Decision for beginner on binoculars

[Wesker]

Hey everyone, new here, hello!
Anyways, I've always wanted to get a closer look at the stars and beyond and am now able to finally start delving into it. A bit too early to get a telescope (my fiancee and I may get ourselves a really nice one later on), but thought I'd start out with a nice pair of binoculars. But I'm always a pretty apprehensive person and have a hard time coming to a decision without real world experience with an item.

So here's my situation. I live in not only a pretty rural area, but have access to desolate parts of the countryside. Meaning, almost zero light pollution. I've been looking at a few different pairs of binoculars after having spent the past week doing lots of research. I can't bust the wallet otherwise I might as well just go for a telescope. So I was primarily looking at the Celestron Skymasters. Either the 15x70 or 20x80 most likely. I'm also preparing to use a tripod, so the magnification won't be an issue in that regard.

Knowing what I know about magnification, exit pupil, etc., I'm still having a tough time reaching a decision because I just don't have access to any equipment to try it out. So any experience you have would be great. For example, what will the moon look like? How big, how close up? I only ever hear people say "you can see craters", but that is so very vague. Will the moon fill up the view? Will you have to move the binoculars to scan across the moon, or can you not get that close? That would be much more helpful. I know you can see Jupiter and Saturn to some extent, but what about Mars? What will stars look like?

Also, given the relatively low exit pupil on both, should I be concerned for either of those? I want something fun to explore with to get used to star gazing before I get a telescope. I want to be able to see things close (given the capabilities of binoculars).

Thoughts? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Nick Theodorakis]

My personal opinion about binoculars is that field of view and aperture (and eye relief, if you like to use them when wearing glasses) are more important than power, but to each his own.

Nick

[Middenrat]

Hi Wesker and welcome to BAUT Forum. I recently purchased bins on a budget. Since equipment at this end of the market is built down to a price there are some limitations to face up to, though Celestron should be better-performing than those in the Bargain Basement. The Moon will fill your field of view at x20 and you will clearly be discerning mountain ranges and minor Mare. Along the terminator crater walls will spring into relief with sharply delineated shadows. On the limb you will notice aberration from the spherical. In the cosmic distance a swarm of further points will tempt you to spend more money on a 'scope ;)
So far the only planetary body I have viewed is Venus, where a beautiful crescent is displaying currently. I hope your selected purchase will have finer focussing control than mine, as this is a tricky object being bright enough to give your optics' coatings and alignment a good workout.
Have fun!

[aurora]

Stars are so far away that they will always appear as points of light, even in a telescope where you are using higher magnification than in binos.

Jupiter will be very small in binos, but definitely a disk and you will be able to make out some of the 4 moons on most nights. Mars is very very small, and won't appear like much other than a red star, even when it is close to earth (which it isn't right now).

Binos are good for wide field views, for example you can get the entire Pleiades in the field at one time.

There are some good books on using binos for astronomy. You could check your local library, bookstore, or online source.

[JustAFriend]

Hey if you can go up to 70-80mm, go for it....

I will say that I bought a $89 pair of Nikon Action 10x50s for my wife at Christmas (she's getting into birding) and they have been EXCELLENT astro binocs. The crispness and clarity are far above others in that size. The Moon and Orion are outstanding and we have been able to make out the discs of Saturn and Venus.

[ebutts]

At 20x the apperent size of the Moon is about 10° approx. the width of a fist held out at an arms length. Assuming that your binoculars have a standard 50° FOV the Moon will thus fill only a fifth of the linear FOV.

[TelescopeBinoculars]

Welcome to BAUT Wesker! Your choice of purchasing binos if you're budget is limited is an extremely wise decision. They will always for useful. In fact, a lot of amateurs who have telescopes also have a good pair of binos...it's just an additional way of experiencing stargazing. By far I would recommend Celestrons if money is an issue. You get more bang for the buck.

[mepierrelouis]

Either models are excellent given their price. Although the 15x70 don't necessarily need a mount, I'd definitely invest in one for the 20x80s (a photographic would do the job perfectly). Don't worry about the exit pupil, these models give an impressive viewing experience. If you haven't experienced binocular astronomy, you will be blown away. All in all, you're choice of going for the Celestrons is perfect to dip your toe in stargazing. Happy viewing!