Hello from a superannuated northerner

[Guest]

An old sod, in other words. I've been interested in astronomy for many years, but to my shame it's been in an 'armchair' capacity.

I'm thinking of dipping my virtual toe in the actual astronomical waters by buying a binocular. Maybe an 8x42. Baby steps...

[Xilman]

21 minutes ago, Mark Elijah said:

An old sod, in other words. I've been interested in astronomy for many years, but to my shame it's been in an 'armchair' capacity.

I'm thinking of dipping my virtual toe in the actual astronomical waters by buying a binocular. Maybe an 8x42. Baby steps...

Welcome aboard!

The 8x42 will work well but perhaps you may wish to consider a 7x50, the workhorse of astronomers for many decades.  The lower magnification makes it them easier to hold still enough so the stars don't move around as much and the larger aperture makes it easier to see the fainter stars.

BTW, please don't undervalue armchair astronomers.  These days they can do valuable scientific work through various Zooniverse projects.

 

 

[bosun21]

Welcome to SGL Mark 👋. Everybody has to start somewhere. A pair of 8x40 or 7x50 binoculars is a good first step.

[laudropb]

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

[Floater]

Welcome. Hope you have lots of fun with the bins 🙂

[Stickey]

Hello Mark and welcome to SGL. A binocular is a great way to start to explore the Heavens, I hope you enjoy the journey. 

Regards, 

Mike

[woldsman]

Check out this excellent site: https://binocularsky.com/index.php   I work away from home and always take at least a pair of binos with me as the area has a dark sky. I don’t have any stand to mount the binoculars on so my comments are confined to hand-held use. 

The binos need to have quality optics (roof prism), a good trade-off between field of view and magnification, and be light enough to hold above your shoulders comfortably for several minutes. I’ve found the set I use the most are image stabilised binos. I waited and managed to find a discounted Kenko vcsmart image stabilised binos which are 14x30. The design is very similar to Vixen and Kenko appear to make binos for better known brands. Discounted is binos do crop up and it is worth shopping around as otherwise is binos can be an expensive option. I use them for daytime nature/bird observing and they are excellent for this too. 
 

What can you see with binos? Unless you mount a set with large aperture, the main targets are star clusters, planets, the Moon, and andromeda. Sometimes the Triangulum Galaxy too in a very dark sky.  As well as these targets, you do get an appreciation of the sheer beauty of the night sky and a typical session includes a lot of naked eye observation.
 

 

[Sunshine]

Welcome! binoculars are a great way to start off the hobby, many of us have started off with bino’s. Bino’s offer noce wide field views which encourage learning the constellations.

[Mr H in Yorkshire]

Welcome, I am an avid binos fan, I've worked my way up to 20 x 100's but they need a specialised mount, 7 x 50 are an excellent choice but all viewing benefits from a stabilising mount.

I thoroughly recommend a book too, one of the best is 'Binocular Astronomy' by Stephen Tonkin. ISBN 978-1-4614-7466-1 This contains all the info about binoculars as instruments and a set of detailed maps.

Edited August 14, 2023 by Mr H in Yorkshire

[Guest]

Welcome to SGL from Ohio. Binos are an almost essential part of astronomy.  These are my 20x80 Oberwerks and we use them often. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Mike Q

[RobertI]

Welcome, and YES to binoculars for that first step into astronomy. 👍 Get some good ones though, there’s a lot of rubbish out there. Just a point to note, in older eyes (like mine!) the pupil may not dilate enough to make use of the full light gathering power of 7x50, so 8x42 might be a better bet for low power binos.  

[Second Time Around]

You beat me to it, Robert! I was just posting something similar and fully agree.

With binoculars, the larger number divided by the smaller gives the exit pupil.  If this is bigger than your own pupil size you'll be wasting light.  

In built up areas even a young person's pupils are unlikely to dilate (i.e. widen) to larger than 5mm.  It's even worse as you grow older as then your pupil possibly won't even dilate that much even at the darkest sites.

Something else to bear in mind is that the majority of 7x50 binoculars have in practice a smaller field of view than most 8x42s.

I always say binoculars are like a pair of shoes.  Just as feet differ, so do faces, and what suits one observer won't suit another.

So I'd strongly recommend that you go to a camera or binocular store and try some out for yourself.  If you don't have one nearby then order from a retailer that has a no quibble returns policy.  The forum sponsor First Light Optics is one such retailer and has a first class reputation.

 

 

[Pete Presland]

Hi welcome to SGL from Pete in Bedfordshire  🙂