suggestions for binoculars for 10 year old

A friend's son is asking for a telescope for his birthday. I suggested she
look into getting him a good pair of binoculars instead and if the
fascination continues, invest in a telescope at a later date.

Can anyone suggest a good pair of binoculars that can be attached to a
tripod which might not cost them an arm and a leg to get their son started
on his night viewing? Also, any suggestions on things they might look for
in a pair of binoculars that would make them more suitable for astronomy use
would be helpful as well.

Many thanks in advance.

On 2006-05-08, LeAnne Parker wrote:
A friend's son is asking for a telescope for his birthday. I suggested she
look into getting him a good pair of binoculars instead and if the
fascination continues, invest in a telescope at a later date.

Hmmmm, see below.

Can anyone suggest a good pair of binoculars that can be attached to a
tripod which might not cost them an arm and a leg to get their son started
on his night viewing? Also, any suggestions on things they might look for
in a pair of binoculars that would make them more suitable for astronomy use
would be helpful as well.

Many thanks in advance.


There's a PDF you can download entitled the "Binocular Certificate
Handbook" produced by the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies
that lists 110 objects (not the Messier ones) and includes finder
charts for them.
However, most of the objects will only appear as fuzzy blobs, if you
can see them at all. You will need a dark sky (i.e. well out of a
city) to see any evidence of a lot of the listed objects.

Here's the Hmmmmm.
Planets are a big disappiontment in binoculars - there's just not
enough magnification to see any detail. Fortunately the moon comes
out pretty well and a lot of people spend a lot of time exploring
the nooks and crannies on it's surface, though mainly through a
telescope.

You're right about the need for a tripod. The more powerful the
binoculars, the more they magnify any shakes and wobbles. The same
holds for a telescope, too. Whatever he gets, he'll need a tripod
from day #1.

Pete

--
.................................................. .........................
.. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
.. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
.. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

I disagree.

I spent many a night out on my roof armed with just a pair of binoculars
looking at the stars. The amazing thing is how many you can see with a good
pair compared to just normal eyes. All you really need is a deckchair and
binoculars nothing else. Of course to do this you need to be able to lift
the binoculars easily. The most important things are good eye relief and a
wide field of view. Magnification isnt so much of an issue. Admittedly you
wont be able to see planets or deep space objects but then thats not what
you will see with a small telescope anyway. I have a 600mm telescope and
both of these are rather disappointing. Certainly not half as impressive as
looking at an average star field with a good pair of binoculars. I would
recommend a good lake of 12x40 binoculars as these will provide a bright
view with wide field of view. Once you see just what is out there it may
prime a deeper interest to get a telescope. But to get the most out of a
telescope you want to be spending in the region of £500 or more to see some
serious stuff.

The other psossibility is to get a cheaper make of refracting telescope with
a variety of cheap eyepieces such as the commonly available 2 inch Tasco
ones. You wont see much, it wont be as impressive as binoculars but you can
see reasonable planets with it such as saturn and jupiter and the outlay is
minimal. Either way dont get a good telecope unless youre absolutely serious
about astronomy.

Nats

"Peter Lynch" wrote in message
...
On 2006-05-08, LeAnne Parker wrote:
A friend's son is asking for a telescope for his birthday. I suggested
she
look into getting him a good pair of binoculars instead and if the
fascination continues, invest in a telescope at a later date.

Hmmmm, see below.

Can anyone suggest a good pair of binoculars that can be attached to a
tripod which might not cost them an arm and a leg to get their son
started
on his night viewing? Also, any suggestions on things they might look
for
in a pair of binoculars that would make them more suitable for astronomy
use
would be helpful as well.

Many thanks in advance.


There's a PDF you can download entitled the "Binocular Certificate
Handbook" produced by the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies
that lists 110 objects (not the Messier ones) and includes finder
charts for them.
However, most of the objects will only appear as fuzzy blobs, if you
can see them at all. You will need a dark sky (i.e. well out of a
city) to see any evidence of a lot of the listed objects.

Here's the Hmmmmm.
Planets are a big disappiontment in binoculars - there's just not
enough magnification to see any detail. Fortunately the moon comes
out pretty well and a lot of people spend a lot of time exploring
the nooks and crannies on it's surface, though mainly through a
telescope.

You're right about the need for a tripod. The more powerful the
binoculars, the more they magnify any shakes and wobbles. The same
holds for a telescope, too. Whatever he gets, he'll need a tripod
from day #1.

Pete

--
.................................................. ........................
. never trust a man who, when left alone ...... Pete Lynch .
. in a room with a tea cosy ...... Marlow, England .
. doesn't try it on (Billy Connolly) .....................................

LeAnne Parker wrote:
A friend's son is asking for a telescope for his birthday. I suggested she
look into getting him a good pair of binoculars instead and if the
fascination continues, invest in a telescope at a later date.

Can anyone suggest a good pair of binoculars that can be attached to a
tripod which might not cost them an arm and a leg to get their son started
on his night viewing? Also, any suggestions on things they might look for
in a pair of binoculars that would make them more suitable for astronomy use
would be helpful as well.


Keep a look out for these Meade/Bresser branded 10x50s
http://casnews1.blogspot.com/2006/04...-are-back.html
Several of our society members have them and we bought half a dozen to
hand round at public star parties. They are a nice binoculars at a
ridiculous price of £10 or £15 in Lidl from time to time (probably
elsewhere but a bit more expensive I expect) and they have a hole to
fix a tripod bracket (get a cheap one off e-Bay) There are a couple of
other suggestion as to what you need to complete an inepensive
observing kit on the link as well

Robin
www.leadbeaterhome.fsnet.co.uk/astro.htm

Thanks for the responses so far. Are there any makes/models that folks
might recommend?