Christmas 2004: Santa brought the big kid in the family his first telescope! An Orion SpaceProbe 130 EQ Reflector with several Orion accessories: a moon filter, a broadband light pollution filter, a 2x barlow lens and a 20mm Expanse Wide-Field eyepiece. The telescope came with 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. I guess that should be enough to get me started learning this new hobby.

First night out was Christmas night, we of course quickly observed the full moon and thought we were all going to go blind even with the filter! Moved on to Capella and Saturn as it was rising! WOW SO COOL!! Actually it was COLD!!! :) Now we're patiently waiting for a darker sky with no full moon, no Christmas lights and no outdoor lights, so we can start doing some serious viewing. BTW: I also have a set of Meade 9x63 binoculars. They're really the perfect companion to the telescope for learning the sky.

Anyway, I *will* have a 10 or 12 inch telescope someday! Maybe even bigger!!! When I "grow-up" I want to be an astrophysicist. ;-)