First light with Celestron 15x70 bins

[malcvtr]

Driving home late from work, I could see it was a starry, starry night. "Cracking," I thought, "A chance at last to use the bins." When I got home, it was obvious this was a particularly clear sky and I couldn't wait to get observing.

With a degree of trepidation - will the things be collimated OK or will I have a dud pair - I pointed the 15x70s to the Pleiades. A little fumble for the focuser, then... Crikey! Studs of diamond-bright light punctured the sky in a cluster of loveliness. Woohoo! First of all, joy at such a beautiful sight, second, I haven't got a dud pair! I've still got to find my way around the night sky (ordered "Turn Left at Orion" thanks to reading about it on this site) so I headed for some other sights I knew:

M42 - beautiful and bright.

Aldebaran - yep, definitely red

Mars - clearly a planet... Hmmm made me think about getting a 'scope...

Sirius - brilliant - literally

Then I went for a trip along the Milky Way and just got lost in nameless (to me) star fields which made me feel very small and insignificant. Which, of course, I am!

I continued in this way for a few more minutes, going back several times to the Pleiades and M42 in particular. I then realised that I was close to hypothermia and went back inside with great regret.

So, my first night with the Celestrons made me glad that I'd bought them and, for about half an hour, took me out of this world's troubles, worries and concerns. For £75, I think I've got a bargain.

Any advice on what to observe (and how to find it) and the best way to steady the bins much appreciated.

[jgs001]

Nice report, it's quite astonishing how even a cheap pair of Bins reveals so much more. Do you have Stellarium on your puter ? I use this, and it's the first star map I had.

[Neon]

Hi Malcvtr,

I own a 'scope but I still love binocular astronomy. In fact, I'm not even sure if my next 'scope will even be a 'scope or a set of more powerful binoculars! I think it's an excellent and far easier way to learn the heavens, especially if you're buying such a highly regarded book to accompany your hobby.

A great site to check out is Binosky as it's a great source of astral objects worth checking out with binoculars, especially as they tell it to you straight and actually show you what you'll see (rather than what's possible with professional imaging).

I'd recommend a sturdy tripod to mount your binoculars on, along with a decent metal tripod adapter. These'll help you share the hobby with others, and also mean that once you've located something you won't lose it when you rub your sore neck! Although my personal favourite though is plonking myself down in a deck chair and just scanning the heavens whilst laying back.

HTH

Mark

[malcvtr]

Cheers lads. Yep, thanks to this site I have downloaded and installed Stellarium. Great product - and free! Thanks, Mark, for the tips - very helpful - and Binosky looks good.

Just waiting for an opportunity to get out there again...

[dave1978]

After reading this post and a few others i took the plunge and got a pair of Bushnell 15x70's off Ebay for a great price of £29.99 + £9.70 for delivery brand new.

Had a weekend of use with them and found them to be realy impressive!

Pleiades was superb, really bright and clear as was Jupiter but overall the view was amazing. I tried for Andromeda but to no avail, either too much light polution, wrong location or simply cant be seen through bins?

It brings a whole different feel to astronomy for me, quick and easy if i cant be bothered setting the scope up and its great to just pan around the milkyway amazed at the thousands of stars not visible to naked eye!

Tonight im going for the ISS on its 8.06pm pass, dont know what to expect.