Beginner astronomers - binoculars or telecope?

[Kipling]

Hi,

Our kids are really excited about astronomy, so we want to get them a telescope for Christmas. As we did a little research, we found several people recommended starting children with a good pair of binoculars rather than a telescope.

I figured asking here would be a good place to get real-life "BTDT" recommendations. Have you used binoculars or a telescope with your children to look at the night sky? What has been your experience? Which do you prefer? Do you have a suggestion for a specific brand/type/strength?

Our kids (who will be using it) are 7 and 5, if that makes a difference.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Heather in OK]

We are looking to get our kids telescopes. This one has been highly recommended:

 

https://www.galileoscope.org/gs/

[Jean in Wisc]

I'd suggest you start with this link and then come back with any other Q's:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223818&highlight=binoculars

 

My kids never got into the night sky. They were excited at first and then it quickly ended. I'm the one who stayed with it and have loved, loved it.

 

You can see a number of things with binocs--a tripod or a laser pointer (see the same thread above about lasers) helps them find things easier, but even those are not as expensive as a telescope (esp. if it doesn't get used much).

 

I love my telescope, but more and more I'm carrying my binocs with the laser pointer for easy transportation. I showed my sisters Jupiter and her moons, the Andromeda Galaxy, some double stars and several other things with my binocs.

 

Both have their place, but it is easy to get a telescope and then find out you now need a collimator ($65+), and red dot finder ($40)...and then you need to get the star maps or books to help you find the objects--and a planisphere, a red flash light, and maybe that dewshield...only to realize that the fizzle has gone out of the hobby. That is why I suggest starting with binocs and finding out if you really want to do this hobby long-term.

 

HTH,

Jean

 

Hi,

Our kids are really excited about astronomy, so we want to get them a telescope for Christmas. As we did a little research, we found several people recommended starting children with a good pair of binoculars rather than a telescope.

I figured asking here would be a good place to get real-life "BTDT" recommendations. Have you used binoculars or a telescope with your children to look at the night sky? What has been your experience? Which do you prefer? Do you have a suggestion for a specific brand/type/strength?

Our kids (who will be using it) are 7 and 5, if that makes a difference.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[ELaurie]

or an iPod or an iPad, you can get an ap called Star Walk which is a very cool and easy way to identify objects in the night sky; if you have a Smart Phone, you can get an ap called Sky Map

 

Both have very useful search functions to help you locate specific objects, or to identify stars, planets, etc. that you would like to learn more about.

[Alessandra]

I asked a similar question about two years ago and Jean convinced me to go with binoculars -- and I am so glad she did.

 

-- binoculars are easy to get out -- just walk out of the house and point them at the sky. A telescope may need to be set up, may need time to adjust to the outside temperature, etc. Kids can get impatient. Plus cold (if you are in a cold climate) -- we do much of our observing in winter, because it is dark before kids' bedtimes.

 

-- binoculars have a wider field of view than telescopes. Looking at one star is not that much fun, if you don't know how it fits into an overall star 'geography', so to speak.

 

I would actually put in a plug for naked eye stargazing. It's a wonderful way to see a whole constellation at once and then use lines of sight off the stars you have identified to gaze across the night sky and identify more stars. I'm probably not describing this very clearly, but if you look at star charts, etc, it will be clearer.

 

One book I would recommend very strongly is Terence Dickinson's NightWatch. It is an immense help in getting started, plus great star charts and tips on how to find things.

 

I hesitate to point out the obvious -- but you should have a decent place to observe from. Some suburban areas near big cities have so much ambient light that stars are all but invisible. It's a big problem for me. But, recently, on a camping trip, I looked up in the sky and everything just jumped out at me -- Orion nebula, Andromeda galaxy, etc. And my nearsighted eyes are poor compared to most kids' eyes. I saw a whole star map just with the naked eye.

 

There is a book on binoculars and telescopes -- Star Ware.

 

And Stellarium is an easy to use, free software program -- you set your date, time & place and you an up to the minute star map.

 

Telescopes -- the Orion SkyQuest and StarBlast have got consistently good reviews. Ask Jean about the Celestron FirstScope -- you won't see a lot of detail with it, but it has got some surprisingly decent reviews, and the price is low. Perhaps a good telescope store could help you.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Alessandra

[Kipling]

I'd suggest you start with this link and then come back with any other Q's:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=223818&highlight=binoculars

 

 

 

Thank you. I will look over this.

 

I asked a similar question about two years ago and Jean convinced me to go with binoculars -- and I am so glad she did.

 

 

Thank you for the advice and reasons. We were leaning toward binoculars, so I'm glad to hear you have been happy with that decision.