Telescopes

[artme]

Looking at getting the grandkids a telescope. They are 10 qand 8.

Any suggestions as to the best type, size etc??

Also thought of making one but don't seem to be able to locate parts and plans!! Any help much appreciated.

[Twisted Tenon]

Hi artme
I've found that Australian Geographic has some good entry level telescopes. Can't remember the details but we purchased a good one for my son a few years ago.

TT

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I found that for youngish kids, almost any cheap telescope will do, so long as it's suitable for moon gazing.

My nephews quickly got bored looking at stars & planets ("That's a planet? But it's just a bigger dot!") but would happily spend aeons looking at the moon.

Save your pennies for a better 'scope (and equatorial mount, drive motors, extra eyepieces, CCD camera, etc., etc. ) for if/when they get the bug and actually ask for something better. If that ever happens, by then they'll probably know what they want better than you do!

[ian]

my suggestion is an entry level spotting scope and a decent tripod and head.
A rock steady tripod should make almost any telescope better.
Be aware that the image in an astronomical scope is upside down and left and right reversed

[Jone5y]

I'll second what Skew said, almost anything will do for looking at the moon, especially for the attention span of young kids. I'd suggest buying used first up and, if it turns out to be a bug they cant shake, go nuts a little later on with something that will satisfy them for years.

Also be wary of the overblown "X" magnification claims found on a lot of entry level scopes, its absolutely meaningless until you have a larger aperture (and even then its practically useless), especially given the atmospheric conditions you'll encounter near the beach.

Good Luck and enjoy the search. I was given a small refractor for christmas around the start of high school and loved it, little did i know at the time that it would become the finder-scope for a later build.

[fxst]

Australian Geo has a nice goto scope at a reasonable price. Also plenty nice 70mm and 90mm refractor scopes which would be good for moon observing. Best to look at the moon other than full just on the edge of the light to dark as it really shows up the hills and craters.
Pete

[RoyG]

An alternative to a telescope (astronomical or terrestrial) that seems to work well for younger kids, and older ones as they grow, is a set of 7 x 10 Binoculars. Select Binoculars that have a tripod socket, along with a camera tripod to put the binoculars on, as kids (well most people actually) will have difficulty holding a pair of 7x10, or more powerful, Binoculars still enough for any length of time.

Binocular specifications are expressed in the format "7 x 40", "10 x 50", "15 x 70" etc. The first number is the power of the lenses, and is a representation of the apparent magnification that your eye will see through them. The second number represents the diameter of the objective lens -- the larger the number, the brighter the image will appear when you're looking through the binoculars. Unlike an astronomical telescope, the view through binoculars is the right way up.

A pair of 10 x 50 Binoculars is a good set for all round use. At night, viewing the moon with 10 x 50s will give a view of the full moon that fills about 30% of the binocular view. The 10 x 50 Binoculars, because of their broad field of view, and good low light performance, will also give brilliant views of deep sky objects such as comets, etc, allowing you to see a lot colour and detail than is visible with the naked eye. The view of the Milky Way through a pair of 10 x 50s will keep most people amused for quite a while.

Most binoculars, other than the cheapie binoculars, should have coated lenses to improve the optical quality and to reduce internal reflections. If the lenses are coated, you will be able to see the coating by looking at the large lenses from a angle, and the coating will make the lenses appear yellow, yellow-green, and sometimes orange. Different coloured coatings (i.e. different chemical coatings) are designed for different uses. For the type of use you're considering, any coloured coating will be much better than uncoated binoculars.

A pair of 10 x 50 binoculars will also work equally well for daylight use, for bird and other wildlife watching etc around the home, general scenery, etc. Because the recommended binoculars are only 10 x power, you will need to be fairly close to the subject for small bird watching, which is why I said "around the home" in the previous sentence, as the trees where the birds would be, are probably fairly close to the house (i.e. 5 to 20 meters). Most 7 x 50 and 10 x 50 binoculars have a closest focus of around 3 to 5 meters, with more powerful binoculars having their closest focus point a lot further away. However, some cheapie binoculars save money in manufacture by making the closest focus point around 50 meters, which makes them much less useful for small bird watching etc. Try them out in the shop before buying.

The other reason for trying them yourself is that you'll be the one teaching the kids how to use them. If you wear spectacles, then make sure that you can focus and use the binoculars without taking your spectacles off. That will make it much easier to teach the kids, as you'll be able to line something up and focus the binoculars, and then the kids with good eyesight will be able to see what you saw, most likely without having to re-focus.

Regards,

RoyG

[artme]

Australian Geo has a nice goto scope at a reasonable price. Also plenty nice 70mm and 90mm refractor scopes which would be good for moon observing. Best to look at the moon other than full just on the edge of the light to dark as it really shows up the hills and craters.
Pete

I had a look in Aus. Geo. here in Herevey Bay and saw their range. They seem to be as good and as well priced as any on the market.

[artme]

Thanks Roy. I hadn't actually considered binoculars but it is worth a thought.

Funny thing is i have noticed over the years that the word "telescope" has a better wow factor than binoculars.
Seems to keep kids interest for longer.

Unfortunately I will not be around to help the kids so their parents will need to do it, whichever way I jump!!

[ian]

Funny thing is i have noticed over the years that the word "telescope" has a better wow factor than binoculars.
Seems to keep kids interest for longer.

Unfortunately I will not be around to help the kids so their parents will need to do it, whichever way I jump!!

in that case, unless one or both parents are astronomically inclined, I strongly suggest you get them a terrestrial telescope or spotting scope + a decent tripod. I use a Manfrotto 290 series with my 40x spotting scope.
For kids I suggest getting a scope with a zooming eyepiece.

[rrich]

I would say yes to go with the binoculars or a cheap terrestrial scope. But then, and if the grand kids stay interested, offer to build one with the kids. While I've not done it, I know of a couple of people that have ground their own 8 inch (200mm) mirror for a scope. It could be a great project for you with the GKs.