Observing & Recording
Stargazing
No telescope: learn the constellations and the moon's phases first
No equipment at all: a sky-map app and your eyes, and once you can pick out a few bright constellations and follow the moon's phases the sky stops being random dots. Light pollution is the only real barrier, since a city shows you very little and half an hour's drive out is a different sky. Buying gear is what separates this from amateur astronomy.
First stepInstall a star map app, drive out of town on a clear night, and pick out two constellations such as Orion or the Big Dipper.
Barriers
Cost to start
Free
Going deep → $2k–10k
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Light
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
1–2 hours
Where
Outdoors, free
Why people take it up