Here it is, not even Thanksgiving and I’m pushing astronomical gifts for your stargazing geek — and I say that affectionately, as I’m one myself.
First on the list of potential gifts are books. I still think the best book for kids is “The Kids Book of the Night Sky” by Ann Love, Jane Drake and Heather Collins. You can pick it up at most bookstores for under $15 or on Amazon. I think it’s a wonderful book for grade school kids, especially if parents read along.
For teens and adults, I sure like “The Backyard Astronomers Guide” by Terence Dickenson and Alan Dyer, as well as “Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners” by Dickenson. The former is an older book published in 1987 but it’s really good. Being an older book also means you can get a pretty good deal. I’ve seen it on sale for less than $15. And to toot my own horn a little, I would like to recommend my newest book, “Stars: A Month by Month Guide to the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications. You can pick it up for less than $15 on Amazon. It has monthly star maps, constellation charts, updated mythology stories about the constellations, planet information, and more, along with my own astrophotography.
You can also give the gift of a subscription to an astronomy and stargazing magazine. I think the best ones are Astronomy and Sky and Telescope. Not only do you get news, great articles, updated information on where the planets are in the sky and other celestial happenings every month, but both magazines have terrific interactive websites with visual podcasts, and so much more. You really get a lot of bang for your buck with a subscription.
When it comes to telescopes I’m a huge disciple of Newtonian reflector telescopes. Isaac Newton really knew what he was doing when he designed this kind of telescope in the 17th century. The most important thing any telescope can do is gather light. The more light you can gather, the clearer the image. Magnification is second. The level of magnification is controlled by the size or focal length of the eyepiece you’re using. With more light, your image will be clearer at higher and higher magnifications. Newtonian reflectors collect light with a concave parabolic mirror in the rear of the scope. The greater the diameter of the mirror the more light it can gather.
When most people think of telescopes what comes to mind are refractor telescopes that collect light through a lens at the front end of the telescope tube and lets you view with an eyepiece in the rear. Refractors are OK, but I think reflectors give you more bang for your buck. I also recommend that you get a reflector telescope with a Dobsonian mount. They are much easier to use.
I have nothing against the big department stores, but in my opinion you don’t want to buy a telescope at one. There are a lot of junky scopes out there and they usually wind up on department store shelves. I’m also leery about buying used scopes online. I think you’re always taking a chance when you do that.
Unfortunately, there are not a lot of brick and mortar telescope shops. Personally, I do a lot of business with Starizona, in Tucson, Arizona. I don’t actually get to their store all that often, but I do a lot of business with them online. In Seattle, you can purchase telescopes at Captain’s Nautical Supplies or rent telescopes through the Seattle Astronomical Society.
My favorite telescope brands that I like to recommend are Meade, Celestron, and Orion. I have to admit that I’m really partial to Orion telescopes. In my opinion, they have the best optics.
I have two specific telescope recommendations:
1. Orion StarBlast 4.5-inch Astro Reflector Telescope. This is a great scope for kids about 10 years or older. It comes with eyepieces and is great for the moon, planets and brighter deep space objects. It’s very user friendly. It retails for just under $200. Check out more at www.telescope.com.
2. Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope. It a great Newtonian reflector telescope for older kids and adults with an easy to use Dobsonian mount. With an 8-inch diameter mirror you’ll get really nice views of the moon, planets, nebula, galaxies, and more. It retails for just under $350. More details at www.telescope.com.
Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis.
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