telescope

[playboymommy]

My daughter received $200 for her 9th birthday. She wants a telescope. Any suggestions within that price range? I was looking at this.


Thanks!

 

[dannno]

http://www.amazon.com/Educational-I...1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337732619&sr=8-1-fkmr0

 

[dannno]

http://www.amazon.com/Orion-StarBlast-4-5-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B000AP03S4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_t_2

 

[JK/SEA]

Find out what the primary mirror is made out of. Cheaper telescopes use plastic mirrors vs glass. With plastic mirrors you get a rainbow effect and the plastic is susceptible to hot and cold expansion more readily than glass which leads to poor performance. You may want to get ahold of your local Astronomy Club and ask them about your pending purchase.

 

[mad cow]

Maybe some binoculars at that age.These here are not toys,but are close to half your budget.They are only 10.2 ounces and they have an unparalleled close focus of 18 inches.They would fit her hands and they are pretty tough.She could study things from the moon to her toenails and everything in between,birds,butterflies,leaves and such.

They are rated by adults 4.8 stars out of 5 at Amazon and binoculars.com and 5 out of 5 at Eagle Optics.I got mine there and many others in the $1000/$1700 range without the first problem.They will also answer any questions you might have about any optics.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/pentax/pentax-papilio-6-5x21-binocular

 

[Acala]

Maybe some binoculars at that age.These here are not toys,but are close to half your budget.They are only 10.2 ounces and they have an unparalleled close focus of 18 inches.They would fit her hands and they are pretty tough.She could study things from the moon to her toenails and everything in between,birds,butterflies,leaves and such.

They are rated by adults 4.8 stars out of 5 at Amazon and binoculars.com and 5 out of 5 at Eagle Optics.I got mine there and many others in the $1000/$1700 range without the first problem.They will also answer any questions you might have about any optics.

http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/pentax/pentax-papilio-6-5x21-binocular

A good idea. Two big problems with telescopes for beginners:

1. Buying something cheap with bad optics (usually advertised with ridiculous magnification ) and finding all the images suck. Fustration ensues and ruins it.

2. Buying something with good optics, but realizing that once you get past a few dazzlers, the beauties of the heavens are subtle from a small backyard telescope. Boredom ensues.

A good pair of binos offer nice, wide field views of the heavens that can be enjoyed while laying on a blanket on your back scanning the sky. Then they can be used for many other fun and interesting activited during the day.

 

[pcosmar]

My daughter received $200 for her 9th birthday. She wants a telescope. Any suggestions within that price range? I was looking at this.


Thanks!

Aside from hardware,, you might want to look at some software.
http://www.stellarium.org/

Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.

 

[Zippyjuan]

It is great to encourage kids to be curious and explore. But they are also easily distracted and quckly move on to the next cool thing. To me, $200 on a tool which may well be forgotten in another month is a lot of money. Perhaps another suggestion if I may? A not too expensive one (powerful enough to see details on the moon but maybe not Saturn's rings?) and a star projector for their room which shines the constelations onto the ceiling in their room. Even if the novelty wears off, it is still a cool night light and gives the feeling of sleeping out under the stars. These can also stimulate their imagination and curiosity.

 

[playboymommy]

Thanks for all the advice! She loves the telescope, it's been cloudy every night since she got it, but she likes looking at all kinds of things during the day.

 

[Perry]

I would stick with the good brand names such as celestron orion and meade. Many other starter telescopes are notoriously bad. Look for the largest dobsonian scope you can get in that price range. Here are some other good starter scopes.
http://www.telescopes.com/search/index.cfm?Ntt=114 eq&Ntk=all&source=googleaw&kwid=astromaster 114 eq&tid=phrase&gclid=CLmYxJzvr7ACFQF7hwodvgKuSw

 

[KCIndy]

Thanks for all the advice! She loves the telescope, it's been cloudy every night since she got it, but she likes looking at all kinds of things during the day.

Sooo..... what sort of 'scope did you end up purchasing??

 

[playboymommy]

I bought this one. She really likes it.

 

[Perry]

Your link isn't going through.

 

[pcosmar]

Your link isn't going through.

Worked fine for me.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3535450