First telescope for teenager? (Noob)

[9-42]

Hi everyone, noob here.

Our teenage son has always been interested in the stars and planets and we'd like to get him a telescope.

I really don't know where to start or what to look for and was hoping for some recommendations based on some known criteria?

I'm based in the UK

He's looking to operate from his bedroom or garden and I anticipate a tri-pod based mount better

He'd like to look at the stars and planets (duh!?)

He's not looking to download images or create art work, just to view and enjoy

He is on the autistic spectrum and has dyspraxia so something that is easy to set up and operate is preferred

I guess the budget is in the few hundred pound range for his first telescope - hoping this will be enough to get him good quality, but not be a disaster if he looses interest eventually

Does this give enough information to recommend something?

Decent quality, easy to set up and operate without unessessary complexity /features that might overwhelm him or discourage him.

Thanks in advance.

[stephec]

Do you have a local club that you could visit, you're likely to be able to try a few different ones out and pick up some good advice as well? 

[9-42]

Not in our location I don't believe, we're pretty remote and want it to be a surprise. 

[vlaiv]

Hi and welcome to SGL.

Based on what you've said, I'd recommend this scope to you:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/sky-watcher-starquest/sky-watcher-starquest-102mc-f127-maksutov-cassegrain-telescope.html

It is light weight and can easily be moved

It has a tripod that is sufficient given the size of telescope

Telescope can operate in alt azimuth mode (simpler for beginner), or equatorial mount - better for planetary observation but needs a bit getting used to, which can come with time.

It is in price range, but can be upgraded with tracking motor for better experience when looking at planets at higher power.

With suitable diagonal prism (amici / erecting prism) - it can be used during daytime as a spotter scope as it will provide upright and properly oriented image (for astronomy it does not matter how image is oriented, but this scope normally reverses left and right when used for astronomy - so needs special addition for daytime use. Most telescopes have this or similar reversal, but with this it is easy to correct with relatively cheap part if one wants spotter).

In general - this telescope's strong side are planets / moon / stars.

I would not recommend however that you use it from within a room (nor any telescope for that matter). Image seriously degrades when looking thru the window glass, and temperature difference causes issues. Telescopes work the best when the are outside and cooled to ambient temperature - so garden it is.

[vlaiv]

Just to add - there are a few reviews of that telescope on youtube which are worth checking out:

 

[9-42]

Thank you, I'll take a look!

 

[9-42]

Just before I pull the trigger, he wears glasses for short sight, will that be an issue ro will he need a different eye piece or adapter? Sorry if a silly queastion.

[bingevader]

If he is just short sighted (or long sighted for that matter), he can just take off the glasses.

If it's an astigmatism, then he'll need the glasses.

I'm short sighted, it's what I do.

Edited November 15, 2022 by bingevader

[vlaiv]

Just now, 9-42 said:

Just before I pull the trigger, he wears glasses for short sight, will that be an issue ro will he need a different eye piece or adapter? Sorry if a silly queastion.

Not silly question at all.

Some glass wearers can observe without glasses and some can't. It really depends on what sort of eye problem we are talking about.

If it is simple near/far-sightedness then you don't need glasses when observing. Telescope focus compensates for this and one can get perfect image (but people not wearing the glasses will need to refocus the telescope to get sharp image).

Cylinder / astigmatism type of eye problem can't be solved with refocusing alone and one needs to wear eyeglasses.

If wearing the eyeglasses will be problem when observing depends on eye relief of the eyepiece. There are eyepieces that are designed to have long eye relief (meaning position of the eye can be further away from eyepiece itself to fit the glasses in between) and can be used with eyeglasses.

Out of two eyepieces that come with scope - I believe that 25mm one has enough eye relief. Shorter 10mm one - won't have for sure.

For shorter FL, different eyepiece can be purchased. These are very good and have good eye relief and won't break the bank:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html

With above scope, I would not go below 8mm.

5mm will give too much magnification, and won't be usable.

8mm or 12mm can be purchased to replace stock 10mm as they are close enough in focal length and have enough eye relief (16mm).

[bingevader]

Just to throw another 'scope into the mix!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-dobsonian-telescope.html

Great beginner's 'scope, slightly larger mirror than the 102 and very easy to set up and use.

[Knighty2112]

If you go with that scope you will need a dew shield as during this time of year the front can dew up without some form of protection, else any observing can be quickly cut short without one due to dewing up of the front lens of the telescope. You can buy these from FLO, but in the past for some of my scopes I’Ve made my own with a cheap black yoga/exercise mat from either Amazon or ebay. Quite easy to do if you want to do your own.

 

[9-42]

14 minutes ago, bingevader said:

Just to throw another 'scope into the mix!

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/reflectors/sky-watcher-heritage-150p-flextube-dobsonian-telescope.html

Great beginner's 'scope, slightly larger mirror than the 102 and very easy to set up and use.

Thanks - forgive me, but what difference does the mirror make? Is this one easier to set up and use? I note it does not have a tri-pod?

 

[bosun21]

Personally I would stick with the first choice. The reflector introduces the caveat of collimation into play. This is often a daunting prospect with beginners, more so if you don’t want anything to complicate things. For the planets and the moon the Maksutov is a terrific little scope and doesn’t have this caveat 

Edited November 15, 2022 by bosun21
Typo

[Ricochet]

56 minutes ago, 9-42 said:

Thanks - forgive me, but what difference does the mirror make? Is this one easier to set up and use? I note it does not have a tri-pod?

 

Generally the larger the aperture, be that a mirror or lens, the better. However, due to your son's dyspraxia, I think that a telescope that has slow motion controls, such as the starquest suggested by @vlaiv is a better choice. The slow motion controls are knobs on long bendy rods/springs that your son can turn to move the telescope. A relatively large turn of the knob moves the telescope a small amount and the flexibility of the rods helps prevent vibrations being transmitted from the user to the telescope. 

[happy-kat]

to start you could make a dew shield from a roll of cardboard

[allworlds]

I have a similar scope to the one vlaiv posted, though on an alt-az mount. I find it quite challenging to find things with because the long focal ratio and only accepting 1.25 inch eyepieces makes it impossible to get a wide field of view. The Moon and planets are easy to find (and look great) but hunting down DSOs takes me patience and detailed charts. (Edit: Turn Left at Orion has proven useful but I still find myself checking with some star charts that go down to mag 8.5 stars.) A Newtonian reflector is typically better in that respect. Skywatcher sell a 5 inch Newt and a 4 inch short-tube refractor on that same Starquest mount. (The refractor is perhaps even better at widefield than the Newtonian, but will show strong chromatic aberration at high magnification.)

Ricochet raises a good point about whether your son's dyspraxia would affect him using a Dobsonian, which is the usual "default" recommendation. Positive of a Dobsonian is it is simple, conceptually and mechanically. You know your son best, so you'll know if he'd be better off moving the scope directly (a Dobsonian), using mechanical knobs for the fine movements (a mount with slow-motion controls), using a handset a bit like a TV remote (older Goto mounts), or using his smartphone (new wifi Goto mounts).

Edited November 16, 2022 by allworlds

[Alan64]

In 1941, then the USSR, a group of scientists were hurriedly boarded onto a fast train headed east towards Siberia, and to protect and secure them from invaders encroaching from the west.   On that train, with papers in his lap, was Dmitry Maksutov, an optical engineer, also an amateur astronomer as ourselves...

 

Maksutov had a beautiful, wonderful reason for creating his telescope: for schools, school-children, and to withstand the rigors of that environment.  Among all reflectors, which utilise an objective mirror, a Maksutov is the most refractor-like, in tight, durable construction and optical performance.  This is how light from an object travels through a Maksutov...

The incoming light is folded twice, into three paths.  That's how to fit a long focal-length into a short, compact tube. 

The suggested 102mm Maksutov has a focal-length of 1300mm, and simulates a 90mm+ refractor, yet the refractor would have a very long tube by comparison, cumbersome, unwieldy, requiring a large, heavy and costly mount to support it.  Although the 102mm Maksutov can be placed on a lightweight photo-tripod, and be well supported, but a telescope-type mount would be best, like the equatorial mount within the kit's listing.  I do wonder if that mount can be used as an alt-azimuth.  It does appear that it might.

Given that Maksutov's long focal length, it will play well with inexpensive eyepieces, even like this free kit-eyepiece of my own...

That one, at 4mm, would realise a power of 325x.  However, the telescope, combined with our atmosphere and other variables, may not be able to reach that high of a magnification.  Eyepieces, in general, range from a high-power 4mm, to a low-power 40mm. 

To assist the user and the telescope's finder in finding objects to observe, it's best to have a lowest-power eyepiece on hand, which could be a 40mm, but in general a 32mm Plossl is used.  A 40mm Plossl will show a slightly wider view over that of a 32mm...

That's it, the lowest power, and the widest view, to help with the hunt, but a bit of a narrow view when compared to other telescopes.  Maksutovs are not for wide, panoramic, low-power views, but it will take you in the opposite direction, up close to an object, at high power, then to see what most people have never seen.

Edited November 16, 2022 by Alan64

[Jules Tohpipi]

20 hours ago, allworlds said:

I have a similar scope to the one vlaiv posted, though on an alt-az mount. I find it quite challenging to find things with because the long focal ratio and only accepting 1.25 inch eyepieces makes it impossible to get a wide field of view. 

Just for context, as your comment is a little extreme, the Sky-Watcher 102 Mak has - for any given 1.25” eyepiece - the same field of view as the Sky-Watcher 200P Classic dob. Which is a highly recommended and popular telescope (regardless of whether used with the more expensive 2” glass). 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Jules Tohpipi