Problem with binoculars?

[eli9050]

hello everyone! I'm new here . I got my pair of celestron 10x50 binoculars in the mail yesterday but I'm confused . I tried to see Venus through them today but it was appearing as a star . people say they see crescent shape of venus but I wasn't able to see it . so is there a problem with collimation of my binoculars? or is it normal . Also how to check the collimation of binoculars . I'm really confused! please help? thanks

[ronin]

Binoculars as good for wide low magnification views.

They are not powerful enough for extracting detail from the planets.

So Venus will remain a small object, of which you will see something like a star, the other planets will be much the same.

Also as Venus is not a full disc there is even less to see in some respects.

It may be over simplifing things but people buy long focal length telescopes to look at planets, that are capable of 100x and up to 200x and for Mars someone has posted about seeing it last night at 300x. A Tal is a good example of a planetary scope = 100mm dia and 1000mm focal length.

There is no problem with collimation otherwise you would be getting 2 images when you look through the binoculars that the eyes cannot combine into one single image.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have seen the crescent phase (when it is largest) of Venus with 10x50 binoculars, but its current phase is gibbous, and the disc is very small. I doubt 10x50 bins would pick that up.

[eli9050]

Thanks for all the replies. I was asking because I wasn't sure. people say its to see the crescent shape of Venus through 10x50 binoculars and i ve read the same on some astronomy websites too . Also What are the "usual" objects that I can view with binoculars ? Sorry if that's a basic question. I am just starting in this hobby.

[Jim Steele]

No problem ask away... The website binocular sky has lots of advice and hints to tell you what the best targets are each month.

You should see the moons of Jupiter, Some double stars and clusters and my particular favourite through bins is the plaedes.

Ben

[trynda1701]

Like Ben said, The Binocular Sky website by Steve Tonkin is an useful and amazing online resource...

http://binocularsky.com/index.php

As well as advice on choosing binoculars, it had info on mounting and using your binoculars, and Steve puts out monthly newsletters with items of interest to view. This will get you well on the way to using your 10x50's productively.

I've mainly been using my Jenoptem 10x50W (25 year vintage) since last years Comet Panstarrs, and am enjoying getting back into fairly regular astronomical observing, weather permitting of course!

Welcome to the forum, by the way. May your skys be clear, and your views wonderful!

Mark