Binoculars for astronomy

Domo

Domo

Domo

Soldato
Joined
11 Feb 2004
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Location
Surrey, UK
I'm after some binoculars for astronomy to replace by ageing 8x30s.
Obviously something more powerful would be preferred, budget is up to £300.00.

Not interested in telescopes as I'm a casual gazer and prefer scanning the sky instead of fixing on pre-determined objects.

I tried speaking to someone once and they started going on about optimum apertures and other technical stuff which I'm sure is important but I'd rather someone just tell me what to get :o:)
 
Telescopes really are better because they're stable and usually have higher magnification. A set of binos with equivalent magnification are going to be very big, very heavy and very expensive. Because of the magnification even the slightest movement will make the image wobble and jump like someone with a hungry Ferret down their trousers. No doubt you can get binoculars with screw mounts on them for steadiness but then you'd be just as well with a telescope!

For example, These with 8x42 (which you will probably need to view anything with clarity) are £220!

Whereas this telescope has a much higher resolution (Not 100% sure how you can compare them as the figures are presented differently and I don't know enough) but has tripod, is motorized and has a computer thingy so you can key in latitude and longitude or specific planets and it'll move to them. And it's under £200.
 
MissChief - loving the ferret analogy but I do understand your point :)
Telescopes are cool - I owned one a long time ago and more recently I've tried scopes which belong to friends.
But I just like to head out in the garden and stare up into space without setting stuff up. I have Star Walk on my phone (which is bloody awesome if a little bit out - last night it claimed Orion was about 20 degrees right of where it actually appeared in the sky!). And that complements my star gazing perfectly. Rather than look stuff up and search, I search the sky and then look it up if that makes sense.

Perhaps I might re-consider. I like the finder gadget but does that remove the fun part of star gazing?

Fornowagain - not sure what your link's pointing too?
 
I use the Celestron Skymaster 20 X 80 they are bang for buck, very good FOV, good clarity, very pleased with mine.

You will need a tripod giving the size as they do get heavy after a minute or so.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0007UQNTU/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Lol at people thinking binoculars are inferior to telescopes.

They're both used for viewing different things, and they both suit their purpose very well.

If you're getting anything bigger than 10x50 bins I would get a tripod with them, as you won't be able to see much with the FOV shaking all over the place.
 
Helios 10x50 Fieldmaster is what I use, I think they were the recommended budget bins (~£40) from SGL when I was researching.
I also have an 8 inch dob.
 
Binoculars are actually better for a lot of people, I used binoculars for at least 10 years before buying a telescope, the FOV, portability and ease of use are massive plus points with bins.

I was using 10X50s and that's all you need to get started to learn stars and to get more comfortable navigating the night sky.

So many people buy a telescope on a whim and end up not knowing how to use it or what they are looking at. Better to spend maybe £100 on a pair of bins and a book than spend £500 on a telescope that won't do what they wanted etc.

Never mind the disappointment some people experience when looking at celestial objects expecting to see

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but seeing

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:)
 
Thanks for all the posts. Spook187 that's a serious set of bins right there (up to speed with terminology after some homework - bins!).

Bit too big for me though and would sooner forgo the tripod.
Reckon I'm going to go for these.

Some good reviews and not too massive. Will let you know how I get on.

VaderDSL - quality post, reminds me of a Stargazing Live episode when Jonathan Ross looks through a telescope (I think it's pointed at Jupiter) and says "it's just a disc" when I think he was meant to appear impressed.
 
Hi everyone - I'm going for a very similar thing to OP but with a slightly reduced budget (around £100). I saw someone mention somewhere the Celestron 20 x 80 bins and I can see they're only about £100. Can anyone say whether they've had good or bad experiences with something like this? I'm a complete newbie and I'm just interested in testing the water. I far too often "jump in at the deep end" and then spend a lot of money on stuff never to use it again but I figure with Christmas coming up, a nice set of binoculars might last me for a while and if I find out I love looking at the sky with them then I can always invest in more hardware at a later date....
 
So I walked into a local shop and bought a pair of Hawke NatureTrek 12 x 50s. Little cheaper than Amazon too. I'd only popped in to see how big and weighty bins are and I ended up contributing to the local economy :)

OK magnification isn't too great but they are quite light and very well built. Perfect for the casual gazer like me. Just take them out of the (very nice) carry case, pop the lens covers and go.

Of course it became cloudy last night so couldn't test on the sky but looking down a dimly lit street I was impressed with the brightness and image crispness.

Once I do get a view of the night sky I'll report back..!

Edit - oh and way under budget at £129.99 :)
 
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Binoculars are great for star gazing made even better when they can just put in the car and drive out into the country side. Better still find somewhere local that has dark sky status and have an evening out. For anyone in the NE, Kielder Water will hopefully have this status soon.
 
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