First Light

Photo of setup
Finally put my new Astro-Tech AT80LE on its Voyager mount and set up for First Light (what astronomers call the first time a new telescope is used). Optical tube went onto the mount with no problems. I was trying to find Albeiro, a beautiful double star in the constellation, Cygnus, the swan. I was using an astronomy app for the Apple iPhone called Starmap. It uses the built-in compass of the iPhone to scan the sky. By holding the iPhone in front of your face, you can see what stars, constellations and other astronomical objects are in the sky at the time you are looking and the compass direction you are looking. That way you can see where what you are looking for is supposed to be.

However, I didn't have much luck. The skies are very light polluted where I live plus all my neighbors have their porch lights on plus a street light plus trees. Therefore, my field of view from my backyard is limited. I had fun though and learned how to use the scope and the mount. Even though I couldn't find anything I wanted to look at, I feel I had a productive time. Hopefully next time I'll be able to see something. I know where Sagittarius or the teapot is supposed to be. There are lots of cool things to see near Sagittarius.