When I want to use binoculars to watch the sky, what objects can be seen and to what detail?

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That depends on the aperture and magnification of the binoculars, the quality of the optics and coatings, the conditions at your observing area, and your skills as an observer. There is no simple answer to this question. From a dark, clear location, the night sky is a WOW! even naked-eye, and binoculars only add to the fun. From a light-polluted suburban location with atmospheric haze, the night sky is pretty blah, and binoculars won't make it too much better.

If you have a friend who has some binoculars, see if you can borrow them and look around a bit on a good night. Buy a basic astronomy field guide (like Peterson's) and a planisphere and see how many objects you can find.

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With a reasonably high quality pair of binoculars, I've been able to make out moons of Jupiter - barely. A lot has to do with one's ability to keep them steady

With my 10x50s, I have no trouble seeing the moons of Jupiter and I can (just barely) tell that Saturn isn't round (In other words, although I can't "see" the rings, I can tell that they are there).

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T. Anderson

Speaking of binoculars...
Would any of you recomend these?
Celestron 25 x 100mm SkyMaster

Or these
Vixen 30 x 80mm waterproof astronomical binoculars

They seem pretty good to me, but I don't know a whole lot about them.
I'm not worried about the price difference. Which pair do you think is better?

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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those … moments will be lost … in time … like tears … in rain. Time … to die.

The light-gathering ability of an optical instrument is a function of the area, which is detemind by the square of the radius, but you can safely get a subjective measure by comparing the squares of the diameters (apertures). An 8" scope at a relative light-gathering power of 640 (rel) seems a bit weak if you can pay a few more dollars to get a 10" scope with a relative power of 1000 (rel). A 25% increase in aperture gets you more than a 60% increase in light-gathering.

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The ether of general relativity therefore differs from that of classical mechanics or the special theory of relativity respectively, in so far as it is not 'absolute', but is determined in its locally variable properties by ponderable matter.

Albert Einstein, "On the Ether", 1924

So if I understand well, for a start a pair of good binocaulars will do quit well.

This second chrismas evening, I spend with some friends and the sky was almost clear over here. I looked at the sky (we had to smoke outside) and there
were quit some stars to see, but there was also a lot of city light. When you could only see a fraction more that would be very interesting. So for now I'm going to look for a pait of nice binoculars.
Thanks for your answers.

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Not because it is easy, but because it is hard...

There is no way to happiness,
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There are a couple of really good books on viewing through binoculars.

Binocular Astronomy by Crossen and Tirion

Touring the Universe Through Binoculars by Harrington

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On paper, they are both good. Both use BAK4 prisms and multicoated optics. All else being equal, I would choose the Celestrons simply because they have 56% more light gathering power and a slightly wider field of view.
Note that at 25 and 30 power and with weights in the 4-5 Kg range, neither is even close to being "hand-holdable"! A tripod is mandatory. Even better would be a parallelogram mount like:
http://www.telescope.com/shopping/pr...ProductID=7639

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

Thomas, forget the hype and the pseudo science from ones who should
know better. Point one, Thomas, roof prism binos no good for you.
Too much internal reflection on bright objects such as the moon.
Porro prism ideal. Now Thomas, as opposed to telescopes on tripods,
binos mainly hand held. Thats the problem, vibration incurred by holding
the binos means an unsteady view of the stars.
Two solutions, one, get a bino mount to stabilise them, or get image
stabilised binos such as Canon IS series.
Nokton

The books that aurora mentioned are both excellent. Phil Harrington's book does not include any charts, however. For some online binocular targets browse http://www.lightandmatter.com/binosky/binosky.html

Giant binoculars (those with apertures of 80mm or larger) are really for more specialized types of observing. You will need a very sturdy mount for a 100mm aperture.

BTW, there are roof prism binoculars that perform exceedingly well but they tend to be rather expensive. One of my four binoculars is an 8x42 roof prism unit.

Dave Mitsky

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That's pretty much what I thought. They are a little big. lol. I do like that mount in your link though, thanks.
I didn't know (giant) binoculars were more specialized. What type of observing are they good/bad for?

Basically, what I'm looking for is something that will give me performance similar (I'm not expecting it to show me everything) to a telescope, but much more portable. I figured one of these binoculars would fill that need. They could fit in a small case and the mount (I think I'll have to get one like the one Kaptain K linked ) would not take up much room in the car. Should be very easy to set up, and you wouldn't have to lug around all of your eye-pieces.

Am I on the right track, or would you recomend something else?

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I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. All those … moments will be lost … in time … like tears … in rain. Time … to die.

Yes Dave, I know, but was responding to an enquiry from an admitted
learner, so just gave basic advice. Other considerations I did not include
concern eye health. If one has astigmatism then a small exit exit pupil
is to be preferred.
Nokton.

I have a pair of the Celestron 25X100's and a Universal Optics unimount heavy duty deluxe. Here's a link to some parallelogram mounts http://www.bigbinoculars.com/pmounts.htm but I don't see the heavy duty deluxe listed any longer. The Celestrons weight almost exactly 10lbs. while my heavy duty unimount is rated to 15 lbs. I really enjoy this setup, the 25X100's have more contrast than my 15X70's and the unimount seems like a great match to these binocs. This setup has proved to be very popular at star parties I've taken it to and I have no reservations about recommending this setup. It provides very nice views of the summer Milky Way and any binocular DSO. However, I've heard that a significant % of the 25X100's come out of the factory out of collimation, the store where I purchased (astronomical specialty type of place) was able to verify my pair was within spec. If this is your first foray into binocular astronomy, I'd start with a 50 or maybe a 70mm pair, but if you're looking to get into big binocs, then this is a great setup.

No binocular, unless it is a true binocular telescope (see http://www.company7.com/jmi/rbseries/rb10_data.html for an example), is going to perform similar to a telescope. Binoculars are ultimately limited when it comes to magnification. Planetary views are not rewarding. Globular clusters, with the exception of Omega Centauri and 47 Tucanae, remain rather small and unresolved.

OTOH, large extended objects like Melotte 20, M31, and the North America Nebula are excellent targets. Scanning the Milky Way with a binocular is great fun.

The true fields of view of many giant binoculars, particularly those with higher magnifications, can be rather limited. (In fact, some rich-field telescopes, have larger fields of view.) There is also a trade off in ease of use.

Comet hunters sometimes employ very large binoculars such as the Fujinon 25x150 to search for comets.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ist&sku=206822

Dave Mitsky

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Chance favors the prepared mind.
De gustibus non est disputandum.
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

My travel scope is an inexpensive 80mm short tube refractor, on a Bogen camera tripod with a slow motion head.

Something like that would fit your requirement, except you would have to have a small case to hold a couple of eyepieces and the prism.

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"I'm as accurate as any psychic. And I'm a cartoon!" -- Squidward

"Arrrgh, the laws of physics be a harsh mistress!" -- Bender

Check out ebay for sears discoverer binoculars CHEAP but RUGGED (buyer beware)

For fifteen years I have owned a $60 pair of Sears Discoverer ZOOM 8x-17x 40mm (201 ft/1000 yds at 17x) Wide Angle Fully Coated Optics Model # 473.2576500 Binoculars. Made in Japan, I don't know if they make them like this anymore, but I highly recommend this model. From comets to M31, from Jupiter's Moons to Craters on the Moon- it only needs a pole to rest on and I'm good even at 17x. It even has an adjustable left eyepiece to adjust my changing eye focus. Very decent. Might not be available any more.

As a companion to my 6" Meade reflector, I use an 8x56 Orion binocular that my wife gave to me 12 or so years ago. They are small so using them hand-held is no problem. They give stunning views of the Milky Way (Scutum is beautiful!) and aid in locating objects for the Meade (which is NOT computer aided).

tbm

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