How To Get Started With Stargazing
Stargazing is a really exciting activity that has been enjoyed by humans for millennia. Even the Ancient Aztecs and Greeks loved it! People created myths and stories while looking up at the sky. They also named constellations and even worshipped some of the stars as gods. They saw so much beauty in the universe with simply the naked eye. Now, thanks to Galileo, we have telescopes and can look at the sky with much more detail and explore the beauty of the universe to its fullest extent.
The first thing you should do when stargazing is to find a large and open field with little to no artificial light. You want to avoid light pollution, as it can decrease the number of stars that you can see. Finding an open field can be hard if you live in a big city, but many big cities have large parks that you can go to. A few parks in big cities are Central Park in New York City, Lincoln Park in Chicago, and Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Large parks would be ideal locations due to their proximity to the city, but any rural area is good for stargazing. If you want to find any secret stargazing spots you can always hit up a nearby astronomy club or planetarium.
Once you have found a good spot for stargazing, you should also find a stargazing group. Stargazing with a group is much more fun compared to stargazing alone, whether it be with friends, family, or even acquaintances. Moreover, you can also go with your local astronomy club or association. There might be an astronomy club at your school or an astronomy association in your neighborhood. They likely have frequent group stargazing events.
And last but not least there is the telescope, the most important part of stargazing. Most good telescopes can go from 400 to 1,000 dollars. But that's out of your price range, binoculars would be a better choice. with binoculars, you can get a look at the Moon, satellites, and even some planets. But if you want to get a good look at the sky without paying for the entire telescope you can join an astronomy club near you. Many astronomy clubs will let you rent a telescope and some might even lend them to you for free.
With all of this information go out into the world and gaze up at the sky. Make sure to have fun!