Hello,

First time poster, and completely clueless about this hobby (astronomy).
Electrical engineer by trade, with a background in physics (that was my original
major in my undergrad studies, although I never finished out that degree). I've
been interested in items celestial for a long time, but haven't had the time or
energy to pursue them - what with the "real world," family, kids, job, etc.

Anyway, for whatever reason my parents decided to buy me a telescope for my 39th
birthday today. It's a Celestron NexStar 80GTL. I've been looking through the
manual and while a lot of the supposed features seem interesting, I'm wondering
what others thought about this particular instrument and if it's worthwhile
using it to kind of "get into" astronomy. I don't have a huge amount of time to
devote to any new pursuits or hobbies, but I like the idea of being able to
point a telescope at a celestial body and observe it in a fashion that is not
just "Wow! Look at that thar thing!" So what's involved in becoming somewhat
fluent in astronomy? At least to the point where I can navigate the skies and
have a decent understanding of why I'm seeing what and when.

Finally, I live in Germantown, MD (USA), and would like to elicit any pointers
to clubs, good observation points, etc.

TIA,

James