Astronomers! Binoculars.

[Ad Astra]

I am certain this diverse group includes amateur (and possibly professional) astronomers.

To me, this time of year, with winter's constellations making their appearance, is the time to get out there, and test, fix or replace gear.

I just pitched some crappy Barska 10-30x60mm binocs in favor of some eBay 7x50mm older Japanese models. Needed an exit pupil of 7mm with the way my eyes are going. Lo and behold, Capella's colors and the fainter Pleiades jumped out.

Never again any zoom product. The Celestron 7x50s were a consideration, also Nikon Aculon. I was convinced the coatings and quality on an old Japanese pair would suit, and I lucked out.

Any binocular astronomers? What's working for deep sky?


AA

 

[mdevine]

I have a pair of Celestron binoculars that I picked up at least 15 years ago to go with an 8 inch Dobsonian. I think that many new to astronomy fail to appreciate how much a decent pair of binoculars can do.

 

[TheVez2]

I bought a pair of Binoculars for star gazing a couple years ago. Did a bunch of research on them and ended up picking the Orion Scenix 7x50 over the Celestrons. I'm pretty happy with them.

 

[OkieDave]

I bought them for hunting, not astronomy, but I love my Nikon Monarchs. You might look at the 56mm version; I passed on them for size and weight reasons, but I think they'd be dandy for astronomy. I played with them and a $2k pair of Swarovski binocs in the other hand. Is there a difference? Yes. Was it worth $1700? I sure didn't think so.

 

[bberg100]

I have Pentax 10x42 OCF for hunting that work fair for astro use. I have telescopes from 60mm thru 18", someday a quality astro bino will be added, something with 80mm+ objectives. Back in the days of Hale-Bopp I had a cheap Tasco 7x50 that worked very well.

 

[Ad Astra]

Interesting! For hunting/general there's a pair of Leupold 8x30mm, but though bright and clear, don't gather enough light for Messier objects.

Exit pupil size and coatings are worth more than the name ... Going to look up a few of these.

Enjoyed working over some of the lesser mag stars in the Hyades last night.


AA

 

[BobLH]

I use a Nikon SE 8x32 binocular as a general purpose binocular, probably discontinued now. From that experience of crystal clear sharp viewing out to the edges I'd look into Nikons high end line for a pair with the exit pupil size you want. Keep in mind that the older you are the less likely your eyes will be able to use all the light transmitted to them by a large exit pupil size.

A Fujinon binocular I have is also a stellar performer and that line of binoculars may be worth looking into also.

Bob

 

[Tralfaz]

I have a pair of Fujinon FMT-SX 10x50 that make great astro binoculars. Excellent optics and very bright image with a 5mm exit pupil. They're big because of the 50mm objective and the porro prisms but they aren't heavy.

Don't be put off by the MSRP as a little searching can yield substantial discounts. You'll also find the Fuji a popular recommendation on several of the astronomy forums.

 

[stoop]

7x50 binoculars are probably the best stargazing investment you can make. Not extremely expensive, but versatile and it is really amazing how much they bring out. If I were going to get back in to it they are definitely what I would buy.

 

[StubbleTrouble]

Great Topic! I have Celestrons with a good adjustable tripod and am happy as can be with this setup. I'm by no means more than a layman, but it's a great hobby.

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

I'll second to stay away from the zoom models. I use Celestron 15X70, and Bushnell 12X50's. The Bushnell get more use for the portability, whilst the Celestron are tripod only. I go with binocular more than the telescope usually as all the good places I have around here require a bit of hiking to get there. My Telescope's have been getting a little bit smaller because of this lately too. The good thing about binoculars is that you can usually make a longer night out of it, and it's easier to explore more as you're not always 'fiddling' with things.

 

[Ad Astra]

The Barska zoom 80mm scope went in the trash, too.

I'd just rather have bright, clear optics- and less mag power.


AA

 

[stoop]

As others are mentioning, higher power binocs are great too; it's just that (at least when I was last doing this) 7x50 were the sweet spot for price/light gathering/magnification. That may have changed.

7x50 make for nice terrestrial glass too; I often used mine boating.

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

It is true. I had the 20X70 for awhile, but 'stepping down' to the 15X70 dramatically improved the 'picture'!

 

[stoop]

15x70 sound like they would be awesome - double the mag but also double the lens area of 7x50, so should be roughly as bright. How are they freehand?

 

[Ad Astra]

Makers/stores are pushing higher power as "better" - yet with low end optics, more power + ordinary glass = murky, shaky view.

Walmart was full of cheap 10x, 15x, 20x.

I thought 60mm binocs would be fantastic, but coupled with the crappy 10-30 zoom, they gathered no light and were worthless for astronomy. They're gone and the the Japanese 7x50s are resolving faint objects and GREAT color.


AA

 

[Ad Astra]

Twilight factor is a mathematical formula that shows how both the size of the objective lens and the magnifying power contribute to a binocular's ability to show detail in dim light.

The twilight factor is the square root of the product of the diameter of the objective lens and the magnifying power of the binocular. [For example, an 8x32 binocular would have a twilight factor of 16, and a 10x42 would have a twilight factor of 20.5.]

(lifted from elsewhere, but important consideration)


AA

 

[stoop]

Trying to remember my favorites with my 7x50. Probably the Double Cluster in Perseus was near the top.

 

[Ad Astra]

Trying to remember my favorites with my 7x50. Probably the Double Cluster in Perseus was near the top.

It's right overhead these late fall/winter nights.

Wish I could swing 10x70mms; this would keep the 7mm eye pupil/ratio I like in the 7x50mms.


AA

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

I can manage the 15X70's free hand for about 2 or 3 minutes, if my arms are resting on something. Other than that, I would carry at least a cheap tripod around. I use a carbon tripod usually, and set a jug of washer fluid on the tray. The weight keeps everything nice and steady.