7 year old cant see through newtonian view finder

[skippyinspace]

Hi,

Last week my 7 year old daughter took interest in my telescope so aftee a lot of work (,couldnt get it to polar align) , I managed to get mars in the view finder only to find even with tube rotation, standing on stools, ladders etc she could get to the view finder.

I was wondering if there was a cheap simple way that she could see.

Ie a webcam and a laptop, Its been a little while since ive used the scope and noticed that you can now get better aids for polar alignment and think now would be a great time to introduce her to astronomy since she seems interested 

 

thanks

ian

[DaveL59]

No reason not to try the SPC webcam. I hooked mine into the LT70 some days ago and was able to get mars into view, ableit struggled to focus etc and its non-tracking so that fast became a chore. Not got around to trying a more modern webcam so far as I ended up using that for the skycam instead but when prices get back to more sensible levels I might give that a go too 🙂 

Edited November 10, 2020 by DaveL59

[fifeskies]

Do you have a DSLR camera you can connect.

The much bigger sensor is perfect for letting kids see the easier and more satisfying targets

Use APT to frame capture the image , even if you don't want to keep them.

 

Moon is perfect for this    just a quick 1/250th at ISO 800 to start with then adjust to suit your scope

 

Some favourite DSO like  M31 , Pleiades , Orion nebula (once its up a bit more later in winter).

Its particularly good if its a visible object like Pleiades they can have pointed out to them while the camera is taking the exposure, then they get to see it on the screen in much more detail.

 

Its a case of work out the setting for ISO and exposure time (start with iso800 and 90 sec then adjust from there)

Very rapid result and viewable on the laptop screen right away.

 

Planets are a tad more difficult but Jupiter and the 4 main moons are easy and the moons move round (well IO does at least) satsifyingly fast so kids can see the change day to day

 

here is a single 90 sec frame of M31 from a 80mm scope at ISO800 in my DSLR

(I find kids love to see a "proper" galaxy).

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by fifeskies

[skippyinspace]

Great idea but I dont have a DSLR, have a Phillips SPC8000 web cam so will have to try that for now.

Thanks for the help

Ian

[Swillis]

Worth a go with the webcam, if it works great and anything to build on that interest.  Probably worth testing it out first or getting it setup without your daughter about, least of all so she doesn't hear all the swearing when it all goes wrong, but watching for ages as you try to set it up will do nothing for that enthusiasm. 

With our 4 year old, I've found binoculars on a tripod to be very good (easier than lifting her up to the telescope eyepiece). Your not going to get the magnification of a telescope, but it's easier for them to see through with two eye pieces (certainly for a 4yo) and good for looking at the moon and showing Jupiter's moons. Even a pair of kids binoculars are able to show them a bit more than they can see unaided. 

Also, I have heard that the small table top dobs are really great for kids. I plan to look into these in a few years if my daughter interest continues. 

Good luck, I hope her enthusiasm continues.