Twin Star 6" Reflector?

Well, ..., you're in the right ball park wrt to getting a scope with an aperture of 6". However, I would not recommend the Twin Star 6" Reflector based on it's design.

1) It has a short focal length meaning that max magnification will be so low and you not have enough light in the tube achieve a high resolution.

2) I've heard from others who have used this scope type and hear that it is it is very difficult to collimate (align primary and secondary mirrors).

3) The Equatorial mount is flimsy and very difficult to setup and operate.

Read the write up below. For just a few dollars more you can get a very decent scope that will allow you to see the surface of the moon and Saturn's rings, be so easy that even a 10 year old could set it up and operates it, and view Pluto. Although I should tell you that Pluto is nothing to oooh and ahh about as it appears as a faint yellowish dot even in my 10" scope. However, with the 6" XT, you'l be able to easily view the Orion nebula, The great Cluster, and much much more. An entire host of deep sky objects are well within the grasp of the scopes I'm suggesting below. Good luck and and if you need further advice drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to give you further information.

--- Buying a first scope ---

When considering a first scope I suggest that you read the following article. It will give you some information on how telescopes work, as well as, additional buying tips: http://www.raleighastro.org/observing/general-arti...

For more advice I would suggest that you contact your local astronomy club. You don't have to own a telescope to join! Joining your local astronomy club is the best way to nurture your passion for astronomy. Plus, you'll find that they'll be able to provide you lots of great advice and support for acquiring and operating a telescope.

Now the best pricing for a decent first scope that I can suggest is a Dobsonian scope with a 6" or 8" mirror from Orion (e.g. Orion XT6 - $279 or XT8 - $329.95).

The two dobsonians I suggested are great visual beginner scopes and are super for just taking out to the backyard for casual observing but will definitely hold their own at any amateur astronomy gathering. They are also easy for young people to use and operate. You can do short exposure astrophotography with them but not long exposure astrophotography (for that you need a lot more money - See "Astrophotograpphy for Web Cams - Robert Reeves").

The Dobsonian scope will be much more durable, of higher quality, and you'll be able to see all of the Messier deep sky objects (DSO's) plus many of the brighter NCG DSO's, many many stars plus: Mercury, Venus, Earth's Moon, Mars, Jupiter and it's moons, Saturn, its rings and moons, Uranus, Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto, as well as, many of the minor planets, comets, and asteroids. Additionally, it's easy to transport, setup, and use (under 60 seconds from car to ground ... no kidding).

Bottom Line: any scope with less than a 6" mirror with a 1200mm focal length, IMHO, would be a waste of money. See the links below for low priced dobsonian scopes with 6" and 8" mirrors. However, the larger the aperture (size of primary objective ... like an 6", 8", 10", 12" mirror or larger) the better. Also, there are many brands of dobsonian scopes made by many different companies that you can choose from. I only offered these as examples because they are popular with our club members.

Look at the links to the www.telescope.com site that I've provided below and you'll find that they do have quite a selection of standard, push-to, goto dobsonian scopes that could fit your needs.

This Site Might Help You.

RE:

Twin Star 6" Reflector?

This telescope is on ebay for $229. I know its not a professional telescope,but I see a lot of bad reviews on it. I have also seen some good reviews. I'm not planning to look at Pluto. Would this be a decent scope for a 10 year old boy? Can we see the surface of the moon or even Saturn's...

For a 10 year old boy I would recommend to buy a 4.5" inches reflector telescope. It is an advise per my experience. a 4.5 inch reflector is a good telescope to start, you can see the craters of the moon, the phases of Venus, the 4 galilean satellites in Jupiter, Jupiter itself with its north and south bands, Saturn and its rings, the Orion Nebula, double stars, globular clusters, open stellar clusters, the Andromeda galaxy (like a fuzzy patch of light), comets, etc.

2. Take care of the oculars that your telescope will bring: They should be something like 25mm, 12mm, 9mm.

3. The telescope has 2 important parameters: L= focal length and D= diameter

Focal length is the Lent of the tube of the telescope. i.e 500mm

if you divide the value of the focal length by the value of the ocular you will have th powers that the telescope will have with this ocular.

Example: 500/25 = 20x = 20 power

Diameter: how wide is the tube of the telescope. The wider the more light it can collect and the more distant object you can see. If you can afford more that 4.5 inches, do it. The bigger the diameter the more objects you can see clearly.

4. Calculate luminosity: if you divide L / D (focal Lent/diameter) you will have the luminosity of your telescope.

Example1 : L = 500mm, D=114mm = 4.3 so you will have a very luminous telescope useful to watch distant objects.

Example2: L= 500mm, D=50mm = 10 , so you will have a less luminous telescope useful to watch planets, comets.

Twinstar Telescope

No. You're thinking of the film "Boogie Nights" in which Wahlberg PLAYED a porn star. And while Wahlberg's non-twin older brother Donnie is an actor, he does not appear in pornographic films.