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Ok,Wife's Kindle last week,now my eldest wants a telescope for his upcoming birthday,any suggestions of what I should be looking for?(other than my nubile neighbour doing nekked exercises after her bath)
for birdwatching or purving?
Stars...mostly 😈
Come on, what age is he??? There's only one thing that's going to be used for 😉 get him the best one you can with night vision!!!
I guess your eldest has a room with a window on the same side of the house as yours then?!
I'd have thought binoculars would be better for 'close range' though 🙂
Duck man, as an astronomy spod, can I recommend that you take a peep at a decent Newtonian reflector as a starter scope. Not too pricey, great image for the cost. Something like this?
[url= http://www.celestron.uk.com/productinfo.php/telescopes/astromaster_series_firstscopes/astromaster_130eq-md_motor_drive/3344 ]Celestron Reflector[/url]
Categorically avoid anything that advertises on power (e.g. 600x magnification!!!!!), for UK conditions, regardless of scope, 150-200x is about as good as you'll get (mag is focal length of scope divided by eyepiece focal length).
And, even more important, buy this book first. It is unreservedly wonderful:
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-Orion-Hundred-Telescope/dp/0521781906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299531986&sr=8-1/ ]Turn Left at Orion[/url]
kev
If I could be arsed I would post the view from his window. The nearest house is a couple of miles away. As are the few sodium lights, at night it is really clear.He wants to learn about the stars, clear night will find him on the back step orientating his constellation map.He wants a telescope,I have no idea what I am looking for and would rather pay the money and get something useful,rather than a piece of crap. I always find an ability to creep into a garden with a ladder quietly is far more useful than strong night vision goggles.
binoculars are generally recommended for noobs in astronomy
As above get the largest apperture* for your money - bigger the apperture the more light it captures
Equatorial mount is better as it is easier to track and ideally something motorised is easier to use intially but he may have sacred sky knowledge already
google MEADE as well do some decent stuff £2-300 and also do refractor as well as newtonain
ignore magnification unless he wants to see the moon in great detai
* aperature is the size of the hole/lens that captures light but note the difference in optics between newtoniam and refractor scopes - just google for that.
Phew, thank goodness for BSN and Junkyard! Astromaster and turn left at Orion ordered.Thanks Gents.
nice one! the book is a great read and also a very practical guide.
this is really geeky, but encourage your son to keep a journal of each evenings viewing. I have a good template if you want, drop me a note and I will share. It adds a bit of discipline and process (astronomy is not really a whiz bang hobby) and is a great resource to build your skills, and also to look back on.
And when the inevitable happens and an upgrade is required:
[url= http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/22UC/index.php ]ooooohhhh[/url]
Not forgetting a full set of these:
[url= http://www.green-witch.com/acatalog/Ethos.html ]yes, that is 700quid for one eyepiece[/url]
😆
Kev