My soon-to-be 13 year old desperately wants a telescope for his birthday. Any hints what I should look for? I'd like to stay under $100 bucks if possible, but on the other hand, I don't want to buy a toy that will break after a week, neither. Any help is appreciated.
2007-04-13 14:34:17 · 4 answers · asked by ina291262 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
It's very difficult to get anything decent under $100. You will do better, though, if you buy from a real telescope store. Discount stores, sporting goods stores, etc. tend to carry unusable junk telescopes. Here's a couple of online places to check out:
http://www.first-telescope.com/
http://www.telescope.com/
Both of these have some serviceable low-cost telescopes.
If he gets serious about astronomy, try to get him to meetings and star parties of your nearest astronomy club. Besides getting to talk to amateur astronomers and look through their scopes, he may be able to borrow a telescope from the club, or get a good deal on a used scope from a club member. http://www.skytonight.com/ has a lookup for astronomy clubs.
2007-04-13 14:51:06 · answer #1 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was given a Bushnell recently. I just looked to see the model number but it's not on the scope. It was just under a hundred.
The star finder is decent. We use it a few times a month. you can see Saturn's rings with it. it's decent
2007-04-13 21:40:53 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Consider binoculars. You can get a good beginners 7x50 set for roughly $100.
2007-04-13 21:38:33 · answer #3 · answered by novangelis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a simple reflecting telescop is cheap and works well
2007-04-13 21:58:21 · answer #4 · answered by Stephie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋