Here it is, not even Thanksgiving and I’m pushing astronomical gifts for your stargazing geek, and I say that affectionately, after all I’m one myself! I like to write this annual column early in the shopping season so you have enough time for delivery.

There are many ways to go and many options for giving astronomically. You could spend astronomical amounts of money on telescopes and accessories, or you might want to keep your budget more down to Earth.

Whatever you spend you want to do it wisely. Every product I’m recommending in this column is under $500. Also, in all honesty, I’m not receiving a dime from any product I tell you about, so I feel free to recommend specific products.

By no means am I the guru of astronomical gifts, but I do have a lot of experience in this area. Many times I’ve even learned the hard way. Spending a ton of money doesn’t guarantee against winding up with something that will see the returns desk.

When holiday shopping for that celestial someone in your life, I think the first thing that comes to mind is a telescope. I’ll get to those in a little bit, but there are also many other accessories you can consider as well.

In fact, I think it’s best to stay away from telescopes, especially if your giftee is a complete novice. I know of too many folks, young and old, who receive a telescope and things go downhill. Besides the moon and a few bright planets, they don’t really know at what or where to point their scope, and it eventually heads for its permanent home in a closet, laundry room, or wherever.

At all of my star parties and classes I preach that it’s best to really get to know the constellations with your naked eye or with the help of binoculars before you sink hard earned money into a telescope.

First on the list of potential gifts are books. I still think the best book for kids is called, “The Kids Book of the Night Sky” by Ann Love, Jane Drake and Heather Collins. You can pick it up at most bookstores for under $15 if they have it.

I think it’s a wonderful book for grade school kids, especially if mom or mad read along.

For teens and adults, I sure like “The Backyard Astronomers Guide” by Terence Dickenson and Alan Dyer, as well as “Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners” by Terence Dickenson.

The second choice is an older book published in 1987 but it’s really good. Being an older book also means you can get a pretty good deal. I’ve seen it on sale for less than $15.

And to toot my own horn a little, I would like to recommend my newest book, “Stars, a Month by Month Guide to the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications. You can pick one up for less than $15. It has monthly star maps, constellation charts, “updated” mythology stories about the constellations, planet information, and more, along with my own astrophotography.

You can also give the gift of a subscription to an astronomy and stargazing magazine. I think the best ones out there are “Astronomy” and “Sky and Telescope.” Not only do you get news, great articles, updated information on where the planets are in the sky and other celestial happenings every month, but both magazines have terrific interactive websites with visual podcasts.

Another great gift for stargazers is a lightweight iPad or even iPad Mini. You can pick those up for around $400 give or take. Obviously they can be used for more than just stargazing, but with all of the great apps out there like Skywatch and Starwatch you can really have a lot of fun.

With those apps loaded one can hold their iPad up to any part of the sky and it will show which stars and constellations they’re viewing, as well as a whole lot of other great information like when the International Space Station is coming over, meteor showers, and much more!

When it comes to telescopes I’m a huge disciple of Newtonian reflector telescopes.

Isaac Newton really knew what he was doing when he designed this kind of telescope in the 17th century. The most important thing any telescope can do for you is gather light. The more light you can gather, the clearer the image. Magnification comes in second place to light gathering ability. The level of magnification is controlled by the size or focal length of the eyepiece you’re using. With more light, your image will be clearer at higher magnifications.

Newtonian reflectors collect light with a concave parabolic mirror in the rear of the scope. The greater the diameter of the mirror, the more light gathering, and the better the scope is.

When most people think of telescopes, though, I think what comes to mind are refractor telescopes that collect light through a lens at the front end of the telescope tube and let you view with an eyepiece in the rear.

Refractors are OK, but I think reflectors give you more bang for your buck. I also recommend that you get a reflector telescope with a Dobsonian mount. They are much easier to use.

My favorite telescope brands that I like to recommend are Meade, Celestron, and Orion. I have to admit that I’m really partial to Orion telescopes. In my opinion they have the best optics.

I have two specific telescope recommendations:

n The Orion StarBlast 4.5”Astro Reflector Telescope. This is a great scope for kids about 10 years or older. It comes with eyepieces and is great for the moon, planets and brighter deep space objects. It’s very user friendly. It retails for just under $200. Check out more at http://www.telescope.com

n The Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope. It a great Newtonian reflector telescope for older kids and adults with an easy to use Dobsonian mount. With an eight-inch diameter mirror you’ll get really nice views of the moon, planets, nebula, galaxies, and more. It retails for just less than $350. More details at www.telescope.com

You will spend a lot more on larger telescopes with more light gathering ability and with motor drives that actually point the telescope to your target and keep it in view as the scope keeps up with the Earth’s rotation.

I have one more very important tip for you. No matter what kind of telescope you get, let it sit outside for at least 30 minutes before you use it.

The optics have to acclimate to the local temperature or your view of anything through the scope will be really messed up.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at www.adventurepublications.net.