My love for astronomy, like most amateur astronomers, started when I was only a child and has only grown over time. In 2015, I bought my first ever telescope, the Orion SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian. In less than 10 months, I logged 115 hours with the scope, mostly in my driveway and neighborhood, learning what the night sky had to offer. Only one year after buying the XT8, I decided it was time to upgrade the telescope and go on my first astronomy trip to experience a telescope in very dark skies. I purchased a used Orion SkyQuest XT12G Dobsonian and took a trip to Black Mesa State Park in the Oklahoma panhandle. If I wasn’t hooked on astronomy already, I surely was after that trip! Wow!
Around June 2018, after logging 230 hours with my XT12G, I finally took the plunge and ordered a custom New Moon Telescopes 18.5″ Hybrid Dobsonian — my dream telescope! That’s the scope I plan to use for decades to come and blog about here. If you want to know anything else, just ask!