Those dastardly Chinese scientists destroyed our moon habitat! Better make assault rifles that work in space.

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https://youtu.be/TV-8rDmAhYY

Edit: for those who seem upset it’s a reference to the Apple TV show For All Mankind.

Do you have a recommendation for a good beginner but not toy telescope?

Not a bad way to be. Nothing wrong with having something nice and REALLY nothing wrong with having something nice and sharing it with others.

Here, have a snickers. Your not yourself when your hangry.

My local library lends great telescopes, maybe yours does too?

The best way. Join a club. And make some nice friends of all ages.

Check if your county library or local libraries have a library of things. I think mine has a telescope.

The aperture (size) of the telescope's main lens or mirror determines how much light it collects. If you use a high magnification, you are taking that finite amount of light and spreading it over a large image, so the image gets dim. This makes it difficult to see dim objects like comets. But if you use too low a magnification, some of the light is wasted, so for example, if you use 8x magnification on an 8-inch telescope, the view is no better than 8x50 binoculars. Worse actually, because you're only using one eye. So for viewing large diffuse objects, binoculars are ideal. If you can afford large astronomical binoculars (like 16x80) those are ideal, but even a common 8x42 works very well (and don't need a tripod).

I agree! I am not even what I would consider an amateur astronomer but do go out star gazing with the kids a couple times per year for different events. Had a friend who really wanted to see the total eclipse and needed a second driver since his plan was to drive non-stop for 16 hours, see the eclipse, then repeat the trip in reverse. On a whim my wife and I decided to go with him, and when we finally arrived and were standing in an empty field I thought we had made a dumb decision. However, an hour later when the eclipse happened it was so amazing! I had seen partial eclipses many times, but the full eclipse was transformative! My favorite celestial event, I would say. Ironically, we have since moved near to where we had seen the eclipse, so now we will have to make another long road trip back to where we just moved from to see the next one!

This is the best answer. Your kid will learn so much, be able to view the skies through the telescope and probably also get to see a lot more stuff.

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Check for local observatories, even some small colleges have them.

None of this is going to happen without SpaceX's Starship rocket. The Starship rocket will change spaceflight forever!!!!! Seriously people, the Starship rocket will allow full scale space colonization to begin. The Starship rocket is so revolutionary it's not even funny!!!

Hail Elon Musk!!!! Praise be to Elon!!!!!

Buy a nice telescope from a big box store that has a generous return policy….

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Is it still in the night sky? Never had the chance because its cold outside and my warm clothes are in the wash rn

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Also, this could be an astronomy club at a high school or college. May even be able to talk to science teachers of the child as they may do this stuff as a hobby at their house

You're a great mom btw, it's so heartwarming to read this!

That is a really useful site! Again, nothing even 2 hrs away, but I'll check with the library anyway just in case. Thanks.

Sorry man, I'm WAY out of the area. Just for kicks I Googled how long it would take, if I drove nonstop with no breaks or to get gas, to get there. Assuming no traffic delays, I could get there in 23hr and 55 mins. I don't think we are up to that! 😄Thanks anyway.

Almost any time. Not the 20th at 6pm thru the 22nd at 6m, or the 3rd at 6pm thru the 5th at 6pm, (although I think by then it may be gone already). Family is OK with us going out to their place to give it a shot anytime, and if that doesn't work out we can try to find a place North of town, but that might be hard due to the trees. I was seeing that it was up closer to the horizon, so that could be an issue.

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Thanks. I checked the addresses for every one in the tri-state area. Closest was more than 2 hrs away. Anyone with any sense gets as far away from here as they can, if and when they can. Unfortunately I'm just a stubborn jackass,, and I just dig my heels in deeper, but I never claimed to have any sense. I'll ask my library about the telescope. I know they just started having sewing machines that they loan, so it's not just books anymore at least.