My son wants a telescope for Christmas but I don't know anything about them. What do I need to look for? Could be a phase he's going through so don't want to spend a fortune. Any input would be apprec.

 

I know just enough to be dangerous, but I'll try and help.
Questions:
a) price range? (Under $100 I'd guess.)
b) used for what? Mostly birds, deer, the neighbor's cat, etc. OR the moon, Saturn, Jupiter, etc.?

 

I had a Tasco <> 3 ft long with camera attachment.

I also had the special tripod that allowed for tracking things in space.

 

Planets. Moon mainly. I was fig. 100-200 range. I see alot in that range but all have different numbers. Hey million whats something like you have run. By the way thanks for your input. I guess the stargazing in your area is pretty good . It's pretty good here I'm not too far from the coast and just far enough from civilization.

 

Know anything about telescopes?

No, I can not even figure out how to turn one on!

 

You'll see a bunch of differen't types out there, but they basically fall into two catagories: refractive and reflective.

Refractive type are the long skinny ones that you look in the end like a spotting scope or rifle scope. On the up side, these are easy to move around, (important if you want to take it camping and the stars aren't your life). They also can be used in the daytime for looking at nature or...umm...urban nature. They make adapters for some models so that a cheap video cam can be attached, which is nice when everyone can watch the elk or other things close up on TV. Most of the mid-price range up have this feature now for astro-photography - but night photography without an expensive mount is not easy. On the downside refractives don't let in a lot of light, (how much power a scope lets in isn't as important as how much light), they have a lot of internal lenses that can jar if bumped too hard and your neck can get sore from having to always look up.

Reflector type telescopes are the small, short and fat ones you see, (although mine, with an 8" mirror and 5' long is a beast). They don't have a lense at the end, it's just open with a mirror at the bottom that reflects light to an eye piece. the eye piece is mounted perpendicular to the body. You can rotate it to an angle that is comfortable to you, like sitting in a lawn chair. Upside is they let in a lot of light, so seeing nebula and such is fairly easy. and changing lenses/filters is easy. (You get your power from changing the lens and different things are easier to see with different filters. Like I've got a Moon filter because the moon is too bright to look at comforably with the naked eye - wearing sunglasses at night is a cheap way to go.. I also have a purple filter that I like to use with Mars. Just makes it easier to see detail. Lens/filters cost a bit of money.) On the downside, reflectors don't work well for daytime nature because everything is upside down by the time it reaches your eye and the bigger ones get kind of bulky. These are also called newtonians because Newton did his work with this type - 1.5 inch mirror.

Before I would spend a bunch of money, I'd take hime on a trip to a optics/telescope store and check things out, (a specialty store, if they sell cameras as a main item the knowledge base can be low).

You know, a good pair of binoculars work great for star/planet/moon gazing and leave some money for things like a good star chart, a red lens flashlight and a couple good books. The bigger the diameter the better. This gives him a chance to get right out there and start playing around and a little time to learn about the different types of telescopes so he can make an informed decision on what's right for him or even if he really likes it. It's not good to have the telescope sitting around in the closet, but binocs can be thrown in the truck... You'ld be amazed at what you can see with a binocular, nebula isn't out of the question.

 

the neighbor's cat??????

 

i have two, one is a tasco reflective, it has a 4 inch mirror and is okay for seeing the moon and close objects in the night sky, i can see jupiter and saturn but cannot make out the moons or really see the rings. it was 149.00 retail. i also have a 6 inch meade refracter. now this is the one that gets used on a good night. i can make out the polar caps on mars and see some of the ridges from the mountians. i can make out all the rings on staurn, i can see the moons of jupiter and make out the red spot easily. when i look at the edge of the moon, that area where it is in shadow, the details are amazing, but this scope is way too strong to look at the lighted part of the moon. i have a 35mm camara attachment and ove the years i have gotten some great pictures of nebulas and stuff with the help of a automated tracker and filters., when hale bopp comet came thru i was in the desert in arizona, and i took some pictures showing amazing details and color. this scope was 600 dollars and well worth it. i would suggest if someone really has interest in viewing they get one of these. and as for normal urban viewing this scope will show you stuff in detail from very far away.

as for the upside down viewing you see, get the adapter that flips the picture. they can be bought at any telescope store.

if you wanna get started cheap walmart sells telescopes too. they have a small tasco reflector and a 3 inch reflactor for less the 100 bucks.

 

Just don't get a toy store telscope that is so poorly made it will sour him on the subject forever.

 

Wow, thanks for the crash course on telescopes. I definitely learned alot and have some idea what I'm looking at. Thanks everybody !

 

Don't waste your money on power you can't use; I think the limit is 50 or 60 power per inch of diameter of the big lens or mirror. Anything more than that won't be clear. Forget the '2 inch telescope with 1200 power' you see advertised. Astronomy is a fascinating hobby if your kid gets in to it. Reflectors give you more bang for your buck.