{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.rolandomendez.com\/blog","author_name":"Ro","author_url":"https:\/\/www.rolandomendez.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/","title":"And So It Begins - A man, a telescope, a dream.","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"EOs0DIPxsM\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rolandomendez.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/and-so-it-begins\/\">And So It Begins&#8230;<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rolandomendez.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/and-so-it-begins\/embed\/#?secret=EOs0DIPxsM\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;And So It Begins&#8230;&#8221; &#8212; \" data-secret=\"EOs0DIPxsM\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.rolandomendez.com\/blog\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","description":"A few weeks ago, I posted a message on our local community Facebook group asking about telescopes. I&#8217;ve always had a deep interest in Astronomy and been curious about it. Lately I&#8217;ve been watching the new Cosmos, and along with a few other realizations and alignment of stars I decided the time was right for me to look into it further. But I was hesitant. A hobby? Time? Money? Thanks a lot Neil&#8230; So I posted on Facebook, hoping anyone could give me advice on where to start, what to buy, where to learn stuff. And secretly hoping someone would have a telescope they weren&#8217;t using that they&#8217;d be willing to sell me. Amazingly, someone turned me on to the Orange County Astronomers, the largest Astronomical society in the country in my own backyard. Who knew? Even more amazing, someone offered me their telescope! For free! This was ideal. For one thing the specs of the telescope were beyond what I could afford if I was going to buy one new or even used. And I could try out amateur Astronomy at no cost and see where I go with it. I met up with the generous donor and picked [&hellip;]","thumbnail_url":"http:\/\/www.rolandomendez.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/vlcsnap-2011-11-10-19h19m39s159-300x225.png"}