Anyone else play around looking at the stars?

[JCL]

MD and I were taking David's screenshot thread sideways, it was time to start a new thread. There are a couple of shots in the gallery that were attached in that thread.

So, anyone else spend any of their spare time looking at the stars or planets?

I use a Televue 85 mm apo refractor, have too many Radians, Naglers, and Panoptics, and have lots of adaptors to hook up the 35mm, DSLR, or the digicam. I am a real amateur, but try and find time just to marvel at what is up there, when the nights are clear. Favourite activity is using a wide field eyepiece and just watching.

I got started when I lived in the Atacama desert in northern Chile for several years, there were just so many stars that I had to get a telescope to play with. There, the Milky Way was visible with the naked eye most nights (it hadn't rained for 9 years, so clear skys were pretty standard fare). Viewing time was severely curtailed during 3 years in the UK (it rained a lot....) Now, back in Vancouver, there are a few pretty nice nights up on the hills.

Anyone else either dabble in or seriously pursue this hobby when they aren't driving the X5 or talking about it?