AVRNJ

Thanks everyone for the replies, very helpful

Sorry in advance, i see there are many of these threads, I have read through many and I am still unclear. Looking for a combined Christmas/Birthday present for my son. He is very into the moon, the stars, the planets, etc. from the perspective of instagram and just general researching. He has asked for a first telescope. He is going to be 13. My only experience with a telescope was buying one for my wife about 20 years ago, she too is very into all of this. I believe I spent like $150 on it, don't remember what we got, but we took it out a few times and we could not see anything, and lost interest in it right away. Someone I worked with at the time told me that there is a bare minimum you need to spend to get even a decent experience. I think that is what I am trying to figure out. I don't know with 100% certainty he will be into it long term, but I know with 100% certainty if he gets frustrated early he will lose interest right away. So i want to get something good enough that he can give this a real chance to see how into it he is, but not spend so much that if he is not as into it as I hope, its a huge waste of money. My original budget was around $500, so I was looking at things like the Celestron Nexstar 4 SE in that range, and then in my research came across people saying you really need at least the 6, others say you need at least the 8, and on and on. if the 8 is the bare min to get something that he can use without getting frustrated, and explore, i am willing to go that high, although I would rather not. Much higher than that and I have to question this. If anyone can share perspectives on this I would be very appreciative, this whole field is overwhelming with so many different opinions and perspectives