Orion 27194 XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope and Beginner Barlow Kit

I have a problem--I need to buy the biggest and best, and I usually go overboard. I know this, my wife knows this, and my 4-year-old daughter knows this. My purchase of this telescope is a story of me going overboard.Over the last six months, my daughter has been showing an increasing interest in astronomy. When she asked for a telescope for Christmas - I jumped at the chance to get her one. Mostly because I, too, want a telescope. Taking these needs into mind, I wanted to find a telescope that would be easy to use, grow with my daughter's interests, and serve as platform to support our shared hobby. Ultimately, I chose this telescope.I assembled it on Christmas eve while my wife watched on in amused horror. This is a big telescope. "I thought it would fit on a table," she said. It's big enough that it now has a dedicated storage spot in our living room. In fact, it's too big. I lug it outside 2-3 times a week, when the sky is clear, but moving it around isn't easy. It's tall, it's awkward to carry, and if you're as uncoordinated as me, it slips and slides every-which-way when you're moving it around.But, it is easy to use. Once I get it outside, I can quickly find objects of astronomical interest and get a great view ready for my wife and daughter. And it will grow with my daughter, allowing her to take this hobby pretty far before the limits of the telescope--such as the low-quality primary mirror, which introduces a level of fuzz to distant viewing--will start holding her back.Finally, this telescope has done something that none of it's specifications would suggest--it's given my daughter and I something to get excited about. The moon was full on Christmas night and, by luck, our Washington skies were clear. We drug the telescope outside and pointed it up there and, for the first time ever, my daughter could see the moon as something other than a bright light in the sky. It hung like a rock in the viewfinder, all its pits and craters highlighted as though looking at a stone through a magnifying glass, its light blinding and delivering a new-found understanding of worlds beyond this.While it's bigger than we probably needed, and it's awkward to lug around, this telescope has delivered exactly what I needed and more.With the lenses and materials in this kit, you'll be able to view the moon beautifully with just the 25mm lens. I can also clearly see the Orion nebula from my backyard, which is near a big city. Even with the barlow, planets aren't magnified enough for optimum viewing, but if you purchase a 6mm lens as well, you'll be in great shape. Terrestrial viewing is also great.I'd recommend grabbing one of the sky viewing apps to orient the night's sky while you get used to star charts.

This Dobsonian reflector telescope is great in many respects. I delivers a large 8" aperture, which makes for maximal light gathering power at low cost, compared to much more expensive tracking scopes of more traditional optical design. My 8" is easily. liftable and I can carry it fully assembled, from my house to my patio. No tripod setup necessary! It does weigh over 40 pounds and it takes a few tries to master holding onto the carrying handle and the tube at the same time, while maneuvering through doorways and such. A larger version (10" or more) would be a challenge to move by one person and to load into a vehicle for offsite viewing.What I love about this scope is that there is no fiddling with a tracking mechanism, which would require mastery of a small, expensive tracking computer and drive motor mechanism. The optical tube sits in a simple "yoke," and is easily moved with a finger or two, since it is perfectly balanced in any position. It comes with a simple optical device for pointing the scope at a celestial object visible to the naked eye. Once the sight is calibrated (a pretty straightforward process involving adjusting two dials) you sight through the device and center the viewing object on a small red LED dot. When you look through the scope, you viewing object is centered in the field of view.The scope comes with a "star guide," a kind of circular slide rule that will tell you where to point the scope to view major celestial objects. There is also a useful book on astronomical viewing. I had fun viewing the moon (really great images), the sun (kind of disappointing due to lack of detail) and Jupiter (quite exciting to look at another planet almost a billion miles away!). I recommend buying a good eyepiece or two, although the eyepieces and magnifying accessories that come with the scope are certainly adequate for casual viewing.Winter weather has kept me from using my scope much, but when better viewing weather comes in the spring, here I come!