Astronomers! Is this telescope a good gift?

In My Humble Opinion
1

So, my mum and dad are retiring to the west coast of England in the new year - fairly rural, nice dark skies etc. My mum has got quite into astronomy recently; she is reasonably knowledgable but currently only has a small telescope that she primarily uses for birdwatching etc, and is not much cop for stars.

I’m planning to get her one of these (the 4.5" model, the DS-2114ATS) for Christmas. I was going to go for a smaller refractor for around the same price, but the guy in the shop told me this reflector was a much better buy. Before I sign on the dotted line… can someone that knows their stuff tell me if it’s the right choice?

I know it’s not going to be top-notch equipment at this price (around £300), but I am not made of money, sadly. I just want to be sure that it is worth having, and not just in the cheap gimmick category. I like the idea of being able to go to a given object, or to identify what the scope is pointing at.

And yes, the gift is partly motivated by the “I wanna play with it too” factor… :slight_smile:

2

Nice enough. Biggest bang for the buck for Scopes though are generally Dobsonians… although you won’t get the fancy schmancy computerized mount.

Something like : http://hardinoptical.com/dsh10.html

Note: I am not recomending that specific scope, just an example.

3

It depends on what your mom will be viewing for the most part.

If she’s looking mainly at planets & the Moon, then a refractor may well be a good deal- they’re pretty bright and don’t require a huge deal of light gathering capacity.

If she’s looking at nebulae and galaxies, then the light gathering capacity is paramount. Get her the widest telescope you can afford!

4

Buying a 'scope for someone is pretty tough. I have a page about it on my site: So You Want to Buy a Telescope? It might help.

5

Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I’m not convinced that these modern electronic-control telescopes are suitable for beginners. It’s fine if you enjoy fiddling around with gadgets, but if not, you’ll be paying extra for features which may only frustrate her.

Another thing to consider - is this likely to be her only telescope for many years, or is she likely to add or upgrade soon? If the latter, I’d go for a pair of giant binoculars instead. They will complement any telescope. They easier to use than telescopes, and for many types of objects (nebulae, galaxies, etc) they provide a better view than a comparable price telescope. The only downside is that most people think they want a telescope, and if all you have are binocs you might feel you are missing out on something. (And you will be correct, to some extent - binocs are useless for looking at planets, for example.)