I have been taking pictures of the night sky since 2008. I had always wanted a good sized telescope since I was a kid. After graduating from college it dawned on me that I had enough money to get a decent telescope setup. Of course the costs spiraled out of control when I decided I wanted to take pictures of the sky more so than just observing by eye. I also like to travel and a telescope brings in objects closer to me without jumping into a car or a rocket ship.