Stargazing

Another hobby that I picked up during the lockdown was stargazing. When I was young, my parents took me to the Hong Kong Space Museum and bought me a book on the planets (which I still have!) That piqued my interest, and I later joined the astronomy club in junior high. On an overnight trip to a camp far away from the Hong Kong city center, I saw the Orion nebula with small binoculars for the first time. Yet, with busy schoolwork and persistently light-polluted sky wherever I lived, I put astronomy away until the lockdown. I came across Astrobackyard’s Youtube videos and was intrigued by using Light Pollution filters to do amazing astrophotography.

My first foray into astrophotography was with a RedCat51 and a Skywatcher Star Adventurer on the Deep-sky objects in the constellation of Cygnus. While waiting for the hours collecting subs, I was scanning the sky with binoculars and learning the names and constellations until I realized it was more fun to observe than stressing over doing astrophotography. Since then, I have put away the AP equipment and focused more on visual observation and EAA. I still remember the awe I felt seeing the Andromeda Galaxy for the first time and realizing my eyes were capturing photons that had traveled 2.6 million years. Currently, I am lending my equipment to students, doing small outreach on campus, and trying to share with others the awe I felt when looking at the starry night.