Telescope for young beginner

[J B L]

Hello all,

My daughter will be 6 after Christmas and she's been talking about "santa bringing up something to watch the stars the sky and the sun (appreciate it's also a star but I haven't been that far yet )"
She's been pointing at longviews, binoculars and telescopes in various catalogues and since she's been talking about the "shiny things in the sky" for a little while I thought it'll be a great thing to encourage and see if she's willing to push a little more into.
The fact that it's also something I find more interesting than ballet is a plus so I could happily getting started with her.

I am starting from scratch. Reflector vs refractor = no idea! Can I attach a camera or a laptop or even a tablet to a telescope? Do I need/want to?... In short, I need guidance.

I've had a look on Amazon and it seems that telescopes at the lower end of the price range (£60 ish) aren't worth the hassle. I am also thinking that if she gets bored, a good, well regarded brand will be easier to shift on ebay if it comes to it. Equally, if she gets into it, I'd like for her to have something she can grow with (and her dad too).

Recommend away.

Thanks for reading.

[Moonhawk]

Avoid cheap refractors (e.g. Tasco etc) - more hassle than they are worth. Also avoid cheap reflectors from the likes of Jessops etc. They usually come with very poor mounts/tripods and very cheap eyepieces.

IMO a good starter scope is something like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celestron-31042-Astromaste...

Still reasonably cheap - you do see them new for around £100 from time to time. Celestron are a good amateur make. My first telescope was the early 1990s version of this and it served me well for nigh on 15 years.

The downside is - you will have to have a little knowledge of how to set it up. Equatorial mounts can be tricky to get to grips with when first starting out - although IMO they do pay dividends once you have. The slow motion controls will make it easy to scan the sky and find objects.

A telescope of this aperture will easily show you Jupiter and it's moons, Saturns rings, Moon craters, the phases of venus as well as some of the brighter deep sky objects like galaxies. nebulae and star clusters.

You can put a camera on a scope like this - but to be honest, you probably wouldn't want to. Imaging with a telescope is a whole other ball game - although you probably could get a couple of shots of the craters on the moon by simply holding a camera phone to the eyepiece.

[jmorgan]

A good pair of bins can also show some results. There are diagrams to make kits to set the bins on a frame with a miser and sit at a garden table in comfort.

[Toaster]

Celestron is a good make and agree with the comments made you may find a portable 'entry' GOTO such as this http://www.celestron.com/browse-shop/astronomy/tel...

It won't just be your daughter who will enjoy it and with a T piece you can start taking photographs as well. Talk with these guys http://www.green-witch.com/celestron-nexstar-90-sl...

Speak with Neil or Lee http://www.green-witch.com/about-us-1-w.asp they will get you going in the right direction

[Toaster]

ash73 said:

Guys, she's only 6! I'd suggest one of these:
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescope...
http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescope...
Add a good quality mid-range (13-16mm) eyepiece, and either one would be a great little starter scope.

True but parents buy IPads for kids, a goto means Dad can quickly find a planet etc and it would last years compared to an iPad its also something all the family would get pleasure from and share. She may be 6 but what a present

[Bushi]

I have my own scope that my 6 year daughter can upgrade to when the time comes.

Going on lots of advice from local astro clubs I (Santa) have purchased her this for xmas.

http://www.tringastro.co.uk/sky-watcher-heritage-7...

Edit. Just noticed the Sun viewing comment, I take it you have advised the very real risk of viewing the sun and the need for very specialised filters or scopes. I wouldn't trust film filters with a child.

Edited by Bushi on Saturday 14th November 00:15

[jmorgan]

Bushi said:

Edit. Just noticed the Sun viewing comment, I take it you have advised the very real risk of viewing the sun and the need for very specialised filters or scopes. I wouldn't trust film filters with a child.

Edited by Bushi on Saturday 14th November 00:15

Absolutely 100% absolutely. I do it and accept the risk. I am very careful with my filters, check and double check before each use and use the camera as much as possible and never ever put the spotting scope on.....



One set of peepers for life. Leave it.

[RobM77]

jmorgan said:

A good pair of bins can also show some results. There are diagrams to make kits to set the bins on a frame with a miser and sit at a garden table in comfort.

That's the traditional advice, but it can be tricky to show objects to a very young child with binoculars unless they're mounted on a tripod. With a telescope the adult can do the setting up and then hand over to the child to look. The other advantage of telescopes is you can switch to a high enough magnification to properly see Saturn's rings, all of Jupiter's moons, the ice caps on Mars etc, whereas most binoculars are fixed at x7-x10, which is enough to show nebulae and globular clusters, but not hthe truly inspiring sights like close upsd of the moon etc. I've always owned binoculars, but I think it's been my telescopes that truly satisfied my interest in Astronomy, right from the age of the OP's daughter up to today.

[jmorgan]

Hence the mention of a frame that can be made. I have seen them but never used one, it has a mirror. You set it on the garden table and aim the bins down into the mirror and look at the sky that way. In comfort sitting at the table looking down.

[Beati Dogu]

I bought myself a cheap refractor (a Tasco as it happens) when I was a kid and it was fine. I'd have loved a relector telescope like that Celestron mentioned earlier, but it was all I could afford. It was good enough to see the red spot on Jupiter and many of the moons. Also the white polar cap & larger surface features on Mars and the rings of Saturn clearly. I used to take it out on a clear night onto the flat roof outside my bedroom window and set it up on its wobbly tripod there.

There's some great phone/tablet apps for amateur astronomy these days as well. Stuff like Skyview, Distant Suns and Planets (for iOS) show you what you're looking at as you move the device around. It's great for identifying planets and constellations if you're new, or not sure.

[RobM77]

jmorgan said:

Hence the mention of a frame that can be made. I have seen them but never used one, it has a mirror. You set it on the garden table and aim the bins down into the mirror and look at the sky that way. In comfort sitting at the table looking down.

That solves one of the two problems, but the other remains, and that's that binoculars lack the magnification required to see cloud belts on Jupiter, rings on Saturn, polar ice caps on Mars, phases of Venus or detail on the Moon. All of those things would be visible with a cheap telescope and they certainly inspired me as a kid with my cheapy 60mm Tasco refractor (as with the poster above, it was all I could afford, but it fuelled my interest nonetheless. I suspect the Celestron linked to above would be a lot better!). Most astronomy books (and notably the late Patrick Moore) advised on binoculars, but I think they were thinking of building a grounding in sky knowledge, rather than simply inspiring the imagination of small kids by seeing the things I've listed above, which take the night sky out of the 2D and make you realise what you're actually looking at.

[jmorgan]

Granted. But most homes have some bins knocking around.

It was just an idea anyway.

Never seen much detail on Mars though but blown away the first time I clocked Jupiter, its moons and Saturn rings.

[RobM77]

jmorgan said:

Granted. But most homes have some bins knocking around.

It was just an idea anyway.

Never seen much detail on Mars though but blown away the first time I clocked Jupiter, its moons and Saturn rings.

Oh yes, and that's the reason why it's great to start with bins - I did when I was very young as my Dad had some that I borrowed. I just wanted to say that I think if a kid shows a specific interest in astronomy then they're very quickly going to want to see more than bins will show, and as you found with Saturns rings, those higher magnification sights can really inspire, even through a cheap telescope.