12 x42 binoculars or 10 x 50?

[Cyber Girl]

I am a complete novice and own some very old 8 x 40 Pentax binoculars with which I get good views of the moon. I am thinking of buying something with a bigger magnification that I might be able to use with a tripod or monopod. Does anyone use 12 x 42 binoculars? I tried a pair of Barr and Stroud Sahara's which were great in the shop but How would they perform at night? Can anyone offer any advice please? What detail can I expect to see of, say, Saturn? Thanks and apologies if this is a naive question!

[ronin]

You will not see anything of Saturn other then a bright small disk.

You need more the 10x or 12x to get that, sort of 70x or 80x as a minimum.

Good for viewing and will allow you to see clusters, you will (may) get some of the basic shape of M42, but again just the idea that it is whatever shape it is.

[Tinker1947]

Stick with the Pentax going bigger will lead to seeing less due to shake, there weight, and a narrower field of view....

[cantab]

If you know what to look for and where, you should be able to bring in some DSOs with the Pentaxes even with Birmingham's skyglow. For most of them you're looking for small "faint fuzzies".

[cosmological]

You will see more with the 10 x 50 rather than the 12 x 42, even though it's a higher magnification but it's a smaller lens so has less light gathering power.

[Cyber Girl]

Thanks for all your replies. Will stick with my Pentax 's for the moment and start getting to know the night sky.

[baggywrinkle]

www.binocluarsky.com is a great website, has a monthly newsletter and is free to sign up.

[Cyber Girl]

www.binocluarsky.com is a great website, has a monthly newsletter and is free to sign up.

Yes thanks have looked at the site and found it very helpful .

[jonathan]

Things to look for as a minimum:

Bak4 glass

Porro prisms

Multi-coated (preferably Fully coated)

I have a pair of 8x42 Bushnells and have never needed anything greater, tried 15x70 but they were impractical.