Best starter telescopes for children?

[lunarhoney]

I myself have a telescope, however it's really quite large and just very inconvenient to take out and about at night time. I also have a pair of binoculars but my little girl (6 years old) finds this frustrating, as we do not have a tripod for it. Instead of purchasing a tripod I thought that it may be worth finding a telescope for her which is appropriate for taking out with us to stargaze, and one that is easy to use for her! 
Obviously I realise that she will not need a mind blowing lens, but a decent one would be great as she would love to be able to view all the planets herself. 

Thanks!!

[Qualia]

It depends on the budget, but I feel if you have a little ready cash you could get a small but really decent dobsonian like this. It isn't a toy, so it won't let you or your little one down. You just set it up on a garden table and of you go. I feel a dobsonian (a newtonian telescope on an alt-az mount) would be the best bet for your child. They are intuitively simple to master and the telescope with about 5" of aperture will show a nice amount of detail on the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn, not so say quite a fair bit on deeper space objects. The Heritage comes with two supplied eyepieces giving x26 & x65, so your child could practice with these for a good while. If after a month or so, she wanted a little more power you could always purchase a cheap x2 Barlow and effectively be doubling your child's eyepiece collection. She'd then have something like x26 & x52 and x65 & x130. Not massive amounts of power but sufficient to be getting on with Hope you and your family have a peaceful and loving Christmas

[Schorhr]

Hello Lunarhoney,

how come your daughter finds binoculars frustrating? What type are those?

Binoculars with 6x should be less frustrating, 10x get impossible to hold at that age I suppose.

What telescope do you have?

What is you budget for such a telescope?

The greatest telescope for kids that will last a long time would be the Heritage 130p. It's quite portable, though for long trips only a adult can cary it in a backpack.

It's light and small enough for a child to carry to the back yard though with ease. The height should be ideal, if she gets tall she can still put it on a table or box and use a stool.

Another option would be a 4" maksutov, but it is even more expensive (especially if you still need a good camera tripod or telescope mount for it)

Smaller and cheap scopes are a bit problematic. Most of them come on a weak mount or are just overpriced.

The small refractor (70/400) often found comes on a weak tripod and is not suited for planetary viewing as the chromatic aberration / color fringe will reduce the contrast.

The small heritage 76p or firstscope or it's clones are a neat children telescope. The delivered eyepiece won't show the planets well though and the aperture ratio of f/4 is critical regarding cheap eyepieces and the mirror quality limit the experience further.

With a bit of additional equipment, this is what to expect when you view planets with it:

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp6//2013-05-04_Saturn-h76p_3.jpg

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp6//2013-05-05_Sketch2_76_jup.bjpg.jpg

The telescope is available for 20-50gbp, you will need another eyepiece or a halfway usable barlow for planets (13-40gbp), though magnification is already limited to about 100-120x by the aperture, the mirror quality probably limits useful magnification to 60-80x anyway.

With a 4" or 5", given the planets are up in the sky and the seeing conditions are good, this is what can be expected:

http://ringohr.de/tmp6/saturn_small_130p_260x.jpg

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp6/jup20110831.jpg

5" is a nice size if galaxies and nebulae are of interest.

5" won't show spiral structures or such, but first details get visible. The ring nebula is actually a ring, orion nebula looks stunning, star clusters show first outer stars and galaxies become visible. Compared to a 3" the galaxies will be easier to spot and while not much structure is seen, you can make out different shapes and sometimes vague structure in the brighter ones.

Galaxy m81/m82 http://ringohr.de/tmp6/2013-05-05_M81_M82_KLEIN.jpg

m81, m82 and m51 in a quick sketch with higher magnification on a clear night http://ringohr.de/tmp6/2013-05-05_invertDoodle_crop-galaxies.jpg

http://www.ringohr.de/tmp6/RingNebel_3.png

(excuse my crude sketches, they are from my observation log and not pretty, should get the point across though ;-) )

[cantab]

The smaller Heritage 76 isn't bad. I have one and it's easy to use and gives nice wide-field views, although whether it would really capture the interest of a child I don't know. (I'm used to hunting for faint fuzzies with cheap optics!) However the supplied eyepieces don't give magnifications suitable for viewing the planets, and the scope in any case won't perform well at high magnifications. The finder can be a bit tricky, what I do is have both eyes open and move the scope so the star I see through the finder lines up with the one I see with my eye.

Depending on budget I'd say any of the Skywatcher Heritage 76, Orion's Skyscanner 100, or the Skywatcher Heritage 130 would be good bets.

[rwilkey]

Hi Lunarhoney, going agaist the grade a bit i would recommend the Evostar 90AZ here: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html

In my mind it is more like a telescope to a child and would be very easy to use, have a read of the reveiw of it on the same page.  I think this one would be lovely for a child.

[Schorhr]

Oh, I forgot, here an estimate / comparison of popular "small telescope deepsky objects" with different apertures as they can be seen with different telescopes

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.binoviewer.at%2Fbeobachtungspraxis%2Fteleskopvergleich_deepsky.htm

[Schorhr]

Hello Robin,

how stable is that az3 mount with the 90/900 refractor?

How good is the star diagonal?

I have a 70/700 refractor here and it's allready quite a bit for smaller mounts. I don't have a az3 unfortunately.

I see it's also sold on a eq2

http://www.zudensternen.de/Teleskop%20Skywatcher%2090-900%20auf%20EQ-2.html

Nice for size comparison ;-)

The Heritage in comparison

http://www.zudensternen.de/Teleskop%20Skywatcher%20Heritage%20Dobson%20130.html

I've brought most of my small telescopes into my astronomy class a while ago and let them set up the different telescopes. While the altAz and EQ mounts with the refractors where the most popular at first (as they look like a "real" telescope) most of them agreed they take longer to set up, one kid gave up setting up the EQ mount and went to play with the heritage ;-)

The alt Az mount I had where popular too, though a bit wobbly (no az3 though!) and the GoTo mount of course caught a lot of attention. They where not pleased with the slow panning though and did not expect that they where so expensive.

I think both are nice entry level telescopes, just my two cents regarding ease of use.

[Alien 13]

Hi Lunarhoney, going agaist the grade a bit i would recommend the Evostar 90AZ here: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html

In my mind it is more like a telescope to a child and would be very easy to use, have a read of the reveiw of it on the same page.  I think this one would be lovely for a child.

 

Great scope and not a bad mount too i would also add this to the mix as well same mount.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-mercury-705.html

[Schorhr]

Hello Alien 13,

that telescope is not ideal for planets though?

The short fh refractor should show quite some color fringe and the 70mm aperture limitsi t to 140x...

[ronin]

LH, a lot will simply depend on the budget that you are considering.

The Evostar 90 would be a very good scope, ignoring the mount which not great to get anything really useful for it means something like an EQ3-2 at least..

There an assortment of scopes at 70mm and 90mm and a few at 80mm.

The ST80 is easy to use, wide views make finding anything fairly easy.

My concern about the ST80 is that being short there is CA and the magnifications possible are limited.

I see 3 scopes that are all 900mm focal length, the objective diameter being the difference: 70mm, 80mm, 90mm. I was searching through the TS website as they list quite a few.

The Evostar 90 would be excellent, however I could see you "borrowing" it off of her.

[Alien 13]

Hello Alien 13,

that telescope is not ideal for planets though?

The short fh refractor should show quite some color fringe and the 70mm aperture limitsi t to 140x...

 

True but i thought i would throw it in the mix its actually better than you would expect though.

[rwilkey]

Hi Marcus, I reckon the AZ3 would be pretty steady, though not tried one personally, only AZ4, in the review the guy gets on with it fine, quote: The mount is adequate - solid enough to not worry about unwanted movement.  My personal opinion is that it would be good enough.  On the star diagonal point, the one supplied is a 45 degree (for land use), an additional 90 degree diagonal could be purchased to supplement this.  They are quite a reasonable cost.  My leaning towards this one is in view of the fact that I think it will be very child friendly and enough 'scope' (aperture) to see some really good views.  My wife has a Meade 90/900 and it is very user friendly.

[Alien 13]

Hi Marcus, I reckon the AZ3 would be pretty steady, though not tried one personally, only AZ4, in the review the guy gets on with it fine, quote: The mount is adequate - solid enough to not worry about unwanted movement.  My personal opinion is that it would be good enough.  On the star diagonal point, the one supplied is a 45 degree (for land use), an additional 90 degree diagonal could be purchased to supplement this.  They are quite a reasonable cost.  My leaning towards this one is in view of the fact that I think it will be very child friendly and enough 'scope' (aperture) to see some really good views.  My wife has a Meade 90/900 and it is very user friendly.

I think the upright image is quite important for a child it makes more sense to them when trying to find stuff.

[Schorhr]

If you explain to the child why it is that way and how to operate the telescope I found it's not much of an issue, other then for terrestrial use of course (which is a bit critical with younger kids due to the fact that they still could get curious about pointing the telescope at the sun.

Kids grow up with video games, they are so quicker at learning and operating new stuff then us

[animaal]

I'm thinking about getting a telescope for my young daughter too.

I'm not sure how well she'll be able to handle a telescope, but the Skywatcher Infinity 76P looks like it should fit the bill. It doesn't have a tripod, but is bottom-heavy and sits in a little "dish". I think it will be easier to manage than a mini version of an adult telescope.

[Schorhr]

Hello Animaal,

it's a little dobsonain, a newtonian/reflector telescopes on a rockerbox mount that Mr.Dobson made popular :-)

It's a nice toy, but if you want to get something that'll last longer and if you can stretch the budgt, check out the Skywatcher Heritage 130p.

That one is far from being a toy (as Qualia already said).

It's mounted the same way, and easy to carry around and handle.

The little 76p is nice to look at the moon and to spot open star clusters and orion nebula & andromeda galaxy - - - but that's about it. As posted above the planets are rather tiny even with another eyepiece or barlow.

[nicks90]

you say you want her to look at planets - in which case i would not recommend a fast newt like the 130 heritage etc. why? short focal length and very fast F5 means it will be extremely tough on eye pieces and to get high mags to view planets will require extremely tight eps. A longer focal length refractor is much more suited to this imho.

A lot of people have very good things to say about the AZ mount that comes with the celestron AstroMaster 90AZ - that you are basically getting a free 90mm scope with a really solid and good mount.

I;ve never looked through one, but I did have a play with one set up in currys a few months ago when i went to pick up my new camera, and it was extremely sturdy - even on its highest setting - very easy to set the clutches to hold the scope steady, yet still move it with just slight pressure on the handle. I was suitably impressed. Being on an adjustable mount means its easier to accomodate their height changing over time etc.

Also being F11 1000mm focal length means its very easy on eye pieces and you can get high magnifications without having very small eps. From my own experience with my 6 year old - they do NOT like looking through a 6mm plossl pin hole! I would imagine the standard 10mm ep (although a poor performer in a fast newt, it was rubbish in my 130 f5) would perform perfectly adequately in an F11 frac, giving x100 - and give pleasant views on the moon and planets.

 almost got one a few weeks ago on ebay second hand, but got sniped at the last minute. The wife was told it would be Violets scope, but the reality is it would have been my grab and go scope too, as in more adult hands i reckon it will be usable and able to track targets comfortably up to about x200, making it great for double stars too

[Joves]

I agree... And I'm also pretty certain a 6yo isn't going to be TOO disappointed with a little colour fringe

Guess you could always buy the little tacker a Tak and a few Ethos EP's to keep her satisfied

Hi Marcus, I reckon the AZ3 would be pretty steady, though not tried one personally, only AZ4, in the review the guy gets on with it fine, quote: The mount is adequate - solid enough to not worry about unwanted movement.  My personal opinion is that it would be good enough.  On the star diagonal point, the one supplied is a 45 degree (for land use), an additional 90 degree diagonal could be purchased to supplement this.  They are quite a reasonable cost.  My leaning towards this one is in view of the fact that I think it will be very child friendly and enough 'scope' (aperture) to see some really good views.  My wife has a Meade 90/900 and it is very user friendly.

[Scott]

My 2 cents for what it's worth

I think kids think telescope and think of a tube on a tripod. whether they'd be disappointed with something looking like a dob, I can't say.

I think for a young child, the views of the planets and the moon are going to be far more amazing than a faint fuzzy blob and for this reason I'd go for a long focal length refractor. 

An eq mount isn't the most intuitive mount to use so for this reason I'd go for alt/az

bearing all this in mind, you end up with something like this

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/evostar/skywatcher-evostar-90-az3.html

If this has been covered, sorry for wasting your time. good luck and I hope your little girl will be thrilled

Scott

ps. I don't get on with binoculars either

[Schorhr]

Hello Nicks90,

I have to disagree. While the Heritage is a bit hard on eyepieces due to it's f/5 aperture ratio, it is not that bad. Especially beginners (and kids!) don't bother too much with the outer field not beeing completely sharp.

I can understand that your child does not like looking through a 6mm plössl (who would! :-) )

Modern eyepieces like the BST explorers or HR Planetaries are not "tight", they have a very good eye relief and are easy to view through. Their outer field is very sharp, too.

Even the 6mm 66deg eyepiece (at 650mm focal length the whole moon fits into view at 108x) is still pretty good and only costs 27gbp including shipping.

I agree that a long focal length refractor is better, but look at the cost of a good 120mm refractor and how much a suitable mount would cost. Smaller refractors just don't show as much.

 

 

I have refractors and newtonians, and even though the heritage's mirror is not great on high magnifications, up to 160-200x it's stunning what the little newtonian is capable of.

It's biggest advantages: Kids can easily handle it, even travel with it in a backpack.

Hello Scott,

I think it strongly depends on the child. I teach a small class and some are mainly interested in planets, others in comets, and some in galaxies and especially nebulae (exploded stars) ;-)

It's best to evaluate what the child is interested in and choose the telescope according to that. I am not saying a refractor is bad - oh no! But IF the child is becoming interested in galaxies (and they usually do at one point) it's nice to have a bit more aperture.

And 130mm is quita bit more then 90mm, even with obstruction.

[bingevader]

I'm thinking about getting a telescope for my young daughter too.

I'm not sure how well she'll be able to handle a telescope, but the Skywatcher Infinity 76P looks like it should fit the bill. It doesn't have a tripod, but is bottom-heavy and sits in a little "dish". I think it will be easier to manage than a mini version of an adult telescope.

There are some very good alternatives to the infinity on this thread!

If you're dead set on the 76p, then I'd suggest shelling out a little more and getting the Heritage 76 not the infinity.

There's no finder on the infinity so finding objects for small children can be tricky, the 'scope is very easy to knock or move off the desired target as it only sits freely on the base and the eyepiece is limited.

Cheers

[TenBears]

I think a 12" dob should break her in, quite well.

Just make sure to get a stool too.

[CSM]

So much will depend on the child.  I assume that the problem with the binoculars is holding it steady.  Her height or lack of it may be a problem as well.  And of course there is the budget, which you haven't mentioned.