use some fun too... maybe I should start taking this more seriously... And ding this is my blog: my trips, stumbles, learnings, and hopefully some successes for everyone to read. For the journey!

I'm going to make THAT star... the light... at the end of THIS tunnel.

First off, I live in pretty much the biggest city in Canada. Light pollution is a pain here and probably contributed to my drop in interest. But this time, I'm determined to make it work. There's a whole universe unfolding out there! Surely there must be something to see!

Second, dusting off boxes, what do I have?
Telescope: Celestron C5 and everything it came with in the box
Mount: Old Orion EQ-1 equivalent made by Bushnell with a jerry-rigged dovetail clamp to hold the C5 (Behold! It holds! Please don't fall... )
Imaging Device: my Android phone and a clamp... (I'm secretly curious to see how far it will go)
Time: Ah. This one is hard. I will ask everyone's forgiveness ahead of time for I will probably not be able to post as often as I would like. BUT! I may have buddies now! (see above)

That's it for now. Thanks for reading!