Re: Prerequisite for 1st telescope

On Oct 30, 3:43 pm, chris1...@xxxxxxx wrote:

One should need to know nothing, but have an intense desire to see the
universe with one's own eyes. One should also not get their first
telescope from any grownup, parent, uncle or whatever. One should
either earn it or make it. A lot of the kids in our club (and some
grownups too) made their own 6" and 8" reflectors by grinding,
polishing and figuring a piece of glass to a parabola, and adding the
requisite hardware. The first look into the universe through that kind
of thing is thrilling beyond belief, and will sustain a person for the
rest of his/her life.

The general consensus appears to be that little or nothing in the way
of astronomical or telescopic knowledge ought to be required prior to
acquiring a first telescope. After reading the various comments I am
in agreement with that consensus. I would not have met all of my own
suggested prerequisites prior to the posession of my own first
telescope despite having read all the amateur astronomy books I could
get my hands on.

I like Unca Rollo's suggestion that one should have to earn or make
their first telescope rather than receiving it as a gift. It
accomplishes a similar (yet different) sort of thing that I was
looking for when I typed my list of potential prerequisites -- a sort
of quasi-gaurantee that the new telescope owner will expend a
reasonable effort (and perhaps more) in their efforts to see all that
they can see -- a quasi-gaurantee that the telescope will end up
spending much of its time under the night sky rather than in a
forgotten closet.

Bill
.

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