Can you recommend an awesome telescope?

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

Can you recommend an awesome telescope? I want to purchase this for my son's 11 birthday!;)

[Guest Lorna]

Sorry, must be tired... I read Telescope as microscope!

[KAR120C]

Can you recommend an awesome telescope? I want to purchase this for my son's 11 birthday!;)

We've been very happy with the Orion Dobsonian-mount reflectors. Ours is a six-inch, which is medium in price and size (4.5 inch is probably fine too, and cheaper... bigger is much more expensive but shows a lot more things, too). We got ours "plain" which means no computer, no motor, etc. Kind of old fashioned, but it's not hard to aim yourself with a little practice.

 

The best things about the Dobsonian mount are that it is really REALLY stable. No jiggling at all. It's also very kid-friendly because it's so low to the ground you don't have to worry too much about it being knocked over. (I mean you don't want to test that too thoroughly, but it's much less nervewracking to have kids around it than around a tall teetering tripod!) It's very easy to move smoothly, and easy to focus. And because it's in two big pieces it's easy to put in the car (we have a padded bag) and easy to put back together, even in the dark. :)

 

The six inch is sufficient to see some of the double stars clearly and to see the moons of Jupiter (very VERY impressive by the way, especially if you just read about Galileo!). I've seen much more with the ten-inch telescopes that they use at the local university's astronomy viewing nights, but there's no way I could afford one myself and I've been quite happy with what we can see with the six inch.

 

Hope this helps!!!

[Milseain]

We've been very happy with the Orion Dobsonian-mount reflectors. Ours is a six-inch, which is medium in price and size (4.5 inch is probably fine too, and cheaper... bigger is much more expensive but shows a lot more things, too). We got ours "plain" which means no computer, no motor, etc. Kind of old fashioned, but it's not hard to aim yourself with a little practice.

 

This is what I just ordered. But it's the eight-inch and with the computer thing.

I have always wanted one. So dh is letting me get it, even though it is a little bit more. (he's so sweet) :p

[Pegasus]

Everyone we talked to about a telescope advised that we spend the money instead on a good pair of binoculars. These are a lot easier to use and work fine.

 

Pegasus