beginner telescope for an 8 year old

[lambshanks]

Hello folks

I am after some advice if possible. I have absolutely no knowledge of telescopes. My son has decided that he wants a telescope for Christmas after seeing a Discovery Channel one in a toy shop (£15). The reviews of these and similarly priced kids telescopes suggest that they are little more than mediocre plastic toys so I am not too keen as I am hoping this could develop into a genuine hobby and don't want the first experience to be such a disappointment that all interest is lost. That being said, I have no idea whether it will catch on at all and so am not looking to invest too heavily either. I have set myself a budget of around £40 so that I can get what I would hope is a step up from the aforementioned toys but won't be throwing money away if it gets used a few times and then forgotten (quite possible). With this in mind I am looking at two in particular:

Vivitar 50mm 75X/150X

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Refractor-Telescopes-Astronomy-Vivitar-Adjustable/dp/B00TE0613W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

Meade Infinity 600 AZ

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/cameras-and-camcorders/photography-accessories/telescopes/meade-infinity-600-az-refractor-telescope-blue-10134462-pdt.html?srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~~~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&s_kwcid=AL!3391!3!49996998095!!!g!84665001455!&ef_id=VmclxAAABGTNUYXN:20151208210306:s

I am favouring the Meade, partly due to the big price drop but also the larger number of positive reviews on Amazon.com. Does anyone have any input on which of these would make the best starter, or if both are actually junk, or if there is anything else at this pricepoint I should be considering? I should point out that he very much wants a 'classic' telescope rather than a Dobsonian.

Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated!

[happy-kat]

Welcome

What about this one

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/256835-man-on-the-moon-telescope/?fromsearch=1

Out of your two links the 60mm would be better I think as it has a bigger apparature the Meade (though don't know anything about that one).

Realistically if lucky you might get twice the aparature for maximum magnification.

[BritAngler]

FLO (who sponsor this site, see the link at the top of the page) are doing a good starter scope for youngsters at £59, that should allow him to see a whole  lot of things from planets to nebula, and hopefully his interest is going to be for life.

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-cosmos-lt-60az.html

[Putaendo Patrick]

Of the two telescopes you suggest I would pretty much reject the Vivitar out of hand, but certainly give some serious consideration to the Meade. The price puts it right at the very start of a "non-toy" telescope, and I don't know that the offer is much more than marketing! Even so, it should be fine to get your son going and determine if he's interested.

Don't expect to get mega-magnifications; generally I double the aperture (60mm) to give a rough idea of the maximum (120 times). This said, you don't need more to get great detailed views of the Moon and more than good enough views of the planets and brighter deep space objects.

Be aware that what your son will see through this telescope (or any amateur telescope at any price) is nothing like the incredible coloured images he may have seen in books, the Internet or TV taken with very, very expensive specialised equipment!

Your son's interest in astronomy will very much depend on the support and encouragement you give him. Have a look for books which he may enjoy and maybe buy one of the popular astronomy magazines (these generally have a monthly guide to what is worth seeing). Stellarium is a great free programme which can be downloaded from the internet. It can be set to your location and will show the sky for any time and date.

[Putaendo Patrick]

This is very much a question and not an answer, but has anyone had the opportunity to compare the Meade and the Celestron side-by-side?

My impression is that the specifications are pretty similar, and that both telescopes, by rival companies, are probably aimed at the same segment of the market. The price difference may be due, for example, to Meade needing to reduce its inventory rather to any significant difference in quality and performance.

Just a thought!

[glynnlondon]

Defo the Meade over the other one of the 2 you have highlighted.

Interesting point by putaendo Patrick the celestron and the Meade do seem similar.

[baggywrinkle]

My colleagues son has a Vivitar...nasty plasticky thing.

The Skywatcher Star Travel scopes get good reviews as do the small Dobs http://www.firstlightoptics.com/dobsonians/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html

http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/review/telescopes/sky-watcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian

[BritAngler]

Yep, drop the Vivitar from your list. They make good camera lenses, but that 'scope is little more than a toy.

[lambshanks]

Thanks to all for such a great response! As tempted as I am by the Celestron for £59, this is still significantly over what I am comfortable paying for what is at present a bit of a gamble (particularly when there are two other children to buy for!) and not intended as a 'main' present. I decided it was narrowed down to the Meade or the travel scope aeajr suggested and was swaying toward the latter until I looked again on Amazon and found that the 60 has somehow jumped up £15 or so in the 12 hours since I had a quick look on the way to work this morning, which equally knocks it out of the equation for the time being. Which means I have settled on giving the Meade a try, for an absolute beginner it seems an acceptable choice. His birthday is in 6 months and if a passion for this has grown in that time I will be more than happy to either upgrade the existing one or move onto a 70 or 90.

Thanks also to aeajr for all the links and suggestions, I will be sure to invest some serious time in this prior to handing it over as I would love for it to be a success and it could be a great learning experience for both of us.

One other question if I may - can anyone suggest a good book about the solar system for the 8-10 age range? There seem to be a wealth of options out there but mostly seem to be aimed at either early readers or teens upwards. A good balance of facts and pictures would be ideal.

Thanks once again for the help and making a total novice so welcome!

[Putaendo Patrick]

For the price, the Meade seems like a great option. I just wish someone had bought me one when I was 8!

In the early 17th century, Galileo was the first "modern" astronomer to use a telescope to observe the Moon and planets. He revolutionised our view of the solar system, demonstrating that the Earth revolved around the Sun. And the primitive telescope he used was a whole lot worse than the one you are buying!

As for books, it depends in part on your son and his reading habits. However I might recommend :

Astronomy for Beginners (third edition 2015) published by "All About Space" ISBN 978-1785461477

It's not a children's book per se but it is full of excellent photos and diagrams, and has a magazine format with lots of "boxes" of information, so you can pick at it rather than have to read it from cover to cover. I think he might grow into it quite fast!

Popular astronomy magazines, for example "Sky at Night", might also be interesting. They have pages of what it best to see each month, and I'm sure you can "work" on many of the articles together with your son.

Good luck, and as they say here, Clear Skies!

[happy-kat]

Someone once posted excellent right age book on amazon with activities to do

[RIVERRAT123]

We bought a little Vivitar scope several month back as literally a toy scope to see if the kids will really be into it or if it was a fleeting thing.  First off, it does work, and it works pretty poorly, but if you can find one like I did for $12, it could be worse right?  No, I would not recommend it.  Anything somewhat bright duplicates through the lense, say we're looking at a bright star, we'll see a duplicate above and below the real star.  Anything dim will simply be a dim version of what you are looking at a little bigger.  Me and my oldest daughter only play with it to practice star hopping with the VERY limited field of view and close in on the Andromeda galaxy and the Orion Nebula (although the scope does nothing to make them impressive at all), it's simply to practice until we get our real stuff.

They come with an incredibly wobbly tripod that WILL fall apart in a week or two of decent use.  Ours is now on a camera tripod a friend gave us and the difference is significant.  Right now my whole family has binoculars to use and they are the best thing we've done based on suggestions of most folks on CN.  My daughter is already star hopping around orion, Pleiades (sp), and following planes etc and can even enjoy them during daylight hours.

No, don't waste your money on the Vivitar, we got it for super cheap and honestly, anything more than $12 for this scope would have been a ripoff.  Listen to these guys, they know what's up.  In my research I'm seeing big things from these little spotting scopes/travel scopes aeajr is suggesting and they are certainly worth a good look.
 

I'm getting my daughter a Meade Lightbridge mini 82 because of all the options I've offered her it's the one she really really wants.

Hi, this is my first post!  Introduction coming shortly.

 

[Dave In Vermont]

Vivitar used to be decent. But that was 20 years ago. Since then they are associated with every curse-word in the dictionary. Avoid at all cost!

All the best,

Dave (who has old Vivitar binoculars that are fine)