Well, it's that time of year again. The holidays are barreling toward us like a runaway train.

If you're considering presenting that special stargazer in your life with a telescope this holiday season, you might wish to consider several important questions before rushing out to spend your hard-earned cash.

First, how well do you or the gift recipient know the sky? If you can't distinguish the Ring Nebula from ring bologna, you may wish to consider a book or collection of star maps instead, accompanied perhaps by binoculars.

Second, what are your viewing interests? If the moon, planets, or daytime terrestrial scenery are your passion, or if you live under light-polluted skies, a smaller diameter telescope (2 inches or so) will do fine. Otherwise, you'll need a larger "light bucket" (4 inches or more) to see fainter star clusters, nebulae and galaxies, but you'll need to take it to a dark-sky site in the mountains or deserts to use it well.

Finally, what's your budget? Quality telescopes aren't toys. Seldom can they be found for less than $300.

All telescopes must be equipped with a rock-solid tripod or mounting in order to be useful. And, as far as the new "go-to" instruments in which a computer aims the telescope for you, I don't recommend these for beginners. You must spend lots of time with the instruction manual learning how to set up the scope each time you take it out and, if you're successful, you wind up learning very little about the heavens.

My recommendations: attend a free star party at your local amateur astronomy club. There you will be able to get a look at (and through) a variety of scopes. Most are large and expensive, but you'll get a sense of what you can expect from more modest instruments. Then visit some telescope company websites and check out a Dobsonian scope along with a "Telrad" finder. They're simple, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive. I have two of these and use them for all of my public stargazing programs.

If you keep these simple points in mind, your new backyard telescope will provide you and your family with a wonderful and lifelong tool of discovery, and won't wind up in the closet with the Nordic Track.

For an excellent overview of telescopes and binoculars, visit the following website: http://skyandtelescope.com/howto/scopes/

To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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