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I want to get my nine year old son a telescope and a microscope for Christmas. He has tons of toys so his dad and I have been trying to figure out something good for him that he'd enjoy. I know he'd like these items. The problem is I have no idea of how to go about buying them. For instance, what is a good brand? What's a good one for kids? I looked on ebay and they had all this stuff along with the description that I didn't understand.

Does anyone know of a good brand for kids that's not real expensive?

2007-10-03 05:16:20 · 7 answers · asked by musicpanther67 5 in Science & Mathematics Astronomy & Space

7 answers

I had a few "children's" toys like that myself. They are not particularly interesting or useful, not even (or especially not?) for the child that is interested in science like mad.

If you have an interest in science yourself, I would suggest to buy a beginner's telescope for adults. You will have to help a nine year old anyway with some of the basics and you probably don't want him to be alone out in a DARK spot at midnight? You have to keep in mind that one can not see much with any telescope from the backyard if there is light pollution, so it is very likely that you will have to drive somewhere away from city lights to see something even remotely interesting with a beginners instrument (the moon is probably an exception).

Of course, manufacturers won't tell you these little details about (hobby) astronomy because it would cut down on their sales, but you need to know before you spend or waste money on it that in order to see the universe, i.e. the planets, galaxies, double stars and comets that can principally be observed with an instrument like that, location is everything.

As an initial investment for a telescope I would think $500-$1000 is a good ballpark. Instruments that are advertised any cheaper (even by quality manufacturers) simply can not deliver what I would call a good initial experience. You truly get what you pay for in today's telescope market. I can not give any practical recommendations based on experience but if I would buy something for Christmas myself, I would probably go with a 100mm (4") or larger instrument. Anything below that aperture will be disappointing for celestial observation.

As for a microscope... that is a difficult one. For one thing, they don't make quality microscopes for hobbyists like they make quality telescopes for that market. Cheap microscopes are simple toys that all suffer from VERY poor image quality. On top of that, a good microscope is a relatively delicate instrument and it is very easy to get the object lenses dirty/destroyed by mishandling. The quality of "fun" one can have with microscopy is also a strong function of sample preparation, something that requires quite a bit of expertise.

As a physicist I have been around professional instruments a lot and one of my rules is that I never touch them... (hands BEHIND the back is a good rule when visiting someone else's lab!). These instruments are very expensive, quite easily damaged or degraded and one of the rules in the lab is to never "play" with something one has not been instructed on properly. A real, i.e. useful microscope, would be something that would certainly suffer by being handled by a nine year old and it might become boring just as fast as a cheap plastic toy might.

Hope this helps... even if it is not what you were looking for.

2007-10-03 07:39:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Telescope.

2016-05-19 23:09:17 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Stay away from eBay, Wal-Mart, Costco, etc. Most of what they have is junk, and nobody in the store knows anything about telescopes, so you won't get any help. Buy from a telescope store, either locally or on the internet (sorry, I don't know anything about microscopes).

The two best scopes for kids are these:
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=4644&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=8&iProductID=4644
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=364&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=4&iSubCat=8&iProductID=364

If these are too expensive, consider getting a good pair of binoculars instead. These will be much more useful in the long run than a cheap telescope:
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=307&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=5&iSubCat=37&iProductID=307

2007-10-03 07:34:44 · answer #3 · answered by GeoffG 7 · 2 0

If you'll forgive me insulting your intelligence, as a father of a young boy, maybe you could give him one for Christmas and the other for his birthday. I'm sure that you've seen children get many toys and not use them because there's just too much.

Assuming you're in the Northern Hemisphere, maybe the scope would be a good idea for Christmas. As nighttime comes earlier for you, he'll get his over-excited over-use out of the way before he has to stay up too late for a dark sky.

And I concur with Geoff G; a scope along those lines.

2007-10-03 11:11:56 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

I too recommend telescope.com Also telescopes.com.

And although I never tried it before, I just found out that there are online stores called www.microscope.com and www.microscopes.com.

The internet is pretty cool, huh? If you want anything, just try www.anything.com and see what you get!

And for a child's first astronomical telescope, I recommend the one in the last source.

2007-10-03 05:29:08 · answer #5 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 3 0

I would highly recommend:

www.telescope.com

They have a very large product line at a wide variety of prices. They should be able to help you out.

2007-10-03 05:22:07 · answer #6 · answered by Bobby 6 · 3 0

http://asktheastronomer.blogspot.com

she is a great one to ask, she is a first telescope expert!!!

2007-10-03 07:21:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1 2

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