First Telescope for 7 year old

[Meesh]

Apologies for asking another “what telescope do I get for a Christmas present” question for advice. My daughter is showing a keen interest in the night sky and has written to Santa asking for a telescope (she’s 7). I’d like to get her something that she can grow into and that will hopefully last a while and provide her with a real hobby she can develop and learn from. So despite starting to look at the mass manufactured gimmicky kids telescopes, I really want to avoid getting a glorified magnifying glass that won’t really allow her to see very much more. I’m working on a pretty tight budget and am starting from zero knowledge base. I’ve done a lot of research and am currently looking at 2nd hand Celestron 114/130 eq AstroMaster telescopes only because the research seemed to suggest they allow you to get clear images of the moons surface and Venus and Saturn and some nebula too??? I’m concerned about the complexity- though I am reasonably intelligent (despite being blonde :D) - I’m not expecting a telescope such as this will be suitable for a 7 year old to work out, however I’m looking for something I will be able to work out so that she can enjoy it and learn to use it over time. The 2nd hand scopes I’m looking at range between £40 - £80 on eBay currently but I’m just not confident about what I’m buying and so hope that you won’t mind advising yet another present buyer thank you for reading

[Demonperformer]

Hi, Meesh, and welcome to SGL.

Something like this from our sponsor would be really easy to use and would meet your observational requirements ["The high quality 100mm f/4 parabolic mirror-set offers excellent views of the Moon, bright planets, star clusters, bright galaxies and nebulae"]. She would need to "learn" the sky, but if she is already showing interest in the night sky I doubt that would be a problem.

I would say definitely avoid anything with an EQ mount at this stage.

[Ricochet]

Two questions to start with:

Is £80 the top of your budget? 

Other than asking Santa for a telescope has your daughter indicated whether she wants the telescope just for astronomy or whether she expects to be able to use it in the day on terrestrial objects? 

[Carbon Brush]

Hello Meesh. Welocme to SGL.

There is no need to apologise for another 'Christmas telescope' question.

First advice. Avoid ebay and the like for a used scope. You may get rubbish offered and unless you know what to look for, the scope could end up in the bin with the wrapping paper.

Second advice. Avoid deprtment stores, computer shops and anyone other than a specialist astronomy retailer if you buy new.
In general the staff have no idea what they are selling. The astronomy retailer will hope this sale is the first of more to come as time passes.

First Light Optics (who sponsor this site) sell various 'eginner scopes have advice to supplement what you will find here.

Hope this helps, David.

 

[IanL]

Agree with the above posters, second hand might be good or a disaster depending on your luck. EQ mounts are definitely not a good idea for a 7yo. I think you need to be realistic about how much she will be able to do without the help of parents, but observing the sky together is a great activity and if you get a reasonable scope she will grow in to it.

Take a look at this for one guide to possibilities:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

Also the first item on this page offers a bit more information and a wider selection (disclaimer, I wrote it, up to date as it was revised this month):

https://www.northessexastro.co.uk/free-astronomy-resources/

[Meesh]

1 hour ago, Ricochet said:

Two questions to start with:

Is £80 the top of your budget? 

Other than asking Santa for a telescope has your daughter indicated whether she wants the telescope just for astronomy or whether she expects to be able to use it in the day on terrestrial objects? 

£80 was the top of what I was looking at. I could push up to £100 but was hoping 2nd hand might help me to bring it down somewhat. I think day time too would definitely interest her

[Demonperformer]

That being the case, the dob I've suggested above would not be appropriate. 

[dweller25]

1 hour ago, Meesh said:

I think day time too would definitely interest her

Rule number 1 for your daughter - do not use the scope to look at the Sun

[reezeh]

Hi Meesh

It's a toughie working to a budget, but imho I'd steer clear of newtonian reflectors (the sort where you look into the side at the top of the tube) because they're over complicated, needing endless tweaking.

Personally, I'd suggest a 80-90mm refractor with a couple of decent eyepieces in the 15-30mm range and a 2x barlow and a right-angled prism adaptor called a star  diagonal.

It'll be tough to get that for under £120 I reckon, even on EBay.

 

A good telescope that comes with pretty horrible eyepieces is one that Dixons used to sell under the title "Prinz Astral 500" can be found on Ebay. Optically the dark blue and turquoise ones are fantastic. Only problem is they're a 60mm scope and I did mention the eyepieces - two of the three that usually come supplied are an ancient design called a Huyghens and the remaining one is almost as old.

That'll mean even more expense; an adaptor for better eyepieces, which isn't expensive and a set of eyepieces and larger star diagonal to take them (probably end up costing more than the scope).

 

You might have to try keep your daughter's interest going by getting her a couple of nice astronomy books and let her use any binoculars you might have till next Christmas whilst you save up for that 80-90mm telescope!

[alanjgreen]

1 hour ago, Meesh said:

£80 was the top of what I was looking at. I could push up to £100 but was hoping 2nd hand might help me to bring it down somewhat. I think day time too would definitely interest her

Sounds like the Heritage 100p is what you need

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html

 

You need a garden table to seat the scope on, then you just point and look.

If you download a free app to your phone such as stellarium then you can use that to locate objects in the sky. Start with something big like the moon. Jupiter will be along in a few months.

If you dont have a garden table, or want a scope that "looks like a scope" then the Celestron Inspire 70AZ is decent...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/inspire-series-telescopes/celestron-inspire-70mm-az-refractor.html

or Sky Watcher Star Travel 80mm (larger aperture)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-az3.html

Either should fit the bill & both come with simple AZ tripods.

The best beginners book to look out for is "Turn left at Orion", it has 200+ pages of objects to try to find with your scope, directions how to find them & sketches of what to expect to see with a small scope!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

HTH,

Alan

[reezeh]

18 minutes ago, alanjgreen said:

Sounds like the Heritage 100p is what you need

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/skywatcher-heritage-100p-tabletop-dobsonian.html

 

You need a garden table to seat the scope on, then you just point and look.

If you download a free app to your phone such as stellarium then you can use that to locate objects in the sky. Start with something big like the moon. Jupiter will be along in a few months.

If you dont have a garden table, or want a scope that "looks like a scope" then the Celestron Inspire 70AZ is decent...

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/inspire-series-telescopes/celestron-inspire-70mm-az-refractor.html

or Sky Watcher Star Travel 80mm (larger aperture)

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/startravel/skywatcher-startravel-80-az3.html

Either should fit the bill & both come with simple AZ tripods.

The best beginners book to look out for is "Turn left at Orion", it has 200+ pages of objects to try to find with your scope, directions how to find them & sketches of what to expect to see with a small scope!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/turn-left-at-orion-book.html

HTH,

Alan

I'd recommend the refractors (lens telescopes). Can a seven year old handle collimating? Even I'd shudder at that!

[reezeh]

1 hour ago, Demonperformer said:

That being the case, the dob I've suggested above would not be appropriate. 

For a child, I'd steer clear of newtonians. One word: Collimation.

[Ricochet]

2 hours ago, Meesh said:

I think day time too would definitely interest her

Given that, you probably want to look at telescopes that are refractors (lenses at the front) rather than reflectors (mirror at the back). If the refractor comes with an erecting prism the image will be correctly orientated. If it comes with a star diagonal it will be correct vertically but reversed horizontally. Reflectors, on the other hand, will have an image that is reversed both horizontally and vertically and so they are not really suitable for terrestrial targets. The downside of choosing a refractor over a reflector is that you won't be able to get as large a telescope for the same money. The Skywatcher Startravel range would be a good option to look out for on your search. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Have a look  here:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes.html

Collimation is not a critical issue with the two cheaper scopes on that page.

The 70mm Celestron refractor on offer for £125 is much better than some of the cheaper ones out there.

The bug can bite these youngsters, I know a chap with a 10 year old son (well 11 today I think!) and teh lad now has a decent sized Dobsonian scope and knows how to use it!

[reezeh]

I mentioned a vintage brand of telescope, there's a couple in your price range on eBay 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Astral-500-telescope-Boxed/163348609946?hash=item260855fb9a:g:CPMAAOSw1fJb2ujE

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRINZ-ASTRAL-500-TELESCOPE-VINTAGE/273576031242?hash=item3fb266f40a:g:Tl8AAOSwEwhb7w9K

 

They're full kits. And I did say the eyepieces could be better, they're usable and don't underestimate a good Prinz Astral 500; they're often keepers. If you get one that has a little capital "T" in a circle on the info sticker/plate you've probably got a beauty there - they punch above their weight.

I know, I had one. Something the astronomers here would understand; at 60mm, they'll split Epsilon Lyrae pretty cleanly. That's something a telescope of 60mm should seriously struggling with!

 

Advice: strongly suggest either get rid of any "sun" filter whatever telescope you get or hide it. Supervise your daughter if the sun is above the horizon closely. Do NOT allow her to point any telescope at the sun and look through the eyepiece! Learn how to project the sun; it's the safest way to look at the sun.

 

Talking of the eyepieces, the supplied ones with the Astral are well suited to solar projection because there's no cement in them to overheat

[bomberbaz]

Some might disagree with me but I have heard decent reports about this scope, but not the mount. The mount is awful

travel scope

However if you bought this mount she should be able to handle it quite well and will give great views of the moon and also be good for daytime viewing.

Mount

Total cost a shade over £100, the larger eyepiece on the scope will be fine, the smaller one will be a little more challenging for a youngster.