Gents, my granddaughter has always had an interest in astronomy. I am planning to get her a beginners telescope for Christmas. What would you recommend as far as lens size, accessories, etc? I would like to keep it under $200.
Telescopes
- Thread starter Austin
- Start date
My best advice is to avoid anything from a department store, or anything that boasts high magnification. These telescopes are universally worse than useless, they will kill any interest your granddaughter may have.
This link here http://www.skynewsmagazine.com/pages/telescope_tips.html has some good advice. Although written for Canadians, the same models should be available in the US from science supply/astronomy stores.
You may also want to give some serious consideration to a good pair of binoculars. These are very practical, useful and portable, and great astronomy tools.
This link here http://www.skynewsmagazine.com/pages/telescope_tips.html has some good advice. Although written for Canadians, the same models should be available in the US from science supply/astronomy stores.
You may also want to give some serious consideration to a good pair of binoculars. These are very practical, useful and portable, and great astronomy tools.
Edmund Scientific has made a decent Astroscan starter telescope for decades; we bought one for my brother-in-law as a gift about 10 years ago, and he's still using it. Link is here:
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3005001
http://scientificsonline.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_3005001
+1 on the binoculars. I have a small pair of Nikons circa 2000, and with them, I can easily see Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (along with the 4 largest moons of Jupiter and Titan, Saturn's (and the solar system's) largest moon). They also bring the surface of the moon into stark relief. I live close to a large city with a lot of light pollution, so it tends to wash out most of what's up there, including the outer gas giants. They will also give you excellent views of individual stars (particularly the brighter ones), as well as star clusters like the Pleiades.
A beginner's telescope will give you the same types of views, but depending on the type of scope you get (I bought a beginner's reflector for my now 8 year old), can be a bit frustrating to operate. If I had it to do over again, I would get a beginner's refractor instead (which is more of a point and view). Astronomy magazine has a good set of reviews of all kinds of scopes, and they are accessible online for a small fee per review. Orion Telescopes has a good selection of all sorts of astronomy equipment and gear. I highly recommend an inexpensive computer program (like Starry Night), that gives accurate sky maps and displays of the night sky at any given time. You just plug in your location, set the time of day, and you're off.
What would you guys Say the cost of a set up for astrophotography would be? Telescope, camera and software to clean up the image? I've tried looking into this before but some of the jargon goes above my head.
Another option would be to get her the stuff to build a telescope on her own. A refractor is extremely easy to put together and anybody could do it. All you need is an objective lens, some PVC pipe, and an eyepiece. Mount it on an old camera tripod or build your own and you're all set to go. It doesn't take long and you can easily make a great telescope for under a $100.
There's a number of plans floating around on the internet like this one here.
There's a number of plans floating around on the internet like this one here.
Probably $750-$1000 minimum. Depends on what level of sky object you want to photograph. The deeper object you want to photograph, the more telescope you need, with a corresponding higher price.
http://www.telescope.com/control/main/ is a good place to start as they have telescopes in all configurations and price ranges.
I just helped my 7 yo nephew put one of these together. It's not a pro scope or anything, but easy to put together.. can can be disassebled and reassembled, and allows you to duplicate different kinds of scopes from the past. And at $20 is a steal to see if she's really interested.
The Galileoscope: An IYA2009 Cornerstone Project
The Galileoscope is a high-quality, low-cost telescope kit developed for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by a team of leading astronomers, optical engineers, and science educators. No matter where you live, with this easy-to-assemble, 50-mm (2-inch) diameter, 25- to 50-power achromatic refractor, you can see the celestial wonders that Galileo Galilei first glimpsed 400 years ago and that still delight stargazers today. These include lunar craters and mountains, four moons circling Jupiter, the phases of Venus, Saturn's rings, and countless stars invisible to the unaided eye. As of August 10, 2009, the kit is priced at U.S. $20 each plus shipping
The Galileoscope: An IYA2009 Cornerstone Project
The Galileoscope is a high-quality, low-cost telescope kit developed for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by a team of leading astronomers, optical engineers, and science educators. No matter where you live, with this easy-to-assemble, 50-mm (2-inch) diameter, 25- to 50-power achromatic refractor, you can see the celestial wonders that Galileo Galilei first glimpsed 400 years ago and that still delight stargazers today. These include lunar craters and mountains, four moons circling Jupiter, the phases of Venus, Saturn's rings, and countless stars invisible to the unaided eye. As of August 10, 2009, the kit is priced at U.S. $20 each plus shipping
Never thought of that before. I'll keep that in mind in the future. Cool.
To get photos of any decent quality, you're really talking at least $2,000.
1. You'll need a telescope of a very good quality with a wide aperture that's mounted on a motorized mount that will move across the sky at the same rate as the stars. Scope and mount alone of this quality generally start at around $1,000 for non-"goto" models.
2. You'll need a camera that can take long exposures, or least take multiple exposures that allow you to stack them in Photoshop. The best images come from dedicated CAD devices that "screw on" directly to the telescope eyepiece. Typical digital cameras won't produce very high quality images. So, consider between $300-$1000 for a CAD of decent quality.
Altogether, to get pictures of any quality will run you at least $2,000 and probably more, and you won't get good results unless you're in a reasonably light-pollution-free area and are able to align everything perfectly.
Jeff in Boston
As the others said, avoid the department store junk and all claims of "550x magnification."
The truth is, the most important part of any telescope is aperature--the diameter of the light collecting mirror. Rule of thumb is, the larger the aperture, the greater the light collection, the better the image. While eyepieces can make a basic image look bigger, the higher the magnification, the "fuzzier" and dimmer the image will become. There is a formulation for calculating the maximum viable magnification for any telescope, but I've forgotten it and it's not relevant to this particular need.
If I were you, I might see about finding a low-priced Dobsonian. These are the large, long tube shaped things that you place almost exactly on the ground. Although a bit harder to use than stand-mounted refractors and reflectors, they offer the best bang for the buck in terms of aperture, are relatively lightweight (if bulky), and are pretty easy to set up. But they are not useful for astrophotography.
Jeff in Boston
The truth is, the most important part of any telescope is aperature--the diameter of the light collecting mirror. Rule of thumb is, the larger the aperture, the greater the light collection, the better the image. While eyepieces can make a basic image look bigger, the higher the magnification, the "fuzzier" and dimmer the image will become. There is a formulation for calculating the maximum viable magnification for any telescope, but I've forgotten it and it's not relevant to this particular need.
If I were you, I might see about finding a low-priced Dobsonian. These are the large, long tube shaped things that you place almost exactly on the ground. Although a bit harder to use than stand-mounted refractors and reflectors, they offer the best bang for the buck in terms of aperture, are relatively lightweight (if bulky), and are pretty easy to set up. But they are not useful for astrophotography.
Jeff in Boston
I think Opticsplanet sells telescopes, if you are not in IL or NC there is no tax. I have bought several rifle scopes from them and have always been pleased with price and service.
Wow, I haven't been to this board in ages and I come back and there are all these astronomy threads! Great stuff!
A question for any of you telescope connoisseurs: I live in NYC. With all the light pollution here, is it absolutely pointless for me to buy a telescope? I live in Brooklyn Heights, so I'm right near the promenade, which, without all those big buildings across the river, would provide a spectacular view of the night sky. Can a decent, affordable scope penetrate the city's glare or am I out of luck?
A question for any of you telescope connoisseurs: I live in NYC. With all the light pollution here, is it absolutely pointless for me to buy a telescope? I live in Brooklyn Heights, so I'm right near the promenade, which, without all those big buildings across the river, would provide a spectacular view of the night sky. Can a decent, affordable scope penetrate the city's glare or am I out of luck?
