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Telescope for 12 year old


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Hi,

I wondered if I could ask what you think would be a good telescope for my 12 year old son? He loves reading about science in great depth and likes to know stuff. He saw telescopes in the science museum last week and thought they looked amazing. I think he would mostly want to look at the moon and planets and the stars. He might possibly be more interested in the telescope than the stars. It's for his birthday in May so we have a bit of time to think about it. 

We live in a city in the UK (south east, very dry, often cloudless) and we have a garden that is about 10m by 28m. We would not be going any distance to get to unlit places, so would have to stick to what we have in the garden. 

We have a canon 5d MkII DSLR which could be used if there was a telescope with an adapter available. 

We would be happy to buy used off ebay, or new, and out budget would be under £100. 

Thanks so much for your help.

Jennifer

 

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Hello Jennifer and welcome!

This isn’t an easy question with no simple answer. I started off relatively recently when I bought my then 9 yr old daughter a telescope for Christmas about 2.5 yrs ago.

A budget of £100 is pushing it. It’s not a cheap hobby. Although I got something for Alice that cost ~£150 it was rather inappropriate. But managed to get by and make it a success with persistence and effort. I/we find astronomy is something best done together. It also rewards patience, something that children can lack! Eg one night we slept out in the garden under the stars (no tent). Spent a lot of time looking for shooting starts with some success - a lot of fun in itself - then scanned the sky with binoculars, looking at stars & star clusters… learning about the constellations. We looked in the “big telescope” just once (at something called the ring nebula). Spent the rest of the time drinking hot chocolate & toasting marshmallows. What I’m suggesting here is that to do something like this you don’t even need a telescope. And we actually used the binoculars far more. Binoculars are worth considering (Alice also uses them for wildlife), although I know that kids often want something that looks like a telescope. 

And on top of buying our first telescope (we now have two) I quickly spent at least another £150 on “accessories” - better eyepieces, upgrading the mount, smartphone adapter…

There are pictures under this thread that illustrate some of our journey:

And a few other important points…

AVOID eBay at all costs. Nothing wrong with secondhand but eBay is not great for purchasing astronomy kit until you really know what you are doing. And even then it’s not great.

What city are you in, where about are you located? I’m in Southampton which suffers from light pollution. This limits what we can see from our back garden. The moon and plants are fine. But planets can be tricky as they require good conditions (not just clear sky) plus a telescope that can take a high magnification - which means more money. If there’s a club not far away it might be worth giving them a visit. They will be more than happy to help. Even an individual astronomer. People who own telescopes are usually more than happy to “show off” what they have and equally happy to help. 

The size of your garden doesn’t matter. But is it obstructed by anything? Which way does it face? Eg my best views are to the E to SW. The north is poor.

And at this stage forget about trying to attached a DSLR. You’ll need to spend a lot of money to do that successfully. However, you’ll be able to take smartphone snaps of bright objects easily and cheaply which we find a lot of fun.

And don’t forget viewing the sun. With a simple white light filter plus precautions and care we’ve found this enormous fun. And no need to hang about in the dark and cold!

Hope this helps!

Peter 

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And have a look at the beginners section at FLO. You don’t have to buy from them but it’ll give you an idea:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/page/2/

A bit over your budget but if you don’t want to spend much more than £100 then this is what I’d suggest:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/ursa-major-102mm-tabletop-dobsonian-telescope.html

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Hello Jennifer and welcome.

You already know £100 is pushing things for a new scope that gives worthwhile views.
The problem with buying used is where to get a decent scope. The advice is always to avoid ebay, gumtree, etc. You can easily end up with broken junk.

You have the time to search. May I suggest you and your son post on SGL and continue to read - and ask questions.
When you reach a post count and time on SGL (I forget the number) you can view the 'classified for sale' section, which is currently invisble to you.
This is where you will find used equipment with an honest description of condition. Much of my kit comes from there.
In December I sold a TAL reflector scope on mount with eyepieces for £100. That would have been an excellent scope for your son.
I mention this as an example of what can be had from a reputable used equipment site.

Then when your son gets his scope, the questions will start in earnest, and the accessory spend. SGL can help again.

Keep asking the questions, David.
 

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I'm afraid with that sort of budget you will end up buying a load of frustration.  The best suggestion above, with which I concur, is to visit a local club or organisation to let your son enjoy the views through their scopes.

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I would look at a tabletop dobsonian of the kind First Light Optics sell for beginners. At that budget its a reasonable option.

I would avoid anything else at that price point as the quality will be poor and result in frustration.

This is the kind of thing i would look at https://astrobiscuit.com/best-budget-telescope/

Edited by Jonathan_Shields
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On 18/03/2023 at 15:01, jsp56 said:

I wondered if I could ask what you think would be a good telescope for my 12 year old son? He loves reading about science in great depth and likes to know stuff. He saw telescopes in the science museum last week and thought they looked amazing. I think he would mostly want to look at the moon and planets and the stars. He might possibly be more interested in the telescope than the stars.

Have you considered buying binoculars? https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/best-binoculars-for-astronomy/

If your son is fascinated by telescopes then why not get a self build kit of some sort to help him learn about them?

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Hi,

Thanks for all the great advice. We ended up buying these (attached image) with advice from FLO. 

I discussed with my son and he is very very much more interested in the optics than in the stars or planets that he might see. I can sympathise with that view, because I am a semi-professional photographer, and occasional micrscope designer/builder. So we bought an interesting looking telescope that is within budget, and the bits that might possibly attach it to my camera (with advice from the FLO people.)

Thanks!

Jennifer

Screenshot 2023-03-21 152951.png

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Hello there - the key here is what your 12 year wants to get out of the hobby and what his targets would be, different scopes for different targets …the budget will be perhaps need reviews as £100 is pushing it slightly in terms of what your options are. Does he want to use a camera for example and take some basic images ? Is there something in partner wants to get out of the hobby all good questions to ask before you buy 

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