Scope for 3yo and papa

[Craig Rothwell]

Hi - having spent a great week in stretton looking at the sky at night I want to get a scope for my 3yo granddaughter and me as that is what grandads do right.. I want something out of the box that we can both use straight away, my budget is around £100 for something robust but allow us to see planets ? ( am i asking too much at 100 ?) Any advise would be most welcome as I have stupidly avoided this hobby all my life, I plan to change it.

[Ricochet]

The best scope for £100 is the skywatcher heritage 100p, but you would be better off increasing your budget for a heritage 130p, or even doubling it for a 150p. 

With regards to your granddaughter, I am not sure if 3 will be a little bit young for using a telescope. Others will have experience of children this young looking through telescopes and be better able to advise. 

[John]

20 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

The best scope for £100 is the skywatcher heritage 100p, but you would be better off increasing your budget for a heritage 130p, or even doubling it for a 150p. 

With regards to your granddaughter, I am not sure if 3 will be a little bit young for using a telescope. Others will have experience of children this young looking through telescopes and be better able to advise. 

I've done quite a few outreach sessions with children and I find that the younger ones struggle to see anything through a scope. I would say that 8-10 years and up is where they can adapt to the technique of one eye closed, keep the head still, don't touch the scope which is needed. We usually give the younger children binoculars and they seem to get on well with those.

 

 

[Ricochet]

8 minutes ago, John said:

I've done quite a few outreach sessions with children and I find that the younger ones struggle to see anything through a scope. I would say that 8-10 years and up is where they can adapt to the technique of one eye closed, keep the head still, don't touch the scope which is needed. We usually give the younger children binoculars and they seem to get on well with those.

 

 

Thanks, John. The cut off age is even higher than I had thought. 

[John]

7 minutes ago, Ricochet said:

Thanks, John. The cut off age is even higher than I had thought. 

There may well be children of younger age around who can manage observing though a scope OK but I've not come across many of those.

Some grown ups find it more challenging than they thought it might be as well !

 

[bingevader]

We've gone as low as Year 2 so far in school, so that's 6 and 7 years old, with good success.

Maybe start saving.

I'd recommend something easy to use and fairly robust, stargazing is definitely a hands on experience with children.

With that in mind, if the budget should run to it by then, I'd avoid goto 'scopes.

You will be forever realigning!

[Girders]

Hi Craig,

Firstly, I think it's brilliant that this is something you want to do with your granddaughter.  I bought my first scope in 2017 when my daughter just turned 4 and had a big interest in all things "Space".  I started with a Heritage 114 mini dobsonian, so only very slightly bigger than the Heritage 100 suggested above which comes in on budget. It will give you great views of the moon, but planets will be tiny.  On a good night you'll (just about) see Jupiter's bands and Saturn's rings.  So yes, what you are asking is achievable for your budget (but a little extra can make a big difference).

Usually when I'm commenting on my experience with my daughter I advise people to go for a scope with tracking motors at least (computerised GoTo is an added extra but not essential).  This means that once set up with care and lined up with a planet etc in view it will stay in view.  At the magnifications required targets will quickly drift out of view - certainly by the time you 'switch in' your granddaughter to view and coax her how to see through the eyepiece.  BUT, I think as she's *so young* I would advise on giving up on using the eyepiece for her at all.  Get a smartphone adapter you can put on the end and let her view on that.  My wee one now aged 6 still finds it the best way to view anything.  It also means you can ignore any requirement for tracking as you'll be able to gently move the scope and see on the phone screen to keep it in view.  It also means you can be sure what she sees instead of hoping she's managed to see something in the eyepiece.

But now I have to offer some harsh lessons from my real life experiences.  Firstly, the planets are rarely visible at suitable times for young children.  Most of my own good sessions have been between 11pm and 5am!  Over the last 2/3 years my little girl has probably managed 8 or 9 sessions with the telescope - mostly looking at the moon with maybe 2 or 3 where she got to see a planet or two (one of which we woke her up for well after midnight!).  And keep in mind that this was when we have her with us all the time.  If you are 'borrowing' your granddaughter your opportunities will be even more restricted - although your weather may well be better than mine in Glasgow!

And a few final thoughts... Without wanting to discourage you, I've found there are better ways to engage my daughter's love of space than having her out in the cold for an often unsatisfactory viewing experience.  There are amazing fact books on space for kids, "Lets Go Live" on Youtube with Maddie Moate and Greg Foot did a wonderful week of Space themed shows for 3-8 year olds you can still view, or you can pick her up a real meteorite for £10-£15 - what little girl wouldn't love her own shooting star?    I haven't regretted a minute the time and money I've spent over the last few years - probably £500 including accessories an and upgrade to a new scope - but it's been worth it for the enjoyment *I've* had more than she has had.  In the years to come she'll get more out of it, but so far ages 4 to 6 probably not much.  And without upsetting lots of people on here - once she's seen a planet, she's seen a planet.  There's not a lot of motivation for her to see it again.  My own memories as a child of astronomy were going with my dad to a couple of open public sessions at our local observatory/museum - so once the current COVID situation improves, your best option in the short term may be to try and do something similar or at an astronomy club outreach session.  

Sorry if that's less than encouraging, but having been pretty much where you are now, I think I owe you a realistic account of my experiences.  And again, huge appreciation of your efforts to cater for your granddaughter's interest.

[Craig Rothwell]

Thanks everyone, the YouTube route is a great start and I'll review the items recommended. I may not tell grandma that our granddaughter may not be able.to use the telescope straight away 😉

Thanks again.

[Craig Rothwell]

thanks again for all the advice, apologies i forgot to provide an update. I received a 150P for christmas from the family. Having great fun so far exploring and learning. next step is to attach my Nikon D3200 to it.