recommendation requested for a decent telescope

[ulysses]

I want to get something relatively inexpensive but worth having. Basic stargazing stuff that I can maybe get a 3-year-old into. Any ideas?

[BlueJazz]

1. Here's a decent scope from a Good Maker plus it's Highly Rated.

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=reflectors/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09798


ON EDIT: Run as fast as you can from "Department Store" scopes...They're usually Junk. :)

[ulysses]

2. thanks!

I appreciate it. :)

[GodlessBiker]

3. Orion is a good brand. A 3 year-old? Or more for you? ;-)

[ulysses]

7. heh. :) he likes looking at the stars,

so I want something I can let him look through now and maybe grow into.

[GodlessBiker]

9. Tell him if he breaks the telescope, he'll be seeing lots of stars. Good luck!

Binoculars are good, but there is something to be said about having a telescope. I had one when I was 8 or 9 and went on to major in physics.

[pokerfan]

13. My first scope was an Orion ten inch dob

Dobs definitely give you the most bang (aperture) for the buck but for a 3yo, I might suggest a short tube refractor. Orion also sells those of course. Advantages for a child is that they are more intuitive to use and while they won't have as much aperture for the same price, if you're looking at planets of the moon you will have plenty of light anyway. Trust me, as someone who has done lots of sidewalk astronomy, kids are more fascinated by the moon than say, the Ring Nebula. It's the mountains and the craters I think. And the view changes as the terminus (the line dividing the lit portion from the shadow) moves as the moon goes through its phases so you will see different things on different days. (The terminus is where you will see the most detail as the shadows of the features (mountains, craters) are the longest.)

Another advantage of a small refractor is that they are easily convertible to daytime terrestrial use to look at mountains, the neighbors, whatever.

Orion ShortTube 80 (~$200):

[TreasonousBastard]

4. $39 bucks cheap enough? this thing used to be known as...

the Edmund Astroscan and sold in the thousands back in the day. You'll get nice views of the moon, and maybe even a planet or two and a few nebulae. Easy enough for a 3-year old and good enough for your first scope.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/320091-REG/Celestron_21030_Explorascope_3_1_80mm_Reflector_Telescope.html

For a hundred bucks and up you can get a better scope that shows more-- here's B&H's telescope page which will give you an idea what's available at what prices:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/category/3389/Scopes_Telescopes_Astronomy.html

(And I'll vouch for B&H. I've been buying from them for years, although I go to the store and don't get stuff delivered.)

You tend to get a little more telescope for less money with reflectors, but with either reflectors or refractors, go for the Meade or Celestron scopes. They aren't always the very best, but they are trusted brands. My group is pretty much sold on Meade as value for money, but we're really picky and some of the guys insist on making their own.

Find out if there's an astronomy club around you and when they meet. Most of them are OK with kids around (with the usual caveats about noise, vibration, and keeping kids up to the wee hours) and when they have a star party they can show and tell you more about scopes than you'll ever need to know.

[Birthmark]

5. I would recommend this:

http://www.telescope.com/control/product/~category_id=dobsonians/~pcategory=telescopes/~product_id=09814

Unlike the one recommended in the other post, this one isn't an equatorial mount. So there's no real setup time...and more importantly, it won't be knocked out of polar alignment when a child bumps into it...which will happen about twelve times an hour if my experience is any indication. :)

[Hokie]

6. Start out with a good pair of binoculars

You will be surprised what you can see with a good pair of 8 X 50 quality binoculars. The first number is the magnification (8 X) and the second number is the diameter of the objective lens (the big lens in the front) in millimeters. Bigger means more light gathering power. Anything more powerful than 8 X is hard to hold steady without a tripod. With these you can see star clusters, double stars, planets, and nebulae if you know where to look. For that get a good star guide with charts of the night sky. Learn the constellations. The constellations will be your guide to finding the neat things. You won't quite be able to see the rings of Saturn with this power. You might see some of Jupiter's moons.

When you know your way around the sky with binoculars you will be ready for a good telescope. The same numbers are important. The size of the objective lens is the important number. With interchangeable eye pieces you can get different magnifications but magnification is not as important as light gathering power. Many cheap telescopes advertise magnification like 250X but they are useless at that power because the objective lens is too small to gather enough light so the image is dim and fuzzy. A magnification of 60X is good for seeing details of Jupiter and Saturn. Don't expect to see images with the detail of the Hubble telescope but their are few things as thrilling as seeing the bands and moons of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn for real the first time. You will see striking detail of the moon including craters and rays. I would not recommend buying a fancy looking refractor type scope that they have every Christmas up front in Walmart and the other stores. Some telescope makers who make good equipment at reasonable prices are Orion, Celestron, and Meade. The Meade ETX90 is the one I own and it is a great scope that is portable and will sit on a table top if you do not own a tripod. Orion makes some great entry level scopes also. There are two basic type scopes. Reflector scopes use a mirror to gather the light. Refractor scopes use a lens like a pair of binoculars. Refractor scopes are little easier to use than reflector scopes for a beginner. However, reflectors give more light gather power for the buck and have better images at the same price level. Get a scope with at least a 90 mm mirror (like the ETX 90) or even bigger is better. Some give the number in inches. 90 mm = 3.5 inches. This site recommends a 6' Dobsonian reflector for about $400 as a starter scope: http://www.rocketroberts.com/astro/first.htm "Dobsonian" refers to the type of tube and mount. This site has some great information on choosing a first telescope.

[ulysses]

8. thanks for the replies, everyone.

:)

[OxQQme]

10. Stellarium is a free download

[pokerfan]

12. I always recommend starting with binocs

However, a three-year-old is going to have difficulty finding objects (besides the moon) with a pair of binocs. It's even tricky for adults. My technique is to keep my eyes on the object while bringing up the binocs.

A telescope would allow the adult to find the object be it a DSO or a planet or a pretty colored double star (like Alberio) and then let the child look. Eventually the child will gain enough experience to find objects with charts on his or her own but that's a lot to expect from a 3yo just starting out

But a good pair of binocs should be part of one's stargazing kit. I happen to use a pair of Nikon 10x50s but they key feature is the 50mm objective as you pointed out. It's all about light gathering.

[pokerfan]

11. I can vouch for Stargazer Steve's kits

Our club hosted Astrocon 99 and one of the events we put together was "Children’s Telescope Building will Bill Nye the Science Guy" where we helped kids assemble a half-dozen 4 1/4-inch Dobs from kits purchased from http://stargazer.isys.ca">Stargazer Steve. The kids had a blast and we even got to try them out the same evening we built them.

[joshcryer]

14. Get an Obsession! OK, probably overkill, but I can find nice 5" scopes at any pawn shop.

They're everywhere, lots of kids not wanting their scopes and they get pawned.

[joshcryer]

15. Here's a link:

http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/