Any Astronomers on JC?

[Julie]

Heya,

Wondering if we have anyone who is into astronomy here. I have no clue and my 5 yr old has asked for a telescope for christmas. If I get him one I want to get him a proper one, not a toy piece of crap that he won't be able to see anything with. Any advice? I also don't want something that takes forever to set up. Is 5 too young for this sort of thing?

Thanks!

[MikeCuzzy]

Howdy!

First up, it's never to young to start getting into astronomy! However at 5, you don't want to be blowing stupid amounts on a massive reflecting telescope, especially if your kid loses interest in this new field pretty quickly.
Your best bet is any number of beginner telescopes, the best brands out there at Celestron, Meade and Tasco in my opinion. In reality you shouldn't need to spend more than $100 - 150 tops on a beginner scope. Quick and easy to set up, with no GPS crap clogging it up, just point and look around!

Such a scope would be many times more powerful than Galileo had, you could easily have a good look at the Moon, see some craters. The rings of Saturn and the Moons of Jupiter should be easily visible. The phases of Mercury and Venus too if patient.

I'm not a pro, but I've had a passion for Astronomy since I was about 4 years old and wanted to fly the shuttle. I might not have made it there lol, but staring up at the night sky still fills me with wonder

Any questions, just ask, I'll try my best to help.

Regards,
Mike.

[304runner]

I bit of plumbing pipe, some duct tape, a few glow in the dark stars from National Geographic on the end of a jam jar and she's apples.... "Merry Christmas Son"

[SilverVH]

It's ok, you can tell the truth.

You really want one for yourself to spy on the neighbours!

[Julie]

Howdy!

First up, it's never to young to start getting into astronomy! However at 5, you don't want to be blowing stupid amounts on a massive reflecting telescope, especially if your kid loses interest in this new field pretty quickly.
Your best bet is any number of beginner telescopes, the best brands out there at Celestron, Meade and Tasco in my opinion. In reality you shouldn't need to spend more than $100 - 150 tops on a beginner scope. Quick and easy to set up, with no GPS crap clogging it up, just point and look around!

Such a scope would be many times more powerful than Galileo had, you could easily have a good look at the Moon, see some craters. The rings of Saturn and the Moons of Jupiter should be easily visible. The phases of Mercury and Venus too if patient.

I'm not a pro, but I've had a passion for Astronomy since I was about 4 years old and wanted to fly the shuttle. I might not have made it there lol, but staring up at the night sky still fills me with wonder

Any questions, just ask, I'll try my best to help.

Regards,
Mike.

Thanks for the great advice. I was looking at a beginner's celestron, so good to know I'm on the right path


I had no idea you would see that much detail, sounds like something he will love.

[MikeCuzzy]

Thanks for the great advice. I was looking at a beginner's celestron, so good to know I'm on the right path


I had no idea you would see that much detail, sounds like something he will love.

Yes, nice little Celestron will do the trick:

This is about the smallest you can reasonably go for space observing:
Celestron PowerSeeker 50 AZ Telescope | OZScopes

This is a good middle range beginner scope:
Celestron Powerseeker 60AZ Refractor Telescope | OZScopes

I wouldn't recommend spending more than that, unless you go all out in a few years if your kid really takes to it

Well the things I have mentioned, particularly the 4 main moons of Jupiter can be seen with binoculars - even the naked eye if you have very good vision, if he's going to observe OUR Moon, I recommend buying one of these:
Celestron Moon Filter - 1.25 in | OZScopes

It's a little Moon filter that goes on the eyepiece, when magnified through a scope, even our Moon can become very bright and can damage eyesight, it's kind of like looking at a bright light and you get that little smudge in your vision for a few minutes. The Moon filter will stop this, and improve contrast for a better image!
With a simple sky chart, star clusters, some of the bigger Nebulae, galaxies like Andromeda even will be seen through it - albeit as faint patches - but still in a 5 year old enough to spark imagination - speaking from experience.

Mike.