Telescope for 6 years old 🤷‍♀️

[Nika1982]

Hi I do not know anything about stargazing but I am whiling to learn. My 6 years old want telescope for Christmas. She do want one for like 5 months. I do understand that she may not enjoy that as much as she thinks but we decided to get her one you never know. Can anyone advise what to buy? No clue whatsoever…

[GrumpiusMaximus]

I personally would be looking for something like a Sky-Watcher Heritage 100P.  I own one and it's a very decent little scope for the money, needs virtually no additional setup and the 25mm eyepiece it comes with will at least get you started.

As with all things, it can be fragile if thrown about so supervise carefully!  You'll probably need a circular table to rest it on as it's on a mini-Dobsonian mount but as a cheap scope that delivers decent, low-power views I'm quite impressed with mine.

I got mine for less than 50 Pounds from eBay but was lucky with that price and it needed a good clean and a couple of minor issues addressing.

Edited December 10, 2023 by GrumpiusMaximus

[Paul M]

My first thought is that a 6 year old would struggle to use a telescope without experienced adult assistance and would then be disappointed with the view.

If her imagination is fed by exciting pictures of the planets in books, any telescope within a sensible price range and that's usable by a novice will disappoint. But I don't know the child and she may well enjoy just seeing things through the telescope. 

So the recommendation above is as good a place to start as any! Wide field of view, low magnification, would be good for the Moon and star clusters and the brighter "fuzzy" nebulae.  Just avoid the toy telescopes from high street stores that claim outrageous capabilities.

I just found this from the sponsors of this forum. Simple, just point and focus! For the money it's worth a gamble??

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-firstscope-signature-series-moon-by-robert-reeves.html

I think mum will need a few starter books!

 

[Mandy D]

Does she have any pre-conceived notions of what a telescope looks like? Often, children are more focused on this than anything else and may be disappointed if it does not look like what they imagined. As long as it is easy to use and gives reasonable views of the Moon, in particular and can also be pointed at other things on land and in the sky it will be servicable in this situation. Small, tabletop Newtonians, such as the Skywatcher 100P which has been suggested work well, but may not match her idea of a telescope, whereas a small refractor on a tripod might. I would suggest showing her some pictures online of different types of telescope within budget and seeing what gets her excited, then report back here with your findings and we will try to help you better.

Edited December 10, 2023 by Mandy D

[MartianHill]

Hi Nika, this may help….

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

[Elp]

Personally I think the age is way too young to understand how to use the equipment and to navigate the skies unless you're a likely motivator whom holds the majority of the passion and drive and will always be there to supervise the equipments operation and even storage (ie don't leave a telescope without its end caps in place pointing out the window for example). Be extra cautious as they may unknowingly also try to look at the sun or use it in daylight (can be just as dangerous due to many sources of reflections) without anyone around, another thing to think about due to their immaturity. Typically an astronomical telescope however cheap is not a toy and should not be gifted as such.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Elp

[Sunshine]

I hear the TOA-130 is a great starters scope for children 🤣 kidding aside, the heritage scopes are great as they are small and are suitable for any age group.

[Mal22]

It’s lovely that your little girl has taken an interest in astronomy  

It is, as has been commented above, a complicated hobby - above all else a hobby that requires a lot of patience - and often newcomers are disappointed when the expectation (based on incredible images online/school books) meets the reality (of what can be seen by a beginner scope). 
 

For those that fall in love with it, as you develop and spend a bit (a lot…) more money, the gap between what you can see and photograph from your own garden and the amazing school book images closes significantly. But, of course, everyone has to dip a toe in first. 
 

Last year, I was thrilled when my 7 year old niece became very interested in space following some lessons at school. She’s a bright and studious little girl, with a good attention span, and the way she retained knowledge about the planets, stars, even nebulae was very impressive. Being the family space nerd, her parents asked my advice on a beginner scope. Weighing up their budget and other considerations, I recommended this https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/skywatcher-mercury-607-telescope.html

Note, I’m not now recommending buying this scope for reasons I’ll set out below. 

When it arrived and there was a clear night, I went round to show her how to use it all. There was a full moon, and Jupiter and Mars were both visible. Ultimately, I was a bit disappointed because even though the telescope did a reasonable job (for the cost), my nieces attention span - albeit good for most 7 year olds - just wasn’t up to it. She was quickly running around the garden (clearly I was a boring teacher!) It can take a long, patient time to find objects like planets in the telescope lens, even when you can see exactly where they are with the naked eye! 
 

Obviously, I did the finding, but her disappointment at Jupiter and Mars, both of which are tiny in any beginner scopes, was quite clear. It didn’t help that she’d seen them before through my own much larger and more expensive scope, and in school books. Understandably, to her it just wasn’t what she’d expected to see. 
 

So, after all of that (if you’ve made it this far), some practical advice: 

1) Focus on the moon! It looks amazing through beginner scopes and I remember being wowed by it as a child through a very basic telescope. Get her excited in the moon, learn to recognise some of the regions where the Apollos landed and see if she can spot those regions through the scope. You could even get posters for her that highlight the sites. The Sea of Tranquility is easy to pick out, and that’s where Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. Again, expectation management is key, the largest telescope on earth isn’t big enough to spot the flag on the moon. With a beginner scope, the field of view is probably about the size of a continent - but trust me the detail is still wonderful.

2) Read this excellent post, and particularly scroll down to the planet images. It shows the comparison between the professional planet images, and what you’ll see in a small scope. 

3) Make it as easy as possible. I’ve never used this particular beginner scope, but its ability to connect to a phone for a sky tour and guide her through how to move the telescope to a desired object could make all the difference in keeping your little girls interest and capturing the imagination https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-starsense-explorer-lt-80-az-refractor-telescope.html

Even though it’s more money, if I could go back I would strongly recommend this for my niece instead. The reality is, at that age they need a fair bit of instant gratification, and scopes like this may help. 
 

I hope that all makes sense and is helpful  Best of luck! 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Mal22

[Richard N]

At that age, a microscope will be better value. 

[Mandy D]

3 minutes ago, Richard N said:

At that age, a microscope will be better value. 

I had one. It did nothing for me at that age. Now, a telescope ... That got my attention. I think it all depends on the child's interests.

[Nika1982]

Hi 👋 again thank you for all the response. 
I read all and yes I do feel very similar. That she is maybe too young and it may be money spend for nothing but I do also know that she love watching stars and a moon just on the sky as it is. 
she does have microscope and she do use that to watch things. I do understand it’s not a toy also she still believe in Father Christmas so I really don’t want to disappoint her. I don’t think she has any idea how the telescope should look. I do know she want to take it for holidays for our annual trip to France where the sky it’s much clearer comparing yo London. 
I will explore all your recommendations at least now I have idea where to start 😃

[Richard N]

38 minutes ago, Mandy D said:

I had one. It did nothing for me at that age. Now, a telescope ... That got my attention. I think it all depends on the child's interests.

Interesting. I think much depends on the adults doing the direction. There are a huge variety of tiny things to look at but you do have to know where to look. I’m an ex science teacher so I probably do have a slightly different perspective.  And she already has a microscope so that’s not going to work.   The other recommendations here seem sensible. The main thing to realise is that there are lots of cheap plastic scopes that should be avoided. Advice from a reputable supplier like First Light Optics will at least ensure that whatever you buy will be fit for purpose. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Richard N

[Carbon Brush]

A small reflectors, like the Heritage 100P from FLO are a good choice.
I gave one to my granddaughter a couple of years ago.
A quick place on ground- look at moon - 2 minutes later do something else.
Worked well!

[Elp]

If you want something genuinely impressive up your budget and get a ZWO Seestar, it will truly impress in what is visible out there. Won't work on planets due to the short focal length, it will work on the moon and the sun (yes it comes with a white light filter) are within reach (obviously supervise it's use for this). It's not a visual scope, it's an auto Electronic Assisted Astronomy one (camera and processing computer built in) which is easy to setup, easy to use, and control and view via the app (which for the younger gen these days is far more of interest). It's so good even seasons "pros" are buying into it as there's nothing quite like it on the market at the moment that can do what it does for the price (the Dwarf2 is an equivalent which came out slightly earlier, the more "pro" ones cost around 1500-2000 plus, a telescope based config will cost even more than that).

If it doesn't get used after initial purchase, you can sell it easily unlike most starter scopes.

[Mal22]

4 minutes ago, Richard N said:

Interesting. I think much depends on the adults doing the direction. There are a huge variety of tiny things to look at but you do have to know where to look. I’m an ex science teacher so I probably do have a slightly different perspective.  And she already has a microscope so that’s not going to work. 

I loved my microscope as a child. I vividly remember looking at spiders legs, fly wings, hair, anything that would fit between the slides! My parents had no interest in science and left me to it but I could spend hour after hour with it. I guess to some degree, you either are that kind of child or you’re not. 
Other kids were probably outside playing and socialising  

[Elp]

This is the thing, the individual needs to have the self interest to carry on, most people, not just children these days have short attention spans and a severe lack of patience.

Most people I've had outside with equipment, the first thing they complain about rather than enjoying what's possible to see either visually or via camera is "it's too cold" and they promptly go back inside. I'd assume in warmer climates this doesn't happen, but they still retreat due to total lack of interest.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Elp

[teoria_del_big_bang]

55 minutes ago, Nika1982 said:

also she still believe in Father Christmas

Hang on here, what are you suggesting here - that he doesn't exist ?

Seriously though, some good advice above.
It is great when a child shows interests in something like space, or any science based interest, and of course as responsible parents we wish to nurture that interest, and of course we should.
Hopefully your daughter will embrace the telescope, but be prepared that she could be disappointed depending what her expectations are, unfortunately I think many adults also get the urge to buy a telescope and a month or two later it is on Fleabay. I personally think the problem is they are generally underwhelmed with what they see, as the truth is through a telescope most stars are still little points of light, a tad bigger and brighter but still small dots, they expected to see things along the lines of  Hubble images, and sat out in the cold dark night they just give up.

But for the odd few, like the majority on this forum, they are far from underwhelmed, yes they are small dots but through a telescope on a good night there are so many of them, a multitude more than can be seen by eye in anything but a dark sky area, then there are galaxies, un unbelievable number of them, again not much more than misshapen fuzzy stars, but we know they are far more than just stars, planets, clusters and so on. All you can do is hope your Daughter is like that but at a young age may not be the case (but you have to try).
So, as well as the scope make sure you, and your daughter have some really warm clothes, hat gloves etc as most good clear nights can be pretty cold in the UK.
Buy her some books to help her understand where to point the scope and what to expect to see, the moon is a fascinating place to start and even through  a pair of binoculars such detail can be seen. Encourage her to sketch what she sees, maybe take a few images with her mobile.
Remember that Magnification is not necessarily what we are going for. Many new to the hobby just want a scope with huge magnification and that is really not the way to go. For the stars even the most powerful scope on earth they will still be dots of light, they are so far away that's all you will ever see, and at high magnification you will struggle to keep things in view as the will pass at huge speed past the field of view as the earth rotates. So it is more the field of view that you need to concern yourself with. So before buying anything I would repost your choices on this forum and let some of the many knowledgeable members give you their opinion. 

Do all you can to keep her interest because if she does carry on with the obsession of what is out there then it can become a great relaxing and informative hobby, but obviously do not force her, if she loses interest then in years to come that urge may well return so worth keeping safe somewhere 🙂 .

Steve

Edited December 11, 2023 by teoria_del_big_bang

[Nika1982]

12 hours ago, Mandy D said:

Does she have any pre-conceived notions of what a telescope looks like? Often, children are more focused on this than anything else and may be disappointed if it does not look like what they imagined. As long as it is easy to use and gives reasonable views of the Moon, in particular and can also be pointed at other things on land and in the sky it will be servicable in this situation. Small, tabletop Newtonians, such as the Skywatcher 100P which has been suggested work well, but may not match her idea of a telescope, whereas a small refractor on a tripod might. I would suggest showing her some pictures online of different types of telescope within budget and seeing what gets her excited, then report back here with your findings and we will try to help you better.

 

1 hour ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

Hang on here, what are you suggesting here - that he doesn't exist ?

Seriously though, some good advice above.
It is great when a child shows interests in something like space, or any science based interest, and of course as responsible parents we wish to nurture that interest, and of course we should.
Hopefully your daughter will embrace the telescope, but be prepared that she could be disappointed depending what her expectations are, unfortunately I think many adults also get the urge to buy a telescope and a month or two later it is on Fleabay. I personally think the problem is they are generally underwhelmed with what they see, as the truth is through a telescope most stars are still little points of light, a tad bigger and brighter but still small dots, they expected to see things along the lines of  Hubble images, and sat out in the cold dark night they just give up.

But for the odd few, like the majority on this forum, they are far from underwhelmed, yes they are small dots but through a telescope on a good night there are so many of them, a multitude more than can be seen by eye in anything but a dark sky area, then there are galaxies, un unbelievable number of them, again not much more than misshapen fuzzy stars, but we know they are far more than just stars, planets, clusters and so on. All you can do is hope your Daughter is like that but at a young age may not be the case (but you have to try).
So, as well as the scope make sure you, and your daughter have some really warm clothes, hat gloves etc as most good clear nights can be pretty cold in the UK.
Buy her some books to help her understand where to point the scope and what to expect to see, the moon is a fascinating place to start and even through  a pair of binoculars such detail can be seen. Encourage her to sketch what she sees, maybe take a few images with her mobile.
Remember that Magnification is not necessarily what we are going for. Many new to the hobby just want a scope with huge magnification and that is really not the way to go. For the stars even the most powerful scope on earth they will still be dots of light, they are so far away that's all you will ever see, and at high magnification you will struggle to keep things in view as the will pass at huge speed past the field of view as the earth rotates. So it is more the field of view that you need to concern yourself with. So before buying anything I would repost your choices on this forum and let some of the many knowledgeable members give you their opinion. 

Do all you can to keep her interest because if she does carry on with the obsession of what is out there then it can become a great relaxing and informative hobby, but obviously do not force her, if she loses interest then in years to come that urge may well return so worth keeping safe somewhere 🙂 .

Steve

Omg I love your response. I guess I don’t have high expectations I don’t think she does either. I do think she just love stars and the moon and like watching them with her father. They are never cold so they can do that together I will wait for lovely warm nights in southern France 😉

Saying all that I do think she is very little still so would love something not supper complicated to use (I m aware we need to help her with that don’t expect that she will use it all by herself )which she could see moon and stars constatation(I do know they would still be just a dots) I will gather some options and have a read about a bit more. I would like to spend up to £120/150. If she developed interest after that we can invest further . Thank you

[Nika1982]

Celestron AstroMaster LT 60AZ refractor Any thoughts about this one ? 

[Nika1982]

https://www.bresseruk.com/National-Geographic/NATIONAL-GEOGRAPHIC-114-500-Compact-Telescope.html?mtm_campaign=Google_Shopping&mtm_kwd=9065000&mtm_source=English&mtm_medium=CPC&mtm_cid=UK&mtm_group=PLA&gbraid=0AAAAADfhk6Cz2bAUmvIAs15_fQ4fa097c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2viM1p-HgwMVE49QBh1IewRYEAQYBCABEgLMVvD_BwE

[Mandy D]

25 minutes ago, Nika1982 said:

Celestron AstroMaster LT 60AZ refractor Any thoughts about this one ? 

Yes. A nice thing about this package is that it comes with a tripod and is alt-azimuth mounted, so is intuitive to use. You will get some colour fringing around bright objects, but it won't be terrible as the scope is f/10. It is also affordable and a respected brand.

If you are anywhere near Bordeaux, there is a telecope retailer there who is very helpful and has telescopes on display. I forget the name, but it is on the web.

Edited December 11, 2023 by Mandy D

[Mal22]

I know you’d probably like a simple answer on this! And that simple answer is, yes - either of those scopes would do the job. 
 

However, on the Celestron one for an extra £4 this one gives you more bang for your buck. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-astromaster-lt70az-f10-refractor-telescope.html
 

Just to stray into the not so simple answer territory, two of the biggest considerations when picking a telescope are aperture and focal length.
 

Aperture is the diameter of the telescope I.e how much light can get into it. The more light that can get in, the more detail becomes visible. Of the two telescopes you’ve shared, the Celestron has a 60mm aperture, and the Nat Geo one has 114mm - so the Nat Geo one captures significantly more light and therefore more detail. 
 

BUT, the focal length of a telescope is how much magnification it is capable of. The higher the focal length, the more magnification. Back to the two options you’ve shared, the Celestron has 700mm focal length, and the Nat Geo has 500mm.  So the Celestron has the better magnification. 
 

I won’t go into how the following calculation works… but if you use the 10mm eyepiece that each comes with, the Celestron will give you 70x magnification and the Nat Geo 50x. 
 

So, combining the two factors, the Nat Geo is capable of showing more detail, but the objects will be smaller. The Celestron will show less detail, but objects will be more magnified. 
 

Also, if you just looked through both side by side into the night sky, the Nat Geo would show a lot more stars than the Celestron, and more likely to see a hint of a fuzzy grey galaxy. 
 

As I said in my earlier reply though, I would encourage starting out with the moon, and for that the extra mag on the Celestron makes it the better scope. But, pay the extra £4 for the one I included a link to above and you’ll get 10mm more aperture. 

Edited December 11, 2023 by Mal22
Correcting aperture measurement from circumference to diameter

[Nika1982]

24 minutes ago, Mal22 said:

I know you’d probably like a simple answer on this! And that simple answer is, yes - either of those scopes would do the job. 
 

However, on the Celestron one for an extra £4 this one gives you more bang for your buck. https://www.firstlightoptics.com/beginner-telescopes/celestron-astromaster-lt70az-f10-refractor-telescope.html
 

Just to stray into the not so simple answer territory, two of the biggest considerations when picking a telescope are aperture and focal length.
 

Aperture is the circumference of the telescope I.e how much light can get into it. The more light that can get in, the more detail becomes visible. Of the two telescopes you’ve shared, the Celestron has a 60mm aperture, and the Nat Geo one has 114mm - so the Nat Geo one captures nearly double the amount of light and therefore more detail. 
 

BUT, the focal length of a telescope is how much magnification it is capable of. The higher the focal length, the more magnification. Back to the two options you’ve shared, the Celestron has 700mm focal length, and the Nat Geo has 500mm.  So the Celestron has the better magnification. 
 

I won’t go into how the following calculation works… but if you use the 10mm eyepiece that each comes with, the Celestron will give you 70x magnification and the Nat Geo 50x. 
 

So, combining the two factors, the Nat Geo is capable of showing more detail, but the objects will be smaller. The Celestron will show less detail, but objects will be more magnified. 
 

Also, if you just looked through both side by side into the night sky, the Nat Geo would show a lot more stars than the Celestron, and more likely to see a hint of a fuzzy grey galaxy. 
 

As I said in my earlier reply though, I would encourage starting out with the moon, and for that the extra mag on the Celestron makes it the better scope. But, pay the extra £4 for the one I included a link to above and you’ll get 10mm more aperture. 

Thank you !!!! I will go with your recommendation and follow your link. It’s exactly what I need just pointed which one will be a good start. Also she do love moon so I’m sure she will be happy with that !!! Anything else would be a bonus. Thank you 😊 

[Nika1982]

Thank you everyone for your time to answer !!! Much appreciated ❤️

[AstroMuni]

19 minutes ago, Nika1982 said:

Thank you !!!! I will go with your recommendation and follow your link. It’s exactly what I need just pointed which one will be a good start. Also she do love moon so I’m sure she will be happy with that !!! Anything else would be a bonus. Thank you 😊 

If you havent already, read this https://astrobiscuit.com/best-budget-telescope/

The scope mentioned by @Mal22 is mentioned here 🙂 along with some tips on type of mounting.