Telescope opinions and recommendations

In My Humble Opinion
1

Recently - my kids have been really into space, stars and the planets. And together, they’ve all asked for a telescope for Christmas. However, my extremely limited (and certainly outdated) experience has been that an inexpensive telescope is really not very useful at all, and probably would be a disappointment to the kids, who are probably expecting to see planets up close and personal.

So my question is - are there relatively inexpensive telescopes (~$100) which are actually worth the cost and would be a good introduction to astronomy for my children (ages 6, 10 and 11). In general, I’d rather not get them a telescope at all if it will just frustrate them with poor results and fuzzy images. But if I can support their interest with a relatively small investment on a starter telescope, then I’m happy to do it.

Thanks in advance for any insights, suggestions or recommendations.

Kiber.

2

$100? I’m afraid not. That will get you a nice eyepiece for a good telescope.

Although your purpose is slightly different, here’s a recent thread about beginner scopes.

I have several scopes, and have for many years, and I always recommend newcomers to read Telescopes 101. It will answer many of your questions.

The problem with children and beginners of any age, is they want to see something they know. The moon is easy for any scope, but Jupiter and Saturn will just be a tiny dot in anything smaller than about 5 inches, and 10 is really preferable. Probably close to 90% of scopes get put away forever when the user can’t see what they want to, or find anything interesting to look at.

At my recommendation years ago, my SIL bought her kids this scope. While at their house recently, I told the kids to grab their scope and I’d show them some things. I tried some settings and using the motor drive to no avail. I looked in the case, and found the instruction still taped securely in its bag. They had never read how to use it, and consequently ruined it by twisting it this way and that way, and breaking the clutches.
I had assumed their father would help small children with an expensive, complicated device, but I was wrong. He was the one who showed them how to break it!

The point is, to get a scope they can see interesting things in requires some aperture and complexity in the form of a “Go-To” scope that is computerized, and young kids must be supervised with such things.

If you think they’ll be happy just looking at the moon and far away birds, then a small, inexpensive scope will work. If they just have to see the rings around Saturn, then you start here.

There are several us backyard astronomers on here, and they’ll join in shortly I’m sure.

Read 101, and come back and ask more questions.

3

For around $100, there is only one scope worth looking at, IMO:

The Celestron 21036 PowerSeeker 70AZ.

It’ll do the moon obviously, but I’ve shown my 4 year old son Saturn and it’s rings, as well as Jupiter and some of it’s larger moons.

4

You’re instinct is correct: Avoid the department store telescopes that come in packages plastered with pics from the HST and space probes. Talk about getting set up for disappointment.

I have several telescopes and they each have their strengths and weaknesses. Which is precisely why I have several. I have a ten inch Newtonian on a Dobsonian mount for deep-sky stuff and a smaller refractor for planets and the moon. I also have a compact 80mm scope that can fit in a backpack and double as a spotting scope in the daytime.

So my advice is to contact your local astronomy club, attend some star parties/meetings, talk to people and—most importantly—look through some telescopes! Let your kids discover what type of observing they’re interested in and then buy (or perhaps even make) a suitable scope.

5

Thanks for all the information, and the links - I’m still working through some of them. It sounds like I need to get the kids out to an astronomy club outing first, or find some other way to expose them to what a telescope can do. Once I do that - I probably need to get beyond the introductory big-box-store approach and commit to something that will let them “see” something. Although it looks like there are some good deals on Craigslist - so perhaps a used one is the way to go. I’m guessing telescopes are a little bit like treadmills - most of them sit in a corner collecting dust and are never used?

6

Another suggestion - skip the box stores and go to a hobby store. They usually carry the better quality introductory scopes.

7

Find an observatory within driving distance. Get a good low-mag pair of binoculars, which will give you an excellent view of the Moon, bring the Milky Way to life, turn the Pleiades into a spectacular object, and be reasonably easy to point at things in the night sky. Let the professionals or dedicated amateurs deal with the serious telescopy.