Telescopes?

Associate
Joined
8 Feb 2014
Posts
846
Location
Aberdeen
Is anyone knowledgeable about telescopes at all?

I have an 8 year old who is interested and bought one of those small table top telescopes, but it is quite frankly rubbish, barely useful for viewing a bright moon.

What sort of budget are we looking at for a starter telescope and what should we go for?
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2010
Posts
14,359
Location
5 degrees starboard
Do you have any local societies involved with astronomy. Aberdeen should be a rich area for this as you can guarantee a dark sky outside the city, I would have thought. The second hand market is where I would buy a first 'scope. I am no expert, but a small reflector telescope would be my guess at £1-200 maybe cheaper second hand from a reputable place.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2003
Posts
23,627
Probably worth seeking out the local Astro club and go along to an event.

The reason I say this is there are so many types for different targets.

I have a 4” scope for photography. For visual you need either more diameter (or mirror) or a reduction of focal length. The more zoom you have the bigger the scope will need to be.

I’ve looked through a large Dobsons (18” and 22” mirrors) and it’s superb but they aren’t your normal hobby scope!
 
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