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Astronomy for Kids?

Avicena

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Avicena

Avicena

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Hello Stargazers!

I am looking to buy a telescope for my 6year old nephew; his birthday is in a month, and I think it would be an ideal present. He has expressed an interest in astronomy in the past, and it would be a wonderful hobby to get into, not to mention a welcome distraction from his Ninetendo DS!

I am absolutely and utterly clueless about astronomy, but was hoping you could help me out with some basics.

1. My nephew lives in London (the suburbs); will this hinder visibility significantly? As in, will he be able to clearly see planets?

2. I am looking to buy a telescope (max £100) which would be well suited to children. I'm not sure what exactly constitutes a child-friendly telescope, but was hoping the wonderful people on this forum could point me in the right direction?

3. Naturally, at 6 years old, a lot of his star-gazing will be dependent on me/his parents - how difficult is it to set up telescopes and get the coordinates spot on?

Thanks,

Avicena.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Well being in London will be a bit of a limit but at 6 years old kids need a thrill. Most nebula are very faint and fuzzy objects and will be tough to locate. With that said the bright planets like Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will be easily visible as of course will be the moon.

While binos are in many way the best buy for beginners to the hobby they lack the emotional appeal of a telescope and with a child I suspect a telescope might be a better buy.

At around £100 or less you will be buying something to spark his interest rather than the 'perfect' telescope and obviously you dont want to go overboard on price OR get something thats technically beyond him.

Every child is different. If it were for one of mine at that age I'd have gone for something like Celestron ExploraScope Series 80

Sky-Watcher do an equivalent I think. Steve at FLO (see the banner above should be able to help you).

You definitely dont want something complicated for a 6 year old I'd guess. Kids have a low boredom threshold and if he is just stood there while you fiddle about he'll wander back to his Nintendo. The same will happen if he cant understand how to work it - he'll wander back to something he can work so it needs to be accessible and simple to use above all I'd think.

If not the one above Celestron do a small scope that would maybe be ok Travel Scope 70 Portable Telescope (item #21035) / Celestron.com - Telescope | Computerized Telescopes | Microscopes | Binoculars | SkyScout

Both of those would be cheap enough for you not to worry if they get dropped or end up under the bed or stuffed in a wardrobe and both shoudl tuen in reasonable views of the moon at least, be cheap enough not to scare you and simple enough for him to get to grips with.

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Whippy

Whippy

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Sky-Watcher do an equivalent I think. Steve at FLO (see the banner above should be able to help you).

They do, it's this: Startravel - Skywatcher Mercury 705 . I bought one of these and they're surprisingly good, plus the mount that comes with it can easily take bigger and heavier scopes so if they do take an interest, you don't to spend a fortune to upgrade.

Tony..

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tinvek

tinvek

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They do, it's this: Startravel - Skywatcher Mercury 705 . I bought one of these and they're surprisingly good, plus the mount that comes with it can easily take bigger and heavier scopes so if they do take an interest, you don't to spend a fortune to upgrade.

Tony..

just to second this, i bought one of these for my 9 year old son and it surprised me how good it is, actually i also bought a second one for my self as i was after an altaz type mount for my grab and go c80 ed and it was only another £ 8 for the mount and scope. the mount is surprisingly good and has the advantage of being an instinctive point and look unlike an eq mount. the scope as i said earlier is quite good and now lives on a £12 argos photo pod in the boot of my car as i occasionally stop on the way home after night shift on top of the local high point.

one other point is that it produces an image thats upright and correctly orientated left and right, not that important for astro use but it does mean your son could use it to look at terrestial objects (and he will, all kids do) my lad uses his a lot to watch the ships sailing past towards liverpool

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Avicena

Avicena

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Thank you all so much for your help! It is much appreciated. Does anybody know of any specialist shops in London which sell this sort of equipment? I would actually like to go and see the telescopes myself before making the purchase.

Thanks.

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John

John

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Thank you all so much for your help! It is much appreciated. Does anybody know of any specialist shops in London which sell this sort of equipment? I would actually like to go and see the telescopes myself before making the purchase.

Thanks.

I think these people are the only London based astro equipment dealers now:

London's Only Shop to Buy Telescopes & Telescope Accessories, Stumpfl Projector Screens, UK

John

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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A scope for a child doesn't necessarily have to be a small scope, but for a 6-year-old, it probably should. I think the best way to start a child out is with binoculars and a couple of good, age-appropriate books on astronomy, or DVDs now, I guess.

Celestron has issued a 76mm scope for the IYA: Celestron FirstScope Telescope 21024 Reflector 76mm Tabletop Telescopes FREE S&H Celestron Telescopes. . It is well within your budget, but should be used under supervision, which means that you are going to have to learn some of this stuff, too, so he isn't lost poking around the sky randomly. A friend of mine with considerable experience in astronomy just bought one of these for his 7-year-old.

A pair of binoculars is a good idea in addition to the small scope. Those hiker's binocs which come in sizes like 8x21 would be ideal as they are very lightweight. I got my first look at M44 (the Beenive) through a pair of these. They are also quite inexpensive.

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brianb

brianb

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but should be used under supervision,

The only real supervision necessary is to make sure that the scope doesn't get pointed at the sun unless it is wearing a checked and approved solar filter on its objective end.

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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The only real supervision necessary is to make sure that the scope doesn't get pointed at the sun unless it is wearing a checked and approved solar filter on its objective end.

I think we should put this turkey to bed. I have given many binoculars to children, and not one of them has pointed them at the sun. I don't usually tell the kids not to look at the sun, because that would increase the chance that they will.

I have never heard of anyone burning their eyes looking at the sun with or without a telescope except during a solar eclipse when people do look at the sun even when it is only partially covered. Most people who burn their eyes in this way recover all or most of their eyesight after several months.

A child with a telescope needs supervision to get proper use out of it (at night!) and could be encouraged to look at one or two new things a night without overtaxing his attention span. Have a list of stuff to look for, and stop when he gets tired of it. This also protects the scopefor another night's use. The Moon is a great object for study, as you can take a lunar map and identify many craters and features.

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Capricorn

Capricorn

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UK Astronomy Directory - links and news for UK astronomers

This link lists a good few astro related sites including telescope sales.

Modern Astronomy has an 0208 number but I cannot see a location.

Telescopehouse is in Tunbridge Wells Kent.

Just checked the TeleHouse starter scopes they have one at £110 with tripod/mount - Starlight 80mm. No idea on the overall quality.

The Skywatcher 80mm is about the same cost (+£10) but that doesn't have a mount.

Pulsar Optics at Ely advertise a lot of starter scopes, but again overall quality is unknown. If you did decide on one from there then suggest you go and collect by hand.

I would suggest that if you get a refractor then don't get a long thin one, the field of view is smaller and it makes finding things more difficult. As the recipient is 6 best to make things easy.

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The Warthog

The Warthog

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This scope is identical to the Celestron scope I suggested earlier. It is on a stand - a Dobsonian base which is a kind of altazimuth base. This scope is very suitable for children, and has had good reviews. it is placed on an outdoor tabletop or other suitable flat surface for use.

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