Telescope for 7 year old

Lexie_Karas

Hi guys,

I'm sure you get sick of these posts at this time of year but my 7 year old has his heart set on a telescope from Santa and I don't really know where to start. From what I've read binoculars would be better but I doubt I'm gonna manage to swing him towards that (though I will try so suggestions for the right type of binoculars are welcome as well).

I'm hoping not to have to spend a fortune, he's always been interested in space and is dying to get a better look at the moon and anything else he can but he's not even 7 yet and who knows if the interest will last! At the same time I don't want to buy something rubbish that just frustrates him.

Thanks!

ps200306

What's your budget? If it really has to be a telescope and not binoculars I'd say go for a completely uncomplicated Dobsonian, which can be had fairly cheaply. Do not go for some ultra-cheap plasticky tube from a toy shop. It will be much worse than binoculars!

Bear in mind that a refractor (including binoculars) has better light transmission than a reflector (like a Dobsonian). So anything less than a 4-inch Dob is not worth having compared to binoculars either. If your budget stretches to it and you think the kid will make use of it, a six inch Dob would be better. Here's some Skywatcher models over on ktectelescopes: https://ktectelescopes.ie/Skywatcher-Dobsonian-Telescopes/

I am not plugging ktec, though I have used them and have no complaints -- you can get these from various online places too. I've got the 200P / 8-inch. The 100P (4-inch) model would be your bottom end around €130. As I said, this will be barely better than binoculars. If you can stretch to it, the 150P (6-inch) at €240 is better. However, above this size it starts getting difficult for a newbie to find anything in the sky easily, due to the small field of view. Also, the rotational drift of the sky starts to become quite noticeable.

If it doesn't have to be a telescope and you're on a tight budget, I still reckon a €20 pair of Lidl binoculars is your best bet. I've had several of these which I've lent / given away to people over the years.

Lexie_Karas

Thanks for all that.

We're hoping to not have to go over €200 If possible. I had a look at th3 ones you posted and I don't know if I'd be better going for one with a tripod rather than the table top ones, for convenience. I was looking at this one https://www.currys.ie/ieen/cameras-and-camcorders/photography-accessories/telescopes/meade-polaris-114-eq-reflector-telescope-blue-10134464-pdt.html (mainly cause it came back into stock and it's one my niece has and they've no complaints).

I really might be able to sway my son towards binoculars though, he seems open to the idea if it's a better starting point and will still give him a good view of what he wants to see. Any suggestions of what to look for if shopping for binoculars, again preferably under €200 would be great!

Will he be more limited with what he'll see from a pair of binoculars?

ps200306 wrote: »

What's your budget? If it really has to be a telescope and not binoculars I'd say go for a completely uncomplicated Dobsonian, which can be had fairly cheaply. Do not go for some ultra-cheap plasticky tube from a toy shop. It will be much worse than binoculars!

Bear in mind that a refractor (including binoculars) has better light transmission than a reflector (like a Dobsonian). So anything less than a 4-inch Dob is not worth having compared to binoculars either. If your budget stretches to it and you think the kid will make use of it, a six inch Dob would be better. Here's some Skywatcher models over on ktectelescopes: https://ktectelescopes.ie/Skywatcher-Dobsonian-Telescopes/

I am not plugging ktec, though I have used them and have no complaints -- you can get these from various online places too. I've got the 200P / 8-inch. The 100P (4-inch) model would be your bottom end around €130. As I said, this will be barely better than binoculars. If you can stretch to it, the 150P (6-inch) at €240 is better. However, above this size it starts getting difficult for a newbie to find anything in the sky easily, due to the small field of view. Also, the rotational drift of the sky starts to become quite noticeable.

If it doesn't have to be a telescope and you're on a tight budget, I still reckon a €20 pair of Lidl binoculars is your best bet. I've had several of these which I've lent / given away to people over the years.

ps200306

There are other threads on here about binoculars. I'm not an expert. I do have one quite expensive pair that has a nasty internal reflection so that you get a faint second image of bright objects -- not at all noticeable for terrestrial viewing in the daytime, but makes them fairly rubbish for night sky. So be careful. As I said, I found the cheap Lidl ones quite good.

That Meade Polaris 114Eq you looked at is certainly ok for a beginner. Let's face it, if they remain interested in astronomy it won't be their last scope. If not, you haven't spent too much. Not surprisingly, given that it's currys.ie, that's not a good price. You can get it for €50 cheaper on amazon.co.uk... €160 including Sterling conversion and free delivery.

The big advantage of a scope over binoculars is the steadier view afforded by a mount. That said, don't expect too much in terms of sturdiness from a Chinese-made "German" equatorial. On higher end scopes the mount costs as much as the optical tube. But it'll do fine. The downside is that an equatorial mount needs alignment to use properly. You line up one axis with the north star, then you can keep objects in view just by turning the slow motion control on the other axis. It's an added complication for a beginner, whereas the altazimuth mount on a Dobsonian is just "point and grunt". But for quick tours of the sky you can ignore alignment.

Apparently the instructions that come with the Meade are fairly rubbish. You may have to figure out the eyepieces and when/why to use them yourself. But all that sort of information is available online. Basically, the bigger the eyepiece measurement in mm, the lower the magnification. And for looking at stars you want low magnification. For moon and planets you can experiment.

Lexie_Karas

Thanks again. Still totally undecided. I'm now looking for binoculars to try and compare what we could get for the same price. I saw these https://ktectelescopes.ie/Astronomy-Binoculars/Celestron-Astronomy-Binoculars/Celestron-Skymaster-15x70-Binoculars.html but not sure if they'd be too big for a 7 year old? I'm thinking we'd get a tripod for binoculars if we went down that road.

ps200306

Those binocs look good, and the 70mm objectives are good for astronomy (light gathering power relates to the square of the aperture, so they are almost twice the light of standard 50mm models). Don't know if you've looked at the price of tripods though. A sturdy one could easily set you back the same amount again.