25 replies to this topic

[Papkin]

Hi, I started watching night sky some time ago with 7x35 Binoculars borrowed from my dad bought by him long time ago, for basic observations they were enought despite the facts that one lens was broken, that allowed me to see little more than my own eyes. My favourite object was M45, pretty easy to find, and good-looking. Another Object was M42, also pretty cool, but looked just like white blurred dot, with star in it. I also tried to see M31, but I've can't do it (Or I was just too unexperienced to do that). I also saw Mars, which looked just like orange star. I've tried see other objects, but I didn't saw anything special, most time spend on looking for Constellations, and comparing them with sky map's. Now I bought cheap 12x50 Binoculars, the quality upgrade was awesome, M42 is looking more like photos I saw in internet, I can see more stars in M45, finally I found and saw M31, but it is looking like white blurred spot, if I didnt knew that its here, I would probably not knew that I saw anything, if we are next to M31, I also tried to see M33, but I've cant do it, I saw something, but it was probably star between M33 and Alpha Trianguli. Tried to see Flame Nebula, but it was more difficult than I though. Last thing I tried to saw was Beehive cluster in Cancer Constellation, I'm not sure if I saw it, but I feel like I'm not. With new Binoculars I feel like Im seeing a lot more, for example stars, I saw a lot of them when looking for Cancer Constellation, but Im also feeling like the quality upgrade from my old 7x35 was nothing, I didn't saw anything new, or special, but its maybe becouse night today isn't the best.

I'm living in suburbs of small city in Central Europe, I have best view for the South Part of the sky, and worst for North-West. What is best sky obejcts, which I can look for with 12x50 binoculars? I heard that I should be able to see most of the Messier list, but, I can't see many of them. Im not sure if It's becouse of my sky quality, binoculars, handshaking, or maybe all three

Update: I went out again, and saw Beehive cluster, so my lack of experience is also problem.

Edited by Papkin, 02 March 2021 - 02:13 PM.

[cookjaiii]

Hand-holding a 12x steady is a challenge.  A small photo tripod (or some other improvised support) will help you see a lot more.  

 

https://www.skyatnig...oculars-steady/

 

https://skyandtelesc...our-binoculars/

[ngc7319_20]

Welcome to CN!

 

The moon is very bright right now.  You will have better luck with M-objects closer to New Moon in 10 days.

 

I can't tell how bright your city lights are, but they can be a problem.

 

My favorite objects in 12x50 or 15x50 binoculars this time of year are:

 

globular clusters M13, M5, M3, M92 (these are very nice)

 

open clusters M37, M44, M35    (in spring / summer M11, M6, M7)

 

emission nebula M42  (in spring / summer M27, M8, M20, M17, M16)

 

galaxies M51, M81, M82

 

Some phone app like SkySafari, etc., will help to find stuff.

 

M33 is difficult -- it is large but faint.  Easy to miss.

Edited by ngc7319_20, 02 March 2021 - 02:16 PM.

[Papkin]

Hand-holding a 12x steady is a challenge.  A small photo tripod (or some other improvised support) will help you see a lot more.  

 

https://www.skyatnig...oculars-steady/

 

https://skyandtelesc...our-binoculars/

I though about it, and I would buy it in close future. Tripod will probably help me with finding things, becouse I can set binocular in 1 position, and compare view with map

Edited by Papkin, 02 March 2021 - 02:17 PM.

[Papkin]

Welcome to CN!

<...snip...>

I though M33 would be easier, becouse it's large. I'm using Stellarium.

Coming back to Beehive cluster, It's definitely experience lack, when I edited main post, I though I saw that cluster, but it was really faint, and small, I had really trouble looking at it, and I was looking at it, trying to see it better, and I moved little higher and to the left, and I saw real beehive cluster, and I got same WOW as with M45, before I was looking somewhere there (photo), and It's obvious that I can't see that cluster, if it's not here

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[sevenofnine]

A tripod will surely help but so will a zero gravity chair. Bracing your arms with pillows can make a big difference too. There are many guide books for using binoculars to view the night sky. "Touring the Universe Through Binoculars" by P. Harrington is one to check out. Or a more generalized guide like T. Dickinson's "NightWatch" is excellent too. At some point you will probably want to get a real telescope. Terence walks you through the steps to pick the right one for you. There are a lot of options. Good luck with you choices! 

[McGarnicle]

Not sure where you are, but these next two weeks look good moonwise. Rises later and later each night, new moon on the 13th, then sets relatively early for the next few nights after that. 

[Papkin]

At some point you will probably want to get a real telescope. Terence

I already wanted Real one, but with my budtet, I wont be able to buy anything what isn't a toy

[Papkin]

globular clusters M13, M5, M3, M92 (these are very nice)

galaxies M51, M81, M82

Wont these be to small for me?

[Papkin]

globular clusters M13, M5, M3, M92 (these are very nice)

galaxies M51, M81, M82

Wont these be to small for me?

[aeajr]

Getting Started in Astronomy – Binoculars 
https://www.cloudyni...art-guide-r3143

 

 

I recommend the Messier with binoculars program to new binocular and telescope users as these are among

the brighter objects in the sky.  You can find them with your binoculars then go to them with your telescope.

https://www.astrolea...s/binomess.html

 

 

Astronomical League

You don't have to be a member to use the programs.  But if you complete a program and want to received the certificate you have to join the League.  These are a great way to learn the sky as you learn about observing.   I am a member through my astronomy club.

https://www.astrolea.../observing.html

Edited by aeajr, 02 March 2021 - 03:16 PM.

[RalphMeisterTigerMan]

In 52-years of being an amateur Astronomer I have owned dozens of different binoculars, including the "big-binos". The binoculars that I have now are the result of using all the above and thousands of hours of bino viewing. 

 

Taking into account weight, comfort, size, magnification and diameter of the objectives what I have finally ended up with are a set of Nikon 12 X 50 Action Extremes. I have been using them for about 3 years now and wish I had them many years ago. For the price and performance I cannot think of a better set of binos.

 

As for what I have seen, Jupiter's moons (obviously), Saturns rings, the Moon is great and many, many DSO's. A magnification of 12 is the perfect compromise between 10 and 15. 50mm diameter objectives have just the right amount of light gathering powering. I keep them easily handy in case there is something that I want a quick look at.

 

Good luck and clear skies!

RalphMeisterTigerMan

[McGarnicle]

In 52-years of being an amateur Astronomer I have owned dozens of different binoculars, including the "big-binos". The binoculars that I have now are the result of using all the above and thousands of hours of bino viewing. 

 

Taking into account weight, comfort, size, magnification and diameter of the objectives what I have finally ended up with are a set of Nikon 12 X 50 Action Extremes. I have been using them for about 3 years now and wish I had them many years ago. For the price and performance I cannot think of a better set of binos.

 

As for what I have seen, Jupiter's moons (obviously), Saturns rings, the Moon is great and many, many DSO's. A magnification of 12 is the perfect compromise between 10 and 15. 50mm diameter objectives have just the right amount of light gathering powering. I keep them easily handy in case there is something that I want a quick look at.

 

Good luck and clear skies!

RalphMeisterTigerMan

I just started, and purchased my first pair ever — 10x50 Action Extremes. Now I want to try the 12x50’s.

[belliott4488]

I'd like to put in a quick plug for the Pleiades. I love going outside for a quick peek at them through my binocs before heading to bed. They're just so bright and sparkly! 

[maroubra_boy]

Wont these be to small for me?

Papkin,

 

Yes, and no...

 

The thing with binoculars for astronomy is not to see an individual object fill the entire field of view - very, very few objects will do this in binoculars

 

The strength of binoculars is being able to see objects in the context of the area of sky that surrounds them!  THIS is one thing a telescope cannot do, and it is one of the most beautiful views of the night sky this way

 

To give you an example, Markarian's Chain is a collection of fairly bright galaxies that are lined up in the sky so it resembles a ribbon of soft pearls.  Through a telescope it is difficult to get very much of the ribbon in through the eyepiece, but with 12X50 binoculars, the whole length of this ribbon nearly fits in the field of view!  And because you are viewing with BOTH eyes, the brain is so powerful that it combines the image from both eyes into one that is brighter than using a single 50mm telescope, so there will be hundreds if not thousands of galaxies that you will be able to spot with your binoculars.  Small, yes, but visible and noticeable that they are not pin-point stars.  ALL the Messier galaxies are visible to you - I have seen M104, the Sombrero galaxy in a 50mm finderscope from my home in Sydney.  All the Messier objects for that matter are possible in your binos...  Now of course, if you go to a dark site you will be able to see more than if you are under light polluted skies, and some will present more of a challenge than others from a dark site.

 

Another is viewing objects in the Milky Way.  You will be able to see not just the object in question, but the mass of glowing Milky Way that surrounds it along with the dark nebulosity that criss-crosses the area.  Again, THIS is something that a telescope cannot do.

 

This is why I LOVE my binoculars as much as my 8" scope and my 17.5" scope - they all have different stories to tell.

 

Below are a couple of sketches I have done using my binoculars.  None of my telescopes can provide the same big field of view image as the binos.  The first one is from my home in Sydney of the giant nebula Eta Carina and the area of sky that surrounds it.  The second is of the area around M8 (the Lagoon neb), M 20 (the Trifid neb) and M21 from a dark site.  This is a view that no telescope can provide showing the intricate patterns of dark nebulosity and the detailed mottling of the background Milky Way.

 

Binoculars are surprisingly powerful.  And just like any other telescope, they have their strengths and weaknesses.  And just like any other telescope, you do best when you exploit the tool at its strengths!

 

Alex.

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Edited by maroubra_boy, 02 March 2021 - 04:50 PM.

[maroubra_boy]

Oh, and be patient with yourself!

 

Looking at the night sky is a very different experience for our eyes than they are used to.  It does not matter if you looking through a telescope or binoculars there are a few things that you must do with both:

 

1,  Chose your viewing spot carefully so to avoid bright lights shining into your eyes as much as possible.

2,  Give your eyes time to dark adapt.  Even from under city skies if you give your eyes time to adjust to the dark you will see much more and fainter details.

3,  Use a red light to illuminate things you need to find in the dark, NOT white light.  This will help maintain your dark adaptation.

4,  If you are using a paper chart to find things, again use a dim red light to read the chart.  If you are using a phone app, turn down the screen to as dim as it can go.  Some astro apps allow you to make the screen red, but I don't like this as this makes the screen difficult for me to read.  But see how you go.

 

5,  Be patient.  Yes, the same point as I started with.  Being able to see faint things in the eyepiece needs patience and your experience will quickly grow.

 

One last thing, you may have noticed that when you look directly at a dim object it somehow seems to disappear or get fainter and difficult to see - this is exactly what happens with our HUMAN eyes   The astro trick here is to learn to view objects not directly but to view them by looking just a little to one side of the object.  Our central vision is excellent for bright and sharp vision, but it is poor when the image is very dim.  But looking just to one side of the object the we are able to exploit an area of our vision that combines good low light vision and detail.  This is called averted vision.  This is a little trick that is very quick and easy to learn and one you will use your whole life when using telescopes and binoculars 

 

The picture below, to view the globular cluster through your binos or a telescope, you don't look directly at it or it may just disappear.  Instead look just to one side say where the "+" is, and the cluster will POP out into view   By the way, the picture of the globular cluster is also a sketch of mine.

 

Alex.

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Edited by maroubra_boy, 02 March 2021 - 05:13 PM.

[aeajr]

Binoculars make a great companion to a telescope.

 

Mostly I use 8X40, 10X50 hand held.  My 15X70 live on a binocular monopod.  I have also used 7X35s which worked well too.

 

the 8X40 has the same magnification as my 8X50 finder scope.  So I can try out star hops with the binos before I try them with the finder.

 

There are many things that look better in binos than in a scope.  The Pleiades is probably the best example. 

 

Binos show you more stars than you can see naked eye.  For me, in a very light polluted Bortle 8 location, this is extremely important.  Where my eyes see nothing my binos show me stars.   Where I can see stars, the binos show me more. 

 

It is not unusual for me to start and finish a telescope session with my binoculars. 

[Papkin]

One last thing, you may have noticed that when you look directly at a dim object it somehow seems to disappear or get fainter and difficult to see - this is exactly what happens with our HUMAN eyes   The astro trick here is to learn to view objects not directly but to view them by looking just a little to one side of the object.  Our central vision is excellent for bright and sharp vision, but it is poor when the image is very dim.  But looking just to one side of the object the we are able to exploit an area of our vision that combines good low light vision and detail.  This is called averted vision.  This is a little trick that is very quick and easy to learn and one you will use your whole life when using telescopes and binoculars 

This is exactly what happened to me, when I though I saw Beehive cluster, and now, Im analyzing the skymap in Stellarium, to know what I really saw, becouse that thing doesn't look like random stars like which I marked before (in Attached photo). And you know what? It was M67, Golden-Eye Cluster! It looks exactly like what I saw and I'm now 100% sure what I saw. I didn't even know about that cluster before  

I'm still thinking that those globular clusters will be too small for me. What is the point of watching them for Field of view, If they look any different in my eye than just like single star/white dot

[maroubra_boy]

Papkin, if you want a big image of any DSO, get a telescope.  This is not what binoculars are for.  Nearly everything you view through binoculars as individual objects will be very small, tiny.  Not just small globular clusters or galaxies, but all the planets too.  The point is not seeing things as a  "star/white dot".  It is about seeing it in the first place, that it is visible AND the wider context of the area of sky that it sits in.

 

I enjoy galaxy and globular cluster hunting with the binos.  I don't expect to see spiral arms or individual stars.  It is entirely about the quiet and patient experience that comes from chasing and viewing them.  Astro is not a "smash and grab" experience.  It is a quiet one the relies entirely upon teaching your eyes to see again.  It is as much a discipline as any martial art or sport or manual skill.  It only comes from experience and the appreciation of what you can do.  If you are stuck under light polluted skies, you have other challenges to overcome, and this too becomes a skill that must be learned.  Spot that little star/white dot from your home, and when you are able to get under dark skies, that same little star/white dot will have a totally different thing to show you.  But you first nailed it from home.

 

While at the moment there are no bright comets to be seen, binoculars are EXCELLENT for these too.  From under city skies it may only be the head of the comet that is often visible, but it there it is!   And every now and then when a tail is visible, binos are also a fantastic tool to see the tail with, often better than with a telescope.

 

Alex.

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[ngc7319_20]

globular clusters M13, M5, M3, M92 (these are very nice)

 

galaxies M51, M81, M82

 

.....Wont these be to small for me?

Well you will see them as fuzzy blobs, but you should see them easily in 12x50s if the sky is not too bright.  They will not look like millions of stars (clusters) or spiral arms (galaxies) like the photos, but you should see fuzzy blobs of different shapes, sizes, etc.

[radiofm74]

My two favorite bino objects that have not been mentioned yet:

-- The Hyades.

-- The amazing star field around Mirfak – which I discovered by pure accident.

 

I look through my 8.5x35s, and it's a completely different experience from watching them naked eye. 

 

Papkin,

 

Yes, and no...

 

The thing with binoculars for astronomy is not to see an individual object fill the entire field of view - very, very few objects will do this in binoculars

 

The strength of binoculars is being able to see objects in the context of the area of sky that surrounds them!  THIS is one thing a telescope cannot do, and it is one of the most beautiful views of the night sky this way

 

To give you an example, Markarian's Chain is a collection of fairly bright galaxies that are lined up in the sky so it resembles a ribbon of soft pearls.  Through a telescope it is difficult to get very much of the ribbon in through the eyepiece, but with 12X50 binoculars, the whole length of this ribbon nearly fits in the field of view!  And because you are viewing with BOTH eyes, the brain is so powerful that it combines the image from both eyes into one that is brighter than using a single 50mm telescope, so there will be hundreds if not thousands of galaxies that you will be able to spot with your binoculars.  Small, yes, but visible and noticeable that they are not pin-point stars.  ALL the Messier galaxies are visible to you - I have seen M104, the Sombrero galaxy in a 50mm finderscope from my home in Sydney.  All the Messier objects for that matter are possible in your binos...  Now of course, if you go to a dark site you will be able to see more than if you are under light polluted skies, and some will present more of a challenge than others from a dark site.

 

Another is viewing objects in the Milky Way.  You will be able to see not just the object in question, but the mass of glowing Milky Way that surrounds it along with the dark nebulosity that criss-crosses the area.  Again, THIS is something that a telescope cannot do.

 

This is why I LOVE my binoculars as much as my 8" scope and my 17.5" scope - they all have different stories to tell.

 

Below are a couple of sketches I have done using my binoculars.  None of my telescopes can provide the same big field of view image as the binos.  The first one is from my home in Sydney of the giant nebula Eta Carina and the area of sky that surrounds it.  The second is of the area around M8 (the Lagoon neb), M 20 (the Trifid neb) and M21 from a dark site.  This is a view that no telescope can provide showing the intricate patterns of dark nebulosity and the detailed mottling of the background Milky Way.

 

Binoculars are surprisingly powerful.  And just like any other telescope, they have their strengths and weaknesses.  And just like any other telescope, you do best when you exploit the tool at its strengths!

 

Alex.

Sorry for the OT: Alex, do tell… how do you do those wonderful sketches with binos? Do you have a tripod so you have both hands free?

Edited by radiofm74, 03 March 2021 - 02:07 AM.

[Dave Mitsky]

There are sections on binocular astronomy and urban astronomy that include object lists is my post at https://www.cloudyni...mers/?p=5184287

[BFaucett]

Papkin,

You might enjoy perusing Stephen Tonkin's website:

 

The Binocular Sky

"The Binocular Sky exists to help you get the best out of your astronomical binoculars. From understanding binocular basics, through choosing the binocular that is right for you, to suggestions of objects to observe, the Binocular Sky has it all."

http://binocularsky.com/

 

He offers a free monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to via email. (I also find it useful for my small telescopes.) The latest edition (it's a pdf file) can be found at this link:

https://binocularsky...r/BinoSkyNL.pdf

 

I have his two books and I recommend them.

 

Cheers! Bob F. 

 

[maroubra_boy]

 

 

Sorry for the OT: Alex, do tell… how do you do those wonderful sketches with binos? Do you have a tripod so you have both hands free?

Sent you a PM so I do not hijack the thread.

 

Alex.

[MEE]

Central Europe, you say?

Go see the total eclipse of August 12, 2026 from the path of totality and look at the solar corona during totality with those binoculars

The path of totality is in between the red lines on this map:

http://xjubier.free....gleMapFull.html

Important rule about the sun: anytime the sun is not eclipsed, or anytime the sun is in partial eclipse (including 99%) you MUST protect your eyes using proper methods and materials (looking at a projected image of by he sun or by looking through specially made solar filters that meet strict standards)

Totality of a total solar eclipse is safe to look at directly, without protection (naked eye, binoculars, telescope) but ONLY during that phase

The solar corona (you see it during totality) is a gorgeous, ethereal glow. The view of it through those binoculars should be exquisite, especially if they are on a tripod.

Other total solar eclipse choices:

April 8, 2024: (Mexico, U.S., Canada):

http://xjubier.free....gleMapFull.html

August 2, 2027:

http://xjubier.free....gleMapFull.html

(all eclipse maps courtesy of Xavier Jubier)

I’ll also say eclipses of the moon are impressive through binoculars, especially total eclipses

See this map: https://djlorenz.git...erlay/dark.html

What color zone are you in?

Try to go to (at least) the light green zone several times a year, and if you can make it to the dark blue or gray zones every once in a while, even better

Edited by MEE, 04 March 2021 - 12:42 AM.