New Member: Houston - Oak Forest

[geoff-kempner]

Hi all. I'm Geoff Kempner. I'm very new to astronomy as a hobby. I've been hooked looking at the night sky since I was a kid, walking home from basketball practice during the cold, clear winter nights in rural Minnesota. If anyone would like to opine on equipment recommendations... I'm all ears (or eyes on this site). I'll probably start with binoculars but most likely won't wait long to invest in a scope (leaning 8" w/ an equatorial mount). That being said, I'm a ball of clay at this time and appreciate insights/thoughts. Ultimately I have a feeling I'll get into astrophotography as well.

[rene-gedaly]

Welcome, Geoff. Not only can you start with binoculars but you can keep them handy no matter which, or how many, telescopes you eventually get

Have you had a chance to look at the loaner telescope library? Take a look: https://astronomyhouston.org/programs/l ... pe-program. Try before you buy.

[joe-khalaf]

Hello Geoff, and welcome to the club. As Rene said, you may want to start off with some binoculars, but take a look at our loaner program, We have 8" telescopes on EQ mounts, and you can try a rig like that before you buy one.

I hope to see you at a club meeting or event soon!

[geoff-kempner]

Thank you Joe and Rene. I did go ahead and get a pair of 20x80 binoculars and have really enjoyed learning how to star hop and find Messier objects in this challenging Houston sky. I also made it out for the Novice Lab with Stephen which was really great. Once I get to the requirement membership timeline, I will definitely look at the loaner program. Cheers!