First look for 20 years.

[lankywolf]

I took delivery of my Revelation 15x70 bins today (only ordered them yesterday afternoon, great service from FLO) and have been out for an hour tonight for my first look at the skies through a visual aid since my old Tasco telescope almost 20 years ago.

It's hard to put into words how good it feels to take the first step back into the hobby. I have so much more appreciation of what I'm looking at now as opposed to back then when I was a pre-pubescent child.

The sky was a little bit hazy, I'm in a town location and I was using the bins hand held but I still managed to pick out a few fantastic sights. The pleiades looked superb, must have been able to see getting on for 100 stars. Had a look at Jupiter too but couldn't pick out any of it's satellites. The sky was particularly hazy in this area though so I'm hoping on another night I'll be able to see a couple at least. Also had a look at what I think was the nebula in Orion (looked like a couple of bright stars connected by some fuzz around them). Finally, I think I managed to find the Andromeda galaxy too. Although, again the sky was quite hazy over in the west it appeared like a faint 'smudge'. Can you get a nice crisp view of Andromeda through bins on a clearer night?

The best thing of all is that just over a week ago, I didn't have a clue half of this stuff was even up there, nevermind being able to locate it in the sky. Stellarium is a godsend.

Finally, I have to say I really enjoyed myself tonight and I can't wait to get out there again, (hopefully without the haze) and the bins are great. I've really caught the bug....

[oldfruit]

Hi, have been hearing some good reports about the bins you have. Good to hear another positive comment about them.

To be honest the Andromeda galaxy seldom appears as more than a grey smudge even with a large scope, but at least it is one you can tick off your 'seen it' list.

[John P]

I've got the Celestron 15x70 bins, which I believe are pretty much identical to yours, and they are great!

Lightr pollution is a BIG problem from my garden, but I can still make out the Pleiades, Orion nebula and the Andromeda galaxy.

My next purchase will be a tripod (along with a pair of 25x100 bins if I can find a way of hiding the cost from the wife ) and my next project will be to try and find a dark sky site within walking distance (more chance of hiding the cost of the new bins than acheiving this one though ).

Glad to hear you are enjoying your bins, let's hope we get some good clear skies soon.

[Nexus 6]

Hi lankywolf,

I believe bins are probably the best way to observe some dso's and Andromeda is one of them! I would hope you may get a better view next time your out. Check out some of the many open clusters available to you, which are a treat with binos.

M11, the Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum is pretty stunning for one

You may find a tripod handy so you can keep the bins steady, plenty of people use one.

[lankywolf]

Hi, have been hearing some good reports about the bins you have. Good to hear another positive comment about them.

To be honest the Andromeda galaxy seldom appears as more than a grey smudge even with a large scope, but at least it is one you can tick off your 'seen it' list.

To be honest, I'm a complete novice at the moment, so I've got nothing else to compare them to, but they are definitely doing the job I bought them for. To me they are an absolute bargain at £50.

[lankywolf]

Hi lankywolf,

I believe bins are probably the best way to observe some dso's and Andromeda is one of them! I would hope you may get a better view next time your out. Check out some of the many open clusters available to you, which are a treat with binos.

M11, the Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum is pretty stunning for one

You may find a tripod handy so you can keep the bins steady, plenty of people use one.

Thanks for that little pointer, I can tell from just one night of use that a tripod would be a wise investment.

I don't really have more than about £30-40 to spend on one at the moment. It needs to be as compact as possible when folded as the family and I go camping a lot in ther summer months and I want to take it along with me and hold astronomy sessions with the kids.

Any recommendations? Or should I hold off for a while until I can scrape the money together for a pukka one?

[Nexus 6]

You might be ok with a reasonably cheap tripod as the Revelations are'nt too heavy. A tip some people try is to tie a bag under the tripod to weigh it down a bit more.

Here's where I got mine.

http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/c-tripods.htm

[LukeSkywatcher]

Hi lankywolf,

I believe bins are probably the best way to observe some dso's and Andromeda is one of them! I would hope you may get a better view next time your out. Check out some of the many open clusters available to you, which are a treat with binos.

M11, the Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum is pretty stunning for one

You may find a tripod handy so you can keep the bins steady, plenty of people use one.

The Andromeda galaxy and Seven Sisters (M45) are BEST viewed with bins.Scopes simply do not give the same view. Also on my list of bin objects is the Beehive. The Double cluster in Perseus is also a hot target for bins.

Last week i spotted M3 (globular cluster) with my 130mm scope. It blew me away. I cant wait to have a look at it with my 20X90 bins.

[Enrico]

I bought a very cheap (£15 inc postage) tripod from ebay - it was a very tall one so I can use bins whilst standing up. For £15 I can complain - is seems sturdy enough, came with a carry case, built-in spirit levels etc. I'm sure the expensive ones are better, but this will certainly be better than nothing.