I've been at my job for 25 years and get a gift....

[WillParkinson]

This is what I'm taking:

The Bushnell(r) Navigator(r) 675 x 4.5-in telescope offers you state-of-the-art, computer-driven location and tracking capability with simple, push-button control. With a built--in data base of 20,000 celestial objects, you simply call up your target on the hand-held control module, enter a simple "Go To" command and the NorthStar(r) computer does the rest. A Real Voice Output(tm) feature describes night sky wonders with a human voice.



And it comes with:



The reviews on the binoculars are mixed but, I figure, it's better than what we have.

And it's free.

[barbtries]

1. cool!

i've been wanting a telescope for years but never got one yet. enjoy!

[charlie and algernon]

2. sweet!

That telescope sounds awesome!

So you got to pick out of a catalog or something for your gift?

[WillParkinson]

7. A website...

Has a list of the items we can choose from. Most of the items we wouldn't take because they're decorative and with 4 dogs and 4 cats in the house it wouldn't last long.

[marzipanni]

3. So when you are viewing something like Ceres

someone like Siri tells you about it? Nice!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear WillParkinson!

That is a wonderful gift!

I hope you'll have many hours of great viewing...

I've done a little bit of that, and it is pretty amazing to see the planets up close.

Enjoy!

[WillParkinson]

5. Wait...

You use it to see planets? I guess I can tell my neighbor not to bother leaving his curtains open then?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Ha!

Um...I didn't say JUST for planets........

[REP]

12. You can use it for looking at the moon(s)...

[HopeHoops]

8. My daughter has almost the exact same telescope.

The biggest problem is getting the true north set. It has a built-in compass, but we live near high tension lines and they distort the direction. It also often picks a target object that's behind the one wisp of clouds in the sky. Hers doesn't have the motor or remote, but the computer still works the same way. You just have to manually adjust it (readout tells you your azimuth and altitude). We caught Jupiter once while four of its moons were clearly visible, but my favorite thing to look at is still the moon.

[Major Nikon]

9. I'd love to have one myself, but there's just too much light polution around here

I'd have to drive a ways out of town to really enjoy it. I've always wanted to get into celestial photography.

[pacalo]

10. Awesome, Will!

Congratulations on your 25th anniversary!

[libodem]

11. very nice

I'm impressed. Hope you see moons and rings around the planets. That's what I think is cool but haven't actually seen for myself.