Welcome and yes.....   I am into Astronomy.....   I am not what you call a star hopping bookworm,  I just have a lot of fun checking out the skies.  You would be totally amaze at what is really up there that can be seen with a telescope.   NO,  you don't have to invest THOUSANDS of dollars to enjoy.    I presently have a  Celestron Ultima 11 telescope.   This is a cassegrain telescope which uses both mirrors and lens.  My recent interest in VIDEO or AstroVideo has lead me to purchase the camera shown above.  It is designed for astronomy and is a very exciting addition to my equipment.  
Click on the link above to go to the StellaCam Pages.

My baby - shown here with the dew shield on the end of the tube.    This helps prevent the moisture from landing on the lens on the end of the tube when the dew starts falling also it acts as a light shield.

This is the very front end of the tube showing the  mirror at the bottom end of the tube.  The black cap in the front holds the secondary mirror that is on the other side.   This reflects the light back down through a tube, through a hole in the primary mirror.  This is how the light gets to the eyepiece at the end of the scope.  As shown in the left image.