Starter telescope for 8-year-old

I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre

"Petre Huile" wrote in message
om...
I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre
Binoculars, a map of the sky and a map of the moon. I think most kids are
disappointed with what they see through a telescope. The FOV is so small
that it is hard to recognise anything, it is less impressive than Hubble's
images and it s usually back-to-front. And, not least, if the interest in
astronomy is not there or is short-lived, the binoculars remain useful and
used.

second that. A *good* pair of binoculars, something like maybe:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...iProductID=310

is a worthwhile investment, particularly if you have a pantograph mount
(look around the same site for one). That said, I have a pair of these:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/p_vanguard...ars_1991182772

they're not exactly huge aperture, and the optics aren't exactly top end,
but the optics are not at all bad for the money and the wide angle is nice.
All in all, for $25 they do a great job. You get what you pay for, but the
bang for buck of these low-end Vanguard binocs is hard to beat. Make your
choice...

I'd suggest you buy a pair of the Vanguard 10x50 wide angles, plus some
books and charts (see below) and then look at the higher priced binoculars
once you've played with them for a while.

A couple of other suggestions:

1. Whatever you do, don't touch anything with "red optics". It's a truly
loathsome feature. The purpose is to mask the chromatic aberration caused by
lousy optics, however the salesperson tries to sell it to you as a "feature"
2. Look for low magnification, but high aperture. 10x50, like the Vanguard
model I mentioned, is 10x magnification, 50mm aperture. The lower
magnification gives you a bigger field of view (6.7 degrees in that case),
which is highly desirable. The 11x70 variant of the Orion Little Giant
binoculars (they do 11x70, 15x70 and 20x70) gives you 4.5 degrees, which is
not quite as big but with a much larger aperture. The higher mag versions
give you more magnification, but at the expese of field of view.

If you really, really, want a telescope, I'd recommend this one as a
starter:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...iProductID=364

and you want some books and star charts. Both of these are very worthwhile:

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...Product ID=15

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

Amazon is showing this book to be out of stock :-(. Check your nearest
bookstore. It's a very good book to give you a tour of the sky.

Hope this helps, and have fun!

Krill

"Tony Turner" wrote in message
...

"Petre Huile" wrote in message
om...
I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre
Binoculars, a map of the sky and a map of the moon. I think most kids are
disappointed with what they see through a telescope. The FOV is so small
that it is hard to recognise anything, it is less impressive than Hubble's
images and it s usually back-to-front. And, not least, if the interest in
astronomy is not there or is short-lived, the binoculars remain useful and
used.

Hi Petre,

A couple of questions:

(1) What is "a reasonable price range"? I ask because we all have different
definitions of reasonable.


(2) How big is he and will he have to carry this far by himself? Can it be
set up in the garage and left there or will he have to carry it through a
house door or steps?


(3) Is he interested in astronomy now and you want to develop that or that
he has no interest and you want to get it started?


(4) Follow-up, does he have any experience in telescopes?


(5) Have you checked at http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/organizations/
to find an astro club near you? They have public nights where he can look
through a lot of different telescopes. There is often a presentation on the
topic of the month. And, enthusiasm is more caught than taught ie, he may
catch it from the people there. And of course, even with a new telescope, he
will need someone to help show him the ropes.


(6) Do you know your way around the sky so you can show him the
constellations and how to find different objects?

Clear Skies

Chuck Taylor
Do you observe the moon?
Try the Lunar Observing Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lunar-observing/

"Petre Huile" wrote in message
om...
I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre

"Tony Turner" wrote in
:


"Petre Huile" wrote in message
om...
I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but
is within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre
Binoculars, a map of the sky and a map of the moon. I think most kids
are disappointed with what they see through a telescope. The FOV is so
small that it is hard to recognise anything, it is less impressive
than Hubble's images and it s usually back-to-front. And, not least,
if the interest in astronomy is not there or is short-lived, the
binoculars remain useful and used.


I must just say that in the past I too recomended binoculars for starters.
But now come to think of it while binoculars are good for general
low power sweeping of the sky and craters on the moon, a small 60mm
refractor will cost only a bit more but will show the ring(s) of Saturn
(&Titan), belts and satelites of Jupiter, phases of Venus, pole cap and
some markings on Mars. It will also split numerous double stars, reveal the
the trapezium in M42, resolve numerous clusters etc. And all this with
moderate magnifcations like 50x to 100x. I got a lot out of using a 60mm
for many years.

Martin Lewicki

Binoculars and a starchart are a good start, but if you gotta get a scope
then go with a reflector (because it packs the most light gathering bang for
the buck) on a basic "dobsonian" mount.

I would recommend the following as a starter scope (for about $169) for an 8
year old from Orion Telescopes...

http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...ProductID=4644

It was just written up in the magazine "Astronomy" (January 2004 issue).
There are other companes like Celestron and Meade, that have reasonably
priced reflector scopes... but they and other generally buy/import their
less-than-$1000 scopes from the same two companies in China and Taiwan (so
the only real difference is paint color and labels)

And a get a good basic book like
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...iProductID=463

You need to do some home work on telescopes at places like
http://www.cloudynights.com/kids_articles.htm ,
http://www.cloudynights.com/beginners/barticles.htm, and
http://www.telescope.com/content/lea...avIDs=19,20,84
(e.g, so you can learn about the different types of scopes and mounts)

But here is some bottom line advice.

1. Do NOT buy any scope sold in a retail store, like WalMart, Sears, etc.,
or even camera stores, or science-related stores like Discover. Scopes sold
in such places are long on glitz, short on quality, and the sales people
(usually) very ignorant. The optics are generally poor, with exagerated
claims of "power", shaky mounts, and frustrating-to-use computer driven
"go-to mounts." This reality is responsible for discouraging many a would-be
amateur astronomer.

2. Google search for astronomy clubs in your area (e.g., I am a member of
http://www.novac.com/), the web sites and the assistance of experienced
amateurs (who are usually very forth cominmg with help)... almost all clubs
have regular observing sessions for the public where you can look through
many scopes to your hearts content and begin to understand the various
differences.

3. If you want spend a bit more as his/her interest grows I would recommend
a refractor scope from Stellarvue (See
http://www.stellarvue.com/newtoastronomy.html and their (wide field of view
and very portable) Nighthawk scope http://www.stellarvue.com/at1010n.html ).
These are high quality scopes, made and tested in America (and made to
last). If you are like most of us you live in "light polluted skies," where
a smaller refractor scope can see most of the objects you are capable of
seeing and is a good complement to a reflector. You can find cheaper
refractors at Orion, Celestron, etc. but their quality is generally inferior
in the areas that matter most (e.g,. optics, focuser, mount). A good
refractor is a good complement to a reflector. I own an 8" reflector
(Celestron G8N) and two 3" refractors (a Stellarvue Nighthawk and 80/9D)
that I put on a German Equatorial Mount with tracking motors.

Ohhh and one last thing ...you can also get some good deals on scopes and
equipment at http://www.astromart.com/categories.asp ... sort of the e-bay
of amateur astronomy... just beware (just like ebay). A number of folks
bought scopes earlier in the year to look at Mars and are starting to dump
them at good prices.

Good Luck,

Jim


"Petre Huile" wrote in message
om...
I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre

Tony Turner wrote:
Binoculars, a map of the sky and a map of the moon. I think most kids are
disappointed with what they see through a telescope.

Funny, I find that most kids are disappointed with the view through a
pair of binoculars. They seem to want to see mostly the Moon, the
planets, colorful double stars, etc. Many of these are better in a
telescope than a pair of binoculars.

Many open clusters do appear better in binoculars, of course.

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

On 4 Dec 2003 17:37:17 -0800, (Petre Huile) ...reflected:

I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre

The Orion "Starblast," that is if you can find one:

http://www.telescope.com/jump.jsp?it...CT&itemID=4644

Alan

Here an alternative to a telescope: an astronomy software like Starry Night
(I do not know if there is other stuff as good as that around). It not only
shows you the sky with the real positions of celestial bodies (What is the
use of a good telescope if you can't find Saturn, for instance), it also
shows you their motions. It also lets you travel to the planets and stars.

After all, how do you know your kid would want to spend some time out in the
cold looking skyward. He might need some incentive.

http://hardinoptical.com/dsh8.html

--
To reply, remove the "z" if one appears in my address
"Petre Huile" wrote in message
om...
I'd like to interest an 8-year-old in astronomy and looking at the
stars. What is a good, not-too-expensive starter telescope to get? It
doesn't have to be very cheap, as I do want one that works well but is
within a reasonable price range.

Thanks,
Petre