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RE: Telescopes
March 10, 2013 at 9:51 am
It may be better to start off with a good pair of binoculars, learn your way around the sky, then move up to a telescope. Also find out if you have any clubs near to where you live, you will probably get access to far better equipment ant meet people with lots of knowledge and experience.
My son was the youngest member of our local club at age 7 and now has a degree in physics and astrophysics. (Start 'em young!)
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RE: Telescopes
March 10, 2013 at 1:21 pm
I was hoping $150… But that's a number I pulled out of my ass…
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RE: Telescopes
March 10, 2013 at 4:49 pm
I might suggest Edmund scientific Astroscan. It retails for around $200. It is designed for portability, durability and novice use. You can use it without a tripod. It is bomb proof. It is reasonably good for a novice scope. Your son can see moons and cloud bands of Jupiter, rings of Saturn, and many craters on the moon, and andromeda. It requires no set up, comes with should strap, and is better than you can achieve hand holding a pair of binoculars.
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RE: Telescopes
March 10, 2013 at 4:51 pm
(March 5, 2013 at 1:32 pm)festive1 Wrote: Yeah, the site Cthulhu posted puts emphasis on a good mount, but says they don't have to expensive to be effective. So many things to consider, I'm glad I'm checking all this out early so I have time to figure it out… I also found a site for a local astronomy club, which would be good for me to check out and get more info.
P.S. I have to admit that I'm interested in this too, it's not just for the kid 
Though he will enjoy it too, good mommy-son activity.
Make sure it's a good one, i remember i got a crap one at christmas once, i still got excited and still used it but basically it was useless. I don't even remember seeing anything.
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