Why, oh why do you monoview?

[Saganite]

Just now, IB20 said:

Too much faff and fiddling, time wasted  setting up instead of observing.

For me, it takes just the difference between dropping two eyepieces in instead of one, and I certainly do no faffing..it is dead easy...🙂

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

Some of these posts are also reminding me of the virtues of simple, large binoculars.

Edited July 31, 2023 by The60mmKid

[Emperor!Takahashi!]

5 minutes ago, IB20 said:

Too much faff and fiddling, time wasted  setting up instead of observing.

I waste all my time fiddling-and-faffing-and-not-observing on here 😭

[AstroKeith]

I look for objects on the threshold of visibility. Cutting the number of photons to the eye by at least half is not good. There is a some gain from the brain assimilating the two eyes, but it doesnt make up for the loss.

Also, bino viewing presents a real problem with using averted vision. Typically you would put the faint target about 10 degrees off fovial axis, toward the nose. But with bino viewers the other eye now has the target in the 'blind spot'. So you have to avert to a probably less optimum part of the retina.

edit: Aside from any technical issues, the cost doesnt justify. I have 4 Ethos eyepieces, so would need another set plus filters ~ £3k plus a top end Bino viewer - plus I couldnt use my 2" eyepieces.

Edited July 31, 2023 by AstroKeith

[Louis D]

As many others have said, mono versus bino viewing needn't be an all or nothing proposition.  The two forms of viewing can coexist quite happily.  As stated repeatedly by others, binoviewing works best on bright objects where putting two eyes on the target can trigger more parts of the brain's visual processing cortex; thus, revealing more subtle details.  For Mars in particular, I find it goes from being an overexposed orange orb at opposition in monoviewing to a highly detailed, normal brightness object in binoviewing.  The full moon is very similar.  Suddenly, the washed out details on the face of the full moon snap into high contrast features going from monoviewing to binoviewing.  Also, it appears sphere-like instead of circle-like.

Monoviewing shines with fields of view over 70 degrees.  You can't take in much more than about 60 degrees in a binoviewer.  Additional field beyond that is strictly in peripheral vision because you have to view on axis to merge the two images.  While it's nice for context, you simply can't scan around the field of view in a binoviewer.  You will lose one or both images, ruining the effect.  This is not an issue monoviewing.  I really enjoy viewing the neighborhood around objects, especially in star cluster rich regions.

It's also near impossible to keep two eyes aligned to a binoviewer while lazily scanning the skies in super wide to hyper wide eyepieces just to see what's up there like an aimless tourist.  This happens to be one of my favorite activities monoviewing since I like to look for new to me asterisms, associations, and multiple star systems.  I don't really care to find out what I've found, I just enjoy the moment and move on.  I find it highly relaxing and rewarding.

Edited August 1, 2023 by Louis D