What kind of binoculars do you recommend for star gazing?
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at
9:32 am
I want to buy binoculars for star gazing and to see Mars at the end of August. What is the cheapest brand, yet good quality that I can get?
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US $3.50
Get the largest glass objective lens you can afford. That’s the second number, like 7×50 it’s a 50 millimeters objective lens. The first is the magnification factor. Don’t get more than 7x magnification if you want to hold them in your hands, they just shake too much! Any major brand will give you plenty of fun under the night sky so look for a sale!
I have a pair of 7×50 multicoated Simmons which I’ve always been very happy with. I don’t recommend anything of a lesser aperture or power though. In fact, I often wish I had 9×50’s but the 7×50’s due nicely.
I’m not completely familiar with the various brands as far as binoculars go but I’m sure Celestron or Orion would due. I’d stay away from compact “sport” binoculars and the ones with the tinted lenses and most importantly, try them before you buy. Nothing is more frustrating than a pair of binoculars that don’t focus properly for you.
You’d need pretty big ones to see any detail on Mars, and a tripod. With the 7×50’s I can see many of the moons around Jupiter, the Andromeda Galaxy, M33, and the Orion nebula, but not planetary detail.
This might help: http://www.bristolcameras.co.uk/choosing-binoculars.htm
If you try to view Mars at the end of this month through binoculars then you could go blind! Mars is currently about to pass behind the Sun through the end of this year. Never, under any circumstances view the Sun through binoculars or a telescope without a full understanding and use of special filters (and you won’t be able to see Mars Through the filters in any case).
Having said that, if you plan to use binoculars for general nighttime sky observing there is a lot to be said in favor of them. A good starting size that are usually under $100 (a reasonable price these days) are 10×50mm. This won’t show planetary detail except for the larger craters on the moon and will show Jupiter’s four largest moons. But they will show many star clusters and nebulae as well as some galaxies (alot depending on how much light pollution there is in your observing area) if you know where to look.
Over 10x and you will likely need a tripod to mount them on. If you are willing to tripod mount them (or if you have steady somewhat strong arms/hands as some do) , Celestron Skymaster 15×70 is popular and well under $100 will show even more. However 25×80 or 25×100 binoculars is the minimum to even glimpse the rings of Saturn and you would definitely need to mount them on a tripod. And they would be alot more expensive too. I own 10×50, 15×70, and 25×100 binoculars so I know what can and cannot be seen.
Orion Telescopes (www.telescope.com) and Celestron are good brands. Check them out.
I think all the others who gave answers have guided you well
I had readf that the ones with more zoooming power distorts the image more
lol no, but i seemed to be gazing at you
n-max posted a photo:
Acrylic of our cat Jaffa gazing out of the window one fine sunny morning.
–
"I'm not the jaded kind. Playback's such a waste. You're invisible to me. My wish came true. Erase the memory of your face" – I WISH!!!
the higher numbers, the stronger the power of resolution. if you want some pretty cool binos, they now have ones that automatically focus.
http://www.stellarium.org/
This is great freeware that you can download. It is an interactive star chart. Tell it where you are and it will tell you what you see. This free program can answer questions like this for you for years to come.
If you use this program, it will tell you that you were looking at the planet, Jupiter.