Sunday, January 09, 2005
Astronomical Recommendations
David asked below what I would recommend in the way of a telescope for a nine-year-old. If you're in the market for a kid's telescope (essentially what I have in my backyard) I think your garden variety scope you see at the retail stores is a fine start. (My wife picked up ours at a thrift store for a ridiculous $10, but I suggest getting something new, unless you know what defects to look for and can fix them.) You want to be sure the scope has two or three eyepieces, a sighter scope, and a tripod stand. Viewing through such a scope is fine for a beginner: you get great views of the moon, you can make out the disks of planets and their moons, you can see star clusters and the larger whiffs of nebulae. I don't get to the star parties these days, and I still find the small retail telescope to be quite pleasing.
An even stronger recommendation is to visit the local astronomy society. The one in Kansas City has weekly lectures, and weekly observing gatherings at the ASKC telescope south of the suburbs. The one in your neighborhood will probably welcome you with open arms. Serious hobbyists love to pass on the love of the skies to youngsters. They know the future of the hobby is in getting kids interested. Once you're ready to advance to a good telescope, you can try out the various scopes of the members, talk to them about the advantages of each. From there, you can get into photography, tracking meteor showers, comet watches, and other valuable observations. More than in any other science, amateur astronomers play a vital role in many serious scientific undertakings. With the latest computer technology and gadgets, amateurs are discovering comets, plotting near-earth asteroids, even planets around other stars.
It's just a great hobby.
