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Hf86

By Hf86
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Hf86

Hf86

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Hi I'm new to Astronomy and have purchased some 12x50 binoculars, I know they're a little too big but was wondering what can I expect to see of the moon? Some decent sized craters I hope. I tried to use them last night but it was very cloudy here so couldnt see anything.

Thanks.

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Scott

Scott

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Hello Hf86 and welcome to Sgl. I'm probably not the one to answer q's about bins as I don't really use them much. Just a tip if you don't already know it. try turning a soft broom up-side-down to use as a rest to keep them steady. Enjoy your time here :)

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PorkyB

PorkyB

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There is so much you can do with binoculars.  They're great for the Moon - see what detail you can see at the terminator (where the dark bit meets the light bit).  It's different every day so it's always worth a look.

At this time of year it can be very enjoyable to get a sun lounger, lie outside and just look up.  There is so much to see around Cygnus, lots of pretty clusters and coloured double stars.  Once you start to learn your way around, see if you can find some of the bigger asterisms like the Coathanger.  If you can get somewhere dark try to find M13 Hercules Globular Cluster or M31 Andromeda Galaxy.  They will only be little fuzzy blobs in binoculars but you will know what they are.

A great resource is http://binocularsky.com/

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HIP3802

HIP3802

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Hi, Hf86, and a warm welcome to SGL, and to the wonderful worlds of amateur astronomy!  If you haven't done alread, I can recommend downloading the free planetarium 'Stellarium' which is used by many on here not only to find objects in the night sky but also to plan a viewing session. It is customisable to your location and to particular bins/scope - giving you an idea of what you should be able to see through the eyepiece. Downloadable here: http://www.stellarium.org/?ref=nf

Hope that helps,

Martin

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bish

bish

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Hello,

I'm down the road in Dudley. I use 10x50 bins all the time to find my way around before using the scope. As already said there are some of the brighter clusters/galaxies you can make out in bins from light polluted skies - take them to a dark site and there will be loads of thing to see. The sky and telescope pocket atlas is good and the free computer planetarium called stellarium is excellent.

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. Another small tip when using your new binos and that is to hold them at the furthest point away from yours eyes, as that will help prevent any shaking that you might get and so will provide a steady view.

Clear skies for now and hope you enjoy the forum

James

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Hf86

Hf86

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Wow so many replies, I can't possibly reply to you all (well I probably could but that's neither here nor there :p)

Second day of total clouds here in the Sunny Midlands for me. Nice to see someone from Dudley on here to.

Thanks all.

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Scorpius

Scorpius

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Greetings Hf86 and welcome to SGL. Just copy/pasted the following from EarthSky's webpage. Here's the link http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/top-tips-for-using-ordinary-binoculars-for-stargazing

If the moon is just past new – and visible as a waxing crescent in the western sky after sunset – you might have a beautiful view of earthshine on the moon. This eerie glow on the moon’s darkened portion is really light reflected from Earth onto the moon’s surface. Be sure to turn your binoculars on the moon at these times to enhance the view. By the way, the image at right is from Dan Bush, whose Missouri Skies Moon Page is not to be missed.

Looks pretty cool so might have to try this myself...

post-37916-0-11565500-1405478741.jpg

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