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Harlow, Essex newbie family

LesCM19

By LesCM19
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LesCM19

LesCM19

Posted
Posted

My older brother had a 3" entry-level refractor about 30 years ago and now my 8 year old son is into volcanoes & space (he doesn't have to be forced to stand in the garden when looking for meteors, etc...) so I thought it'd be a good time to kick start my interest in it all too (nearly did astronomy as a year 1 subsidiary subject at university whilst attempting to do a Geology degree :) many moons ago).

Quite a lot of streetlighting round here but we are outside the M25 which has got to be a good thing and we are also on the outskirts of the town as well.

Might be popping up to Green Witch in the next couple of days to lay down some hard currency on a 'scope! :D

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Doug

Doug

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Hi Les

A warm welcome to SGL, before I brought my scope I went to a Astronomy club and asked for there help on picking a scope they advise me that if I was going to look at planets and DSO I should invest in a 8" scope to help with street light problem

and to get some filter and some new eyepieces , if you get a good scope now it will save you changing you scope in the near future and you will see thing better and that will keep you and your boy interested otherwise on the small scope you will be able to see the Moon and Jupiter and maybe saturn and the fuzzy M31

if you want to take images the tell the people in the shop so you get the right scope for that , clear skies

Doug

Essex

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mark7331

mark7331

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Hi Les and welcome to the group :)

It's brilliant that you're helping build your sons interest as well as your own! Lee at Green Witch is a really helpful guy even if you don't buy anything from him! The chaps at FLO (top of the page) are amazing too.

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LesCM19

LesCM19

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..before I brought my scope I went to a Astronomy club...they advise me that if I was going to look at planets and DSO I should invest in a 8" scope...get some filter and some new eyepieces , if you get a good scope now it will save you changing you scope in the near future and you will see thing better and that will keep you and your boy interested

Doug

Essex

My wife has been taking the kids & occaisional schoolchums to Loughton Astronomical Society kids night, Astrokyds (our Lego space station is on their website here at the moment) and they gave us a few pointers towards maybe a Skymax 127 or Explorer 150P. If we were to get a Newtonian it was going to be at least 6" but we'll see what the experts say in the shop! :) We don't mind being talked into getting a dew shroud and an extra eyepiece etc as I realise you've got to have the right tools.

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nobbytate

nobbytate

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Hi Les and welcome from east essex, the skymax is a good choice for the moon and planets but has a very narrow field of view. The 150p would be better for deep sky objects imho. There is a good chance some of the members of Loughton A.S may have these scopes so you may be able to get a look before you buy.

John

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi Les and welcome to the family.

Great idea to link up with your local astro society. Really important to look some gear first before buying so as to manage expectations. If you're going down the Newtonian route I would recommend (budget permitting) an 8" scope minimum, at that aperture you will certainly see some detail. Let us all know what the shop recommends to you before you buy. :)

Clear skies

James

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lukebl

lukebl

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Hello and welcome to the forum!

Hope your children show more of an interest than my own 7 & 11 year-olds, who think that dad is a bit of a nerd as he trundles off to his solitary life in the night garden!. An 8" Newtonian will be a great and versatile scope.

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Celeste

Celeste

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Hi and welcome from me too :D

My son is 9 and he's into volcanoe's, earthquakes, tsunami's, bear grylls etc all things natural really....his curiosity of the sky started when he was 6 when he got his first toy scope....now were are onto the 'big boys toys' lol. My kids are all out with me when watching meteor showers especially as it's on my birthday :) I get an extra special treat

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