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Having said this, you should consider that computerized telescopes are not recommended for children between the ages of 6-10, as they are more difficult to use. When searching for a kids telescope, you may want to strike a balance between not spending too much and not buying low-quality equipment because after all you want them to end up loving astronomy.
#Telescope for kids how to#
Telescopes can be great instruments to teach your kids how to appreciate the complexities of the Universe, while observing the other planets and our solar system, the stars, and galaxies. Why Some Telescopes Are Better for Kids Than Others However, if you are on a budget, but still look for high quality, we recommend the Celestron 76 mm Firstscope, which is also the most compact and lightweight among the three.
#Telescope for kids portable#
If you are searching for a portable telescope, the best one is INTEY Ultra-Clear Portable Astronomy Telescope, great for both beginners of any age and children, flexible and easy to use. To help you in this process, we did a thorough investigation of the telescopes available on the UK market.Īs a result, we consider that Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70AZ Refractor Telescopeis the best option, offering high quality, easy setup and use, while also being appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing, at a medium price. Post graduation, Duranceau plans to wrap up his research at Dartmouth before applying to PhD programs in astrophysics.Buying a telescope for a child can be challenging for a number of reasons. “So we have to look at tons of them from all sorts of different timeframes.” “Looking at younger stars is like looking at different snapshots in time because we can't really fit and wait for, you know, a billion years to see how one system changes over time,” he said. In this case, the two planets Duranceau found and the star they orbit were young, which helps paint a picture of planetary evolution.
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I love spectra,” Duranceau said.įinding the amount of lithium in a star by its spectra can help in estimating the star’s age. “You can look at what wavelength you see dips in your spectra and trace that back to see what elements are in your star, which I just think is really cool. Knowing that different elements absorb light at different wavelengths, researchers can learn more about the star by its light. To determine the age of a star, researchers look at spectra, or the measures of how much light is at different wavelengths. “It’s pretty interesting to see what our own solar system might have looked like if things had gone differently or at different points in time.”ĭuranceau’s research also tried to measure the age of the star that the planets orbited.
#Telescope for kids plus#
And the star has the same mass and radius, you know, plus or minus a tiny percent,” Duranceau said. “What's interesting about this system is that it's pretty similar to the sun. The research Duranceau started under assistant professor Elizabeth Newton would eventually lead to his senior thesis, which included his exciting discovery of the new exoplanets.ĭuranceau found the planets while looking at data from a NASA satellite to first determine if the suspected exoplanets existed at all. In fact, the star Duranceau would end up looking at was located 257 light years, or about 1.5 quadrillion miles, away from us. We’re not gonna go to these stars, it would take too long,” said Duranceau, who just graduated from Dartmouth, where he majored in physics and astronomy.ĭuranceau’s work - which resulted in the discovery of two new exoplanets, or planets beyond the reaches of our own solar system - drew his attention about as remote as you can get. “The nice thing about astronomy is that it’s fully remote – at least it can be. But during the lockdown, recent graduate Jack Duranceau began developing a particularly unique way to pass the time: researching young exoplanets and the stars they orbit. Lots of people picked up new hobbies during the pandemic.
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