Learning Resources EI-5129P GeoSafari Jr My First Telescope Pink, Toy Telescope for Kids, STEM Toy, Ages 4+

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As the outstanding balance, plus the interest now form part of your payable balance they will attract interest However, there is a saying in the world of telescopes that ‘aperture is king’. Or in basic terms, bigger is better. Lunar views too should be sharp with good definition in craters and rille features, as the larger optics enable the telescope to reveal more detail.

And, along with a tube width of 216mm, it really is quite compact. At just 7.8kg too, it is also relatively lightweight for its size. As we look at the question “What type of telescope should I buy?”, we can say from the outset that the best telescope is one that is practical and comfortable to use regularly, and that provides exciting views of the night sky. Indeed, one of the great things about this scope is that you can set it up and get observing within minutes. This also helps take advantage of breaks in the clouds. If you’re interested in more serious stargazing, such as looking for nebulae and galaxies, then you’ll want a reflector—a telescope that uses a mirror to gather up light from fainter objects. It’s easier to make a large mirror than a lens, so reflectors can be quite large. The most common reflectors for amateur astronomy have mirrors spanning 15 to 30 cm across, though ones that are much larger are available if your budget has an extra zero or two at the end of it.Where to buy: Omegon 2 Cassegrains for beginners Sky-Watcher SkyMax 180 Pro Sky-Watcher SkyMax 180 Pro Maksutov-Cassegrain In this respect refractors have limits. Very large lenses are prohibitively expensive and quite unmanageable for amateurs.

It has 9x magnification, while keeping the field of vision wide, which is essential for young children's understanding of magnified views. The comfy goggle guides make it easy to use, and the dual eyepieces mean young children can keep both eyes open when viewing. It’s an ideal telescope for children to explore the world around them as they learn about the Earth and space.

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I get a lot of queries this time of year from readers asking what kind of telescope they should buy. My answer to this is always the same: Imagine if a stranger walked up to you and asked what kind of car they should get. What would you say? Any good answer would depend on how far they wanted to drive, what they needed the vehicle for, how many passengers they’d have and—the big question—how much money they had to spend. It’s the same with a telescope. There are many different kinds for many different uses, and the price can range from “eminently affordable” to “this will cost more than your house.” We performed some astrophotography tests with the telescope and found no evidence of unwanted reflections or artefacts, while a star test showed that the lens cell holds the glass without skewing or pinching, even despite drops in temperature greater than 10°C. Perhaps some were too cumbersome to take in and out at night, others too complicated to set up, or maybe underwhelming views led to disappointment. Tim Jardine pictured with his 18-inch Dobsonian. Beginners can afford to start with a much smaller model! Credit: Tim Jardine A popular alternative option, though, is to mount the telescope tube onto a rotating base that sits on the floor.

The 2,700mm focal length of the Sky-Watcher SkyMax 180 Pro Maksutov-Cassegrain folds into a tube just 500mm long. This long focal length makes it great for planetary and lunar viewing, but it is also good for observing many deep-sky objects, too. Of course, other deep-sky objects may be viewed, with larger aperture Schmidt-Cassegrains providing the most satisfying experience. Within that range we find inexpensive models with a single front lens, up to telescopes with multiple lenses that provide a sharper more natural view, at a premium price point. Altair Starwave ASCENT 115 F7 refractor With this basic separation into groups established, we can review the benefits and compromises of each. Comparatively heavy, they tend to be shorter lengthwise, and this compactness makes them ideal where storage space is limited.

The second type we will consider, invented by Isaac Newton, are known as reflectors because they utilise mirrors instead of lenses to achieve an enlarged sky view. At six inches in diameter the Evostar 150ED DS-Pro is probably the maximum manageable size refractor for most amateur astronomers. Although some detail and moons may be seen when observing Jupiter and Saturn, in either case the planet itself will appear quite small and very bright in the view. On other nights we achieved similar results, with the scope’s high-contrast optics producing great views of deep-sky objects and making the Moon in particular quite mesmerising. Even then there are a myriad of subcategories. Newtonian reflectors are (typically) long tubes with a primary mirror at one end. Some are small enough to use on a tabletop and sport a 10-cm mirror and a wide field of view. These are fun for looking at the Pleiades star cluster and other celestial objects that loom comparatively large in Earth’s sky. They don’t magnify a lot, however, so it’s difficult to see Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s stripes with such telescopes.