binoculars

themole

i was thinking of getting a pair of binoculars to get into astronomy.

I was looking on ebay and saw 20*70mm pairs for around $100.

where is good to by binoculars in ireland/dublin, and what would i pay for someting like 20*70mm.

also any other advice.

what i know already is bigger is better, light gathering power etc.

Geoffw

themole wrote:

i was thinking of getting a pair of binoculars to get into astronomy..

Yes, I'd like some information of the best binocular type for astronomy. I have a telescope but would like something with a good light gathering power, but not too heavy, a relatively wide field of view that does not HAVE to have a tripod.

A few comments would be appreciated.

Geoff

hamster

themole wrote:

i was thinking of getting a pair of binoculars to get into astronomy.

I was looking on ebay and saw 20*70mm pairs for around $100.

where is good to by binoculars in ireland/dublin, and what would i pay for someting like 20*70mm.

also any other advice.

what i know already is bigger is better, light gathering power etc.

I'm at about that stage myself. I hope to hunt down a good pair of binoculars to view the night sky. One good bit of advice, that you probably know already, is to get to know at least a half dozen constellations in the sky using good old eyes before even looking with binos!

For example, look at the Orion constellation, the hunter. It is one of easily viewed ones there is... and yet once you get to know it... a pair of binos will help to see the dimmer stars of Orion. For example I can make out the body but it is fairly difficult to see the "arm" and "bow" stars without further help from binos as they have higher magnitudes. I find it hard to see anything above around 4.5 - 5 magnitude using just my eyes.

When you get a good pair of binos, look at Orion belt - the angular view you get (around 5 degs) shows all 3 stars of the belt without moving the binos. Look for the dimmer stars then. You may even make out the details of Orion's sword (3 "stars" and are fuzzy in a vertical line around the torso area of Orion). These are stellar nurseries! Later get a teloscope and appreciate it even more in greater detail. Consider a mount for the binos (particular if you go for a heavy one)

Go to Cloudy Nights Forum and ask a few questions there.

Oh btw, go to starmaps.com for the current monthly skymap which is a nice pointer on what to look for. Get a red light torch (or red cello cover) to to view it outside to preserve your night vision. Eventually get some sky charts books from Amazon.

Download Winstars 1 (and now 2) or SkyCharts (it goes by its french name ciel). Also consider Starry Night v5.0 for $45 (or get version for free on PC Pro (issue 123)).- google.. google.

Hope this helps... even though I haven't mentioned a bino make!

hamster

I checked out Cloudy's and here the relevant section on binos:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php/Cat/1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10/Board/binoculars

Geoffw

hamster wrote:

I'm at about that stage myself. I hope to hunt down a good pair of binoculars to view the night sky

Thanks for the advice - I have already taken a look at the CloudyNights Forum.

I think the key decision is whether you want binos to complement a telescope and for general use, or if you are going to make them your main observing tool. If it is the latter, you are going to have to go for a more heavy weight and specialised pair.

I'm looking at something more general - maybe a 7x50 or a 10x50, the latter being more popular with amateur sky watchers I seem to sense from comments I've seen. I personally like the feel of the Opticron Countryman MC 8x42 - Would that be too small an object lens? Also I wear glasses, to to get a reasonable field of view I need to take that into account - I think they call it 'eyerelief'. I would also like a pair that can be fitted to a tripod.

Finally I can't afford to and don't want to spend more than £100, infact a lot less if I can find a reasonable pair. I would also like to handle them and try them out before considering a purchase, so would prefer a well known manufacturer, so that I can find the one a want and then shop around for the cheapest source. Infact my son os off to New York for a few months, so it would be great to take advantage of the present exchange rate and give him a make and model to find.

Cheers Geoff

Flukey

A set of 10 x 50s are the best choice.

Scarinae

I got my 10 x 50's from Astronomy Ireland, they're pretty good, especially for sweeping the night sky. I've had them for years though so I don't know what price they would be now I'm afraid. However, they came with a tripod, and they're useful for other stuff such as birdwatching

Geoffw

Flukey wrote:

A set of 10 x 50s are the best choice.

Well as always life is a compromise , so I've finished up with a pair of Opticron Countryman MC 8x42. Compact, powerful and excellent field of view.

Geoff