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Getting Kids Started In Astonomy?
ajlaw asks: "My five-year-old daughter has expressed an interest in the solar system and the stars...she even enjoys watching that NASA channel quite a bit. If I wanted to purchase a decent telescope for us to start looking at some of the planets or the new space station, can you recommend a decent way to get started? Are there any good books or Web sites out there that would help us to learn when to view different objects out there from my location (northern NJ, USA)?"
They've got some nice beginner scopes now that have a computerized motor attached that has an astronomical database attached - you can just tell it what object to point it. Can't get any simpler than that. Also, the optical quality of the scopes are quite nice from what I've read. They're also small enough to carry around, so you can go out into the country, away from urban light pollution and air pollution, and get a real clear view.
The models are in the ETX-60, 70, 90, and 125 lines, with the 'Autostar Computer Controller'.
Pretty sweet. Check them out at www.meade.com.
I've generally enjoyed planetarium shows, good astronomers giving them can often tie a lot of things together, anthropology and all sort of cool stuff have a lot to do with stars.
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Best tools? Warm clothing, a pair of binoculars (ask if you can borrow some friend or relatives the first few times out) and enthusiasm. One of the spinny-sky-maps (square of cardboard holding a rotatable circular sky map, adjust it to show tonight's sky by date & time) is nice to have too at the beginning.
Show you daughter the constellations then learn where their names come from, the stories behind those characters. These make great bedtime stories even if you're paraphrasing from a 'grown-up book' and it wows kids to connect them to the outside. Don't forget there are other traditions: Native American sky stories are wonderful.
Consider taking your daughter on a trip to a Planetarium (ok - I'm biased here - volunteered for one for 8 years.) Any decent science education center will have some astronomy exhibits. Make 'catching the mistakes' on TV shows & movies a sport with your daughter.
Since she's young there won't be a lot of late night viewing but you can make it a special treat. A trip out into the countryside, a good warm meal, then an half-hour with Mom & Dad out in a field looking at the stars; *her* time. Bring a big blanket & thermos of hot cocoa so you all can huddle up while watching. If she has some other little friends of a similar bent invite them & their parents for a special "Kid's Star Party".
Other gear: DON'T go buying an expensive telescope the first time out, particularly a refractor. Binoculars are preferable the first few times and can be used for other hobbies as she grows. If her interest remains consider getting her a telescope later on but even then a reflector is usually a better deal & much more portable. Books are *always* a good investment, check your local library & kids book store.
Finally, connect astronomy into other things in her life. The light from stars can be connected to the light from cut crystal which can be connected to an inexpensive prism you get for her. Compare driving to a market to driving to the Moon, or to Mars. Discuss various weights in various places, discuss things like why the ISS stays up, etc. Check some kids science books for simple science projects to do on a rainy day.
Last, with the ISS solar panels up it's now *much* more visible. Consider checking a web site for it's visible times from your area & see if you two can spot it.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.