What can you see using binoculars and what are the best ones for viewing space?
April 13, 2010 by
Filed under Binoculars Ratings
What objects can you see? Is it alot better than the naked eye?
What would be the best binoculars for viewing space objects?
yes, you really do not need a telescope to look to the wonders of the night sky
as long the binocular is not fully plastic, it will do!
10×50 or 15×80 binoculars are well known
- galaxy’s are visible, with the object M31 (Andromeda galaxy) as best example
- globulars are visible, with M13 in Hercules as best example
- nebulae are visible, even better to distinguish than in telescopes, because telescopes magnify too much and so look straight through the nebula
- beautiful colored double stars are split in your binoculars!
- but certainly all open clusters are the most stunning objects to see in binoculars due to the wide spotting field
- and don’t forget the comets! Lot of them are easily visible in binoculars. Some of them are so faint, that a binocular also is better suited than a telescope
I would add to coldfieldgirl’s good answer, and say that good binoculars will also display Jupiter’s 4 largest moons. After all, Galileo’s telescope was not as powerful or as well made as a cheap pair of modern binoculars.
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There are of course many different sizes of binoculars, I have a set of 3, a 25×100, a 10×50 and a smallish 8×40. Obviously what you see depends upon the size of the objective lens and the magnification, from the above figures the first is the magnification, and the second is the size of the objective. Thus a 10×50 will magnify 10 times with a 50mm lens.
So the first part of your question can only be answered once you know what it is you want to see large objects like the Moon the a pair of 8×40 would be fine. If you want to see a slightly larger view then a 10×50 would be better. If you are after viewing deep sky objects, or want to see the planets as discs with surface features then you would need a pair of 25×100, although many people are happy with the 15×20 size.
Unfortunately as the magnification and lens size increases so does the weight of the bino, and so does the cost. Many younger peple need to use a tripod to keep them sdeady which again increases the cost considerably.
If you want a good lightweight bino at reasonable cost with no tripod required then a pair of 8×40, or if you have strong arms a pair of 10×50 even better.
The cost of a decent 10×50 pair is about $100, try Celestron, Orion, Pentax or other reputed brand and do not buy one cheap from a department store as these are usually useless.
Certainly the the view is many many times better than the naked eye, and before long you would have a fairly good grasp on the Night Sky, then, you should consider investing in a suitable telescope to see the full glory of the heavens.
Good luck with your viewing
Binoculars have two different uses in astronomy. One is to view the largest objects in the sky: the star clouds of the Milky Way and the largest deep sky objects like the Pleiades, the North America Nebula, and the Andromeda Galaxy. The other use is in conjunction with a telescope to plan the “starhops” needed to locate deep sky objects. I always have a binocular handy when I’m out observing.
The best size for astronomy is 10×50. Magnifications higher than 10x require a mount and tripod, which destroys much of the pleasure and freedom of using binoculars. Apertures smaller than 50mm are too dim for astronomical use. I find that I can see about twice as much with a 10×50 than with a 7×50, so prefer the higher magnification.
A 10×50 binocular will show you things fifty times fainter than what you can see with the naked eye, as well as magnifying them ten times.