Reddit mentions of Orion 10015 StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector Telescope (Teal)

I actually don't know of a 4" from Orion. They make a 4.5" that runs a little over $200 on Amazon. There's also this 5" Jones-Bird Reflector from Celestron. Quality seems ok for the price, but collimation is tedious.

Biggest issue you are going to have is for children to have any good luck, they will need to be able to find stuff to look at. With that said, I would bundle any telescope checkout with a copy of "Turn Right at Orion" as well as a red headlamp. I would also consider having parents sign some sort of release form that if the scope comes back damage you can go after them for the cost.

You might do better with a GoTo telescope. These make it easy to find stuff to look at if you get them positioned properly. I am not sure of you budget, depending on that I would go with this

http://www.telescope.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=102026&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparisonshopping&utm_campaign=US-googlemerchant&gclid=Cj0KEQiA1b7CBRDjmIPL4u-Zy6gBEiQAsJhTMHDaTbPhQ5-buq2SReWnyk_Mz2gYSK67XVWMkvSpdgMaAvPv8P8HAQ

I would also reach out to your local astronomical society to see if they would help. Here is a example of what the New Hampshire Astronomical society does.

http://www.nhastro.com/ltp.php

The telescope they use is this one

https://www.amazon.com/Orion-10015-StarBlast-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B00D12U1IK

I would actually not recommend the one you have listed. The larger scope will allow users to see more objects as well as a tripod will be harder to control shaking then a tabletop mount.

Ack, don't buy that telescope it's crap. I'd advise you save a bit more and get something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Orion-10015-StarBlast-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B00D12U1IK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1374094182&sr=8-2&keywords=starblast+4.5

But if $60 is your top dollar you can do better than the Barska with these:

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21024-FirstScope-Telescope/dp/B001UQ6E4Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1374093969&sr=8-3&keywords=celestron+tabletop

http://www.amazon.com/Orion-10021-FunScope-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B00D05BIGC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1374093969&sr=8-7&keywords=celestron+tabletop

http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-21036-PowerSeeker-70AZ-Telescope/dp/B003AM87PU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374094004&sr=8-1&keywords=celestron+70az

Starblast via amazon.

It's a reflector so it has mirrors instead of lenses. Portable, decent aperture, good optics. I don't think you'll do much better for 200$ unless you get lucky on craigslist or ebay.

You can also get it on an equatorial mount but it'll cost more that way.

I bought THIS off of craigslist for around $120(?) and I can see Saturn with it. It's just crazy to see it with your own eye.

I have put some effort into research for binoculars/telescopes myself and I bought Cresta Prestige PB321 for €30

$200 budget can also buy you this telescope https://www.amazon.com/Orion-10015-StarBlast-Reflector-Telescope/dp/B00D12U1IK that I got recommended from some site somewhere.

I can see Jovian moons with the binoculars but I don't have them long enough to look at anything more. I also have a lot of light pollution, so I doubt I should expect much more than Jovian moons with €30 binoculars

I'm thinking of buying that telescope if I still care enough to use my binoculars when my birthday comes around. I don't want to spend a lot of money on a 3 month hobby

I actually went with the StarBlast. I also bought a couple of lenses and a Barlow, and a sun and moon filter (which, in total costs more than the scope itself, but should be translatable, when I decide to scale my project).

Honestly, dropping a couple of hondo on a scope doesn't mean that much to me, but I know me (I got into yoyo's, then the next thing I know I spent $2000 on freaking yoyo's), so I have to mind myself in that regard, and not go too crazy.

I hope that we'll be able to talk in the future, because I'll be wanting something more later on. I just needed something right now, as my girlfriend (who is amazing and has written over 250 papers...not on astronomy, btw) wants to go out this weekend to a hike to view with some people (thus my need).

I took Astronomy I and II in college, and loved it, so I'm stoked that she's into it. I am an engineer and have a degree in mathematics, so bring on the nerdy, baby. :)

Edit: Edited.

Those are nice shots.

I'm almost tempted to beg Amazon for a gift card in exchange for that telescope since I know for sure that my in-laws purchased it off their sit, however. Maybe buy this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D12U1IK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fPxnzbC9B0TSH

Hi again,
that narrows that down to the shorter telescopes (130/650, 150/750, Maksutov, short refractor) :-)
This of course limits what you are able to see, so if you are into Deepsky, consider the largest aperture possible.
Are you from the US? Do you fly a lot international?
As the Heritage 130p is not available in the US, you may pick one up in europe then. I think it was available in Canada and as Bushnell, http://www.opticsplanet.com/bushnell-dob-5-compact-truss-tube-dobsonian-telescope-opticsplanet-edition.html - plus I know I have seen an anouncement of it being distributed by a US company, but I fail to find the information again. Be aware that this is still quite large for a "small" telescope. The best way to judge the size is via google image search or youtube, as product images in shops all look sterile and it is difficult to judge it's size.

The only similar "table top" telescopes larger then 3" I know of, are

Starblast Orion 10015
Starblast Orion 10016

and one from National Geographics

Starblast Orion 10012

National Geographic 9065000 Teleskop 114/500


The problem with reflector telescopes that have an aperture ratio of f/4 or f/4.4 is that the outside of the field of view will not be sharp with cheap eyepieces and coma (longish stars) is very visible.
I would not recommend a f/4 telescope. On the other hand, they are compact, and one of my first telescopes was a f/4 reflector with cheap eyepieces. Still, I had a lot of fun with it.

The Heritage 130p has f/5, still not ideal, but due to that and the flextube it is ather short.

shop with image
Still quite a "bucket" :-)

If that is way too large, the only options I could reccomend would be a 100mm or 90mm Maksutov.

4"

3.5"
though they are more expensive then newtonians with similar aperture.

There are short refractors such as

70 400

But the problem is that these simple FH refractors have lots of chromatic aberation- Lowering contrast, annoying. Nice for wide field views though. But then, so binoculars are.
A ED80 would be a superb traveling refractor, but as it's lenses are much more sophisticated to compensate for chromatic aberation, it will probably break the bank.

Make sure to check the classifieds, better yet, go to a local astronomy club/society or observatory, usualy there are a lot of helpful folks that will explain you everything in person and might give you the chance to look through different types of telescopes for yourself.
A few cheap 6x30, 8x40, 10x50 binoculars are not half bad regarding the low price (under $30-40) and OK for starters. Of course really good binoculars can cost several hundreds of dollars, but even the cheap one help a lot to get to know the sky and are an ideal combination to a telescope. I allways take telescope and binoculars with me. If you fail to find something with the telescope finderscope / red dot finder, take out the binoculars as they show a much larger field, and narrow down the location of the object, then star hop along the brighter stars with the telescope.

If you can find a local astronomy club or planetarium, they would have much better telescopes to look through. A moderate sized amateur telescope is way out of the price range you are talking about, but it's the kind of thing lots of astronomy club members have

If you decide you want one of your own, a tabletop one is better than one of those long refractors with a spindly tripod. The best optics in the world don't help you if the stand it is on wobbles around. "table-top" doesn't mean you have to use a table, anything stable and reasonably flat will work - stack of concrete blocks, tree stump, etc. To see much of anything, you need to get away from city lights, few trees to block the view, and preferably dry stable air.

A bigger telescope can overcome light pollution from a nearby city, but you won't be getting a bigger telescope with your desired budget. One on the rooftop of a planetarium or university building can be much bigger if it doesn't have to be portable.

It takes time for your eyes to fully adapt to dark conditions - be patient.