Observation #1 (late entry)

11/22/2020

Today I set up my first telescope. I have only ever vaguely stargazed, sending passive glances into the night sky and wondering at the stars and moon and planets. 

The telescope itself is an Orion model with a 400mm focal length and a couple of eyepieces to fix into the scope. There’s a handy spotting scope attached which can be used to sight celestial bodies before focusing the scope. It’s a solid amateur telescope, which is good because I’m solidly amateur. 

I did not orient my scope to the stars, because (1) it was a little cloudy, (2) I wanted to look at the moon, and (3) Polaris was obscured behind the roofline of my house. I figure it’s a minor sin for an amateur who is literally just beginning. 

Tomorrow night (11/23) should be clear - perhaps I will be able to make better observations then, or orient my scope. 

Observations

Moon: waxing gibbous. Brightly illuminated. Able to see craters and landmarks clearly with the 25mm eyepiece. Intermittent clouds. Very satisfying.

Mars: bright, distant. Visible to naked eye and sighted in my spotting scope, but still hard to observe with the 25mm eyepiece. 

Saturn: initially spotted with naked eye, but drifted below horizon.