Advice for Beginner

[smassie]

Hi all!

I'm looking at getting my 6 year old a telescope for his birthday. He loves space (as any kid does) and I would like to spend under $100 (yes I know, hardly much at all!). Can anyone recommend the best you can buy for that price? I've been looking at the following but I know you guys would probably have a heart attack even looking at them:

http://www.kmart.com.au/product/telescope-with-tripod/121652

http://shop.australiangeographic.com.au/telescope-dobsonian-starview-76mm.html

https://www.bigw.com.au/product/vivitar-reflector-telescope-with-tripod/p/WCC100000000027624/

With the bare basic, what should we be able to see?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Regards

[glend]

It is great that your son is interested, and that you want to get him a scope but honestly I would wait a few years - this is based on my experience doing the same thing. A six year old is just too young in my opinion to sustain interest and is likely to be very disappointed by what he can see through those litte scopes. As was my case, the scope will be quickly relegated to the closet and not touched again. In my opinion taking him on the occassional excursion to observatories or the various IIS Star Party events would be more interesting and foster his interest into the future. At star parties he can look through big scopes at dark sites and see a lot and have things explained by knowledgable people. I believe the age of about 10 is better for his frst 'real' scope. Hope that helps.

[traveller]

Hi Cassie,
My choice would be the table top dob (Aust Geographic). It is easy to use and compact. I think they come with two lenses (25 and 10 mm are standard) and maybe a 2x barlow. With this set up your kid will easily see the moon and craters (you may need a moon filter to counter the strong glare), Jupiter and its four large moons and Saturn and its ring (although they will be no bigger than a Lego stud when viewed through the lens).
Alternatively, turn up at a local star party (beyond the bed time for 6 yo, but always a good night out) and check out the views through the big dobs.
If you can get a second hand table top dob in the 130mm aperture, they should go around the $100 mark.
Cheers
Bo

[Somnium]

I wonder if you can still pick up a Galileo scope somewhere ... That would be perfect

[jenchris]

Aldi have little tabletop dobs that are actually quite acceptable.
Have a look.
They may be sold out by now