

#BEST TELESCOPE FOR KIDS FREE#
Even better, free shipping is included.Īs Mounsey stressed, the need for a bigger aperture depends on where you are viewing from and what you hope to see. We easily spotted Saturn’s rings and Jupiter and its moons with this model. The mirrors expand and collapse, making this model even more amenable to storing indoors. Like our top pick, this Newtonian-style reflector telescope has a 5-inch mirror, but it’s designed to sit on a tabletop rather than on a tripod, so it works best if you have a picnic table or other support to set it on.
#BEST TELESCOPE FOR KIDS MANUAL#
With that in mind, some of our experts told us they preferred (and even advised) learning the ins and outs of astronomy on a manual telescope, so if you’re willing to put in the effort, you’ll become a smarter stargazer. One reason you may not want a manual telescope: You have to collimate (align) the telescope’s mirrors, which can be tedious or frustrating if you weren’t aware it had to be done. The Astronomers Without Borders OneSky Reflector Telescope offers the most scope for the money if you don’t want an electronic GPS function (meaning it won’t automatically find the specific celestial bodies you seek).

#BEST TELESCOPE FOR KIDS PORTABLE#
The NexStar 5SE weighs 15 pounds, which is very portable relative to other options out there, so you should have no problem packing it up into a trunk and setting it up on location. Unlike with some of the NexStar 5SE’s competitors, this controller worked flawlessly in our tests, offering micro adjustments and responsive tracking with the attached controller system.

Instead of fumbling through the learning curve of reading star charts and aligning the telescope manually, you can align and focus your telescope on a myriad of celestial objects with the press of a button. This telescope operates on a fully computerized system and gives you a handheld controller to guide it. It has a primary 5-inch mirror, which is big enough for a light-gathering capacity that yields crisp images of some of the best objects in our solar system, from Saturn’s rings to Jupiter’s cloud bands, and provides sufficient power to introduce you to objects in the deep sky.

Our overall pick for the best amateur telescope, the Celestron NexStar 5SE is a Schmidt-Cassegrain scope, a design that uses both lenses and mirrors in a relatively compact package. How Will Inflation Affect Prime Day Deals?.
