Joanne

...about telescopes?

We bought one for Christmas but were unhappy with the quality and
returned it. My youngest daughter is very interested in space and all
things space related so this is something we've been talking about
getting for a while.

What should we look for in a telescope? Certain types or models? We
really don't know to much about them so anything anybody can tell us
would be a big help in our decision in what kind to buy.

Thanks!!

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (13)
Adopted into our hearts October 2003
************************************
Unschooling Voices ~ Add Your Voice
www.foreverparents.com/UnschoolingVoices.html

Michelle Leifur Reid

On 10/1/06, Joanne <billyandjoanne@...> wrote:
> ...about telescopes?

> What should we look for in a telescope? Certain types or models? We
> really don't know to much about them so anything anybody can tell us
> would be a big help in our decision in what kind to buy.
>

Do you have a Discovery Store near you? They have a great line of
fairly affordable telescopes. We, too, bought an inexpensive
telescope that didn't have a very good base. Very unstable. The wind
would make us lose what we were trying to focus on. What we DO know
about telescopes is that it needs to be stable and the "joints" (all
the moving parts) should be fairly firm so that they don't jiggle very
much . Try to find one that makes viewing comfortable. So that you
can look through the eyepiece without having to need support or can
devise a way to give you the support you need. We have a friend who
bought an old walker (the aluminium framed kind like that are use din
hospitals) to use as a support for themselves so that they could view
into the telescope without fearing to knock it over or anything.

You can find a decent small telescope for under $100, but consider
spending between $200 and $400 for a nice telescope, especially if
your children are younger. They get much better definition and are
generally easier to align and look through. We've had some fantastic
sightings with our scope. We have viewed Mars, the rings of Saturn,
nebuli, a moon crossing in front of Jupiter, craters on the moon, all
kinds of things.

There are some great magazines available for amatuer sky watchers. Go
to your bookstore and puruse those for different ideas. Ask lots of
questions. The way we found out scope was that we went out with a sky
watching group that meets every month through the college. They have
nights that the public is invited. They have all kinds of scopes that
we could look through and ask questions about. It was like going to a
huge showroom. Must have been around 20 scopes. Call your local
college or planetarium and ask if there is such a group in your area
and then take a nap and go meet up with them!

Michelle

Joanne

Michelle.

Thanks for the suggestions. :-) What brand do you have and would
you recommend it? The one we bought was about $100 bucks, but we
were really disatisfied with it.

More than likely, I'll have to buy one online because I odn't know
of a place nearby that sells them. Can anybody suggest a reputable
website?

We recently went to the Orlando Science Center where they had an
observatory. Jacqueline loved it! I blogged about it and took some
pictures: http://tinyurl.com/s8fbh

Thanks!

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (13)
Adopted into our hearts October 2003
************************************
Unschooling Voices ~ Add Your Voice
www.foreverparents.com/UnschoolingVoices.html








--- In [email protected], "Michelle Leifur Reid"
<pamperedmichelle@...> wrote:
>
> On 10/1/06, Joanne <billyandjoanne@...> wrote:
> > ...about telescopes?
>
> > What should we look for in a telescope? Certain types or models?
We
> > really don't know to much about them so anything anybody can
tell us
> > would be a big help in our decision in what kind to buy.
> >
>
> Do you have a Discovery Store near you? They have a great line of
> fairly affordable telescopes. We, too, bought an inexpensive
> telescope that didn't have a very good base. Very unstable. The
wind
> would make us lose what we were trying to focus on. What we DO
know
> about telescopes is that it needs to be stable and the "joints"
(all
> the moving parts) should be fairly firm so that they don't jiggle
very
> much . Try to find one that makes viewing comfortable. So that
you
> can look through the eyepiece without having to need support or can
> devise a way to give you the support you need. We have a friend
who
> bought an old walker (the aluminium framed kind like that are use
din
> hospitals) to use as a support for themselves so that they could
view
> into the telescope without fearing to knock it over or anything.
>
> You can find a decent small telescope for under $100, but consider
> spending between $200 and $400 for a nice telescope, especially if
> your children are younger. They get much better definition and are
> generally easier to align and look through. We've had some
fantastic
> sightings with our scope. We have viewed Mars, the rings of
Saturn,
> nebuli, a moon crossing in front of Jupiter, craters on the moon,
all
> kinds of things.
>
> There are some great magazines available for amatuer sky
watchers. Go
> to your bookstore and puruse those for different ideas. Ask lots
of
> questions. The way we found out scope was that we went out with a
sky
> watching group that meets every month through the college. They
have
> nights that the public is invited. They have all kinds of scopes
that
> we could look through and ask questions about. It was like going
to a
> huge showroom. Must have been around 20 scopes. Call your local
> college or planetarium and ask if there is such a group in your
area
> and then take a nap and go meet up with them!
>
> Michelle
>

Vickisue Gray

Try www.scientificsonline.com The Astroscan looks really nice. I was thinking of getting it for Christmas.

Joanne <billyandjoanne@...> wrote: Michelle.

Thanks for the suggestions. :-) What brand do you have and would
you recommend it? The one we bought was about $100 bucks, but we
were really disatisfied with it.

More than likely, I'll have to buy one online because I odn't know
of a place nearby that sells them. Can anybody suggest a reputable
website?

We recently went to the Orlando Science Center where they had an
observatory. Jacqueline loved it! I blogged about it and took some
pictures: http://tinyurl.com/s8fbh

Thanks!

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (13)
Adopted into our hearts October 2003
************************************
Unschooling Voices ~ Add Your Voice
www.foreverparents.com/UnschoolingVoices.html


--- In [email protected], "Michelle Leifur Reid"
<pamperedmichelle@...> wrote:
>
> On 10/1/06, Joanne <billyandjoanne@...> wrote:
> > ...about telescopes?
>
> > What should we look for in a telescope? Certain types or models?
We
> > really don't know to much about them so anything anybody can
tell us
> > would be a big help in our decision in what kind to buy.
> >
>
> Do you have a Discovery Store near you? They have a great line of
> fairly affordable telescopes. We, too, bought an inexpensive
> telescope that didn't have a very good base. Very unstable. The
wind
> would make us lose what we were trying to focus on. What we DO
know
> about telescopes is that it needs to be stable and the "joints"
(all
> the moving parts) should be fairly firm so that they don't jiggle
very
> much . Try to find one that makes viewing comfortable. So that
you
> can look through the eyepiece without having to need support or can
> devise a way to give you the support you need. We have a friend
who
> bought an old walker (the aluminium framed kind like that are use
din
> hospitals) to use as a support for themselves so that they could
view
> into the telescope without fearing to knock it over or anything.
>
> You can find a decent small telescope for under $100, but consider
> spending between $200 and $400 for a nice telescope, especially if
> your children are younger. They get much better definition and are
> generally easier to align and look through. We've had some
fantastic
> sightings with our scope. We have viewed Mars, the rings of
Saturn,
> nebuli, a moon crossing in front of Jupiter, craters on the moon,
all
> kinds of things.
>
> There are some great magazines available for amatuer sky
watchers. Go
> to your bookstore and puruse those for different ideas. Ask lots
of
> questions. The way we found out scope was that we went out with a
sky
> watching group that meets every month through the college. They
have
> nights that the public is invited. They have all kinds of scopes
that
> we could look through and ask questions about. It was like going
to a
> huge showroom. Must have been around 20 scopes. Call your local
> college or planetarium and ask if there is such a group in your
area
> and then take a nap and go meet up with them!
>
> Michelle
>






---------------------------------
Stay in the know. Pulse on the new Yahoo.com. Check it out.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]