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Have any of you had the chance to look into decent binoculars for night sky viewing ?

There's a relatively new optics company in the midwest that gets decent ratings Zhumell.  This company has 20x80 bino's with tripod mount on sale for 70 bucks, thinking of them or for twice that 15x100 that zoom up to 140X  (with a tripod, seems those would have amazing light gathering ability)  too bad I can't afford Carl Zeiss optics with image stablization.. I always liked the inexpensive Bushnell binoculars though,  great bang for buck.  In fact I've done head-to-heads with Nikon, Penax, and other comparably priced makes, and I really like Bushnell (They were at one point owned by Bausch & Laumb)..  Think I'll take a shot at these Zhumell bino's...  seems 20 power is really all I'd want for astronomy..

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I have used Bushnell binoculars and they are not that bad, it last about 6 months in the tropical rain forest. If you are just using it in good weather it is a good budget bino.
Nikon have good optic but the body is not water proof.  Carl Zeiss; can almost be use underwater.
I ended up buying a Carl Zeiss; cheaper in the long run.
But to use a bino for astronomy? The correct tool is a telescope on tripod.

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Not always so for quick lower powered viewing Jian,  for low powered viewing the light gathering features of a decent pair of 10x50 or similar GOOD light gathering bino's with a bigger aperture than standard binos (within limits) for purposes of  astronomy beat most telescopes on the market today for closer general viewing and wider field of view,  and are just more convenient than a larger scope (that most buy but don't even wish to bother setting up), of course a good light bucket (meaning large enough Dobsonian scope is the way to go if you are young, have storage room, and enough of an interest to lug one around)..  I'll post reference material from astronomers that make this statement.. It's about light gathering capability and field of view, not power of a scope in many cases for convenient locating and viewing.  OF course this depends on the viewing distance, but some galaxies, clusters can be seen (within shorter range) better with certain decent bino's without the inverted image too.  The larger binos are designed for astronomy, I'll show you some, and I like the fact that you can utilize both eyes for wider field of viewing, and better light gathering than cheaper scopes... Carl Zeiss here costs a fortune, I'd LOVE to have a few pair fall into my lap..  btw,  remember the erroneous stats on these cheaper 60 and 70 mm refracter scopes 650X isn't useable magnification either..  I have scopes too, but by time I set them up,  the stars have gone away.. ,  Biggest advantage however, in areas with some amount of light pollution bino's just do better.  Few can use the highest power settings of small scopes anyway, the rule is generally (as I recall) about 50 power per each inch of mirror aperture.
Here's one reference doc for you
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/ho ... 89576.html
I intend on using decent Astronomy (giant binoculars) on a tripod,  above 10X you do need a tripod IMHO... at least I do..

I like this site as well, interesting stuff... incidently check out Celestron, Orion, and Meade telescope sites... they are fun

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

There are some important limitations we must deal with in visual stuff too, (not just the fact that we can't sing in music of course) but this is IMPORTANT at around our ages Jian


 Heck,  I damaged my knee just peddling my mountain bike, I don't need a hernia looking at the moon..

So here's my decision,  since no zoom and gimmicks is recommended. These have the tripod mount built in, and get good reviews, plus I should be able to find them for around 65 bucks delivered..  Over 4 lbs tho,  tripod !!!!

http://www.telescopes.com/binoculars/as ... ocular.cfm

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Sis if you're just plannin' on lookin' at the moon in someone's window 2 blocks down the binocs will be just fine  :worship:

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

Steven,
I am, kind of traditional about the use of tools. I associate bino with field work;ie birding, general wildlife, and other stuff. Bino is my major tool of trade; the other one is a good compass/map(gps does not work in the forest).

But I have seen a few birder friend of mine using tele for the job. A bit extreme but some of those shore birds are small and difficult to go near. So the opposite can happen; using bino for astronomy. That is a subject I have little knowledge of.

Will a night vision scope be better?

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I can neither confirm nor deny ever having or knowing anything about nothing.... mrscott

Oh,  I stopped seeing her (she got curtains) so the 8x20 folding Bushnells get little use.   Funny thing is, sitting out behind the tree nights for hours got me noticing the stars.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Well, <clearing throat> yeah, but not as much now that I'm older.. Well, I can't run away as fast that is



Jian,  "Spotting scopes" for both celestial and terrestial viewing are quite popular too. Many these days just grab small zoom refracter scopes and even use 65-120 mm catadioptric scopes for birding.  It's my understanding (although I might be wrong) that many ornithologists favor around 8x40 or 8x42 wider field bino's for birding. Yet some even use spotting scopes. I'll post the catadioptric scope (it's a combo enclosed handy little thing with nice mirror and prism systems), also known as the Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes...


I'm about as good at astronomy as I am with singing, so I don't profess to know much, in fact I was told I can't take an astronomy course at a local university a few years back because my Algebra skills stink.  Optics isn't a strong area for me, I just read about the stuff .  My thoughts are :night vision: anything will amplify undesireable light conditions very close range and cloud up everything NOT enabling a contrast view of just the celestial object, instead you want optics with good light gathering sensitivity, however not just a feature that will amplify a very limited area of light spectrum

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Yes dear, i can see Uranus quite clearly tonight...

Will they require a tripod to hold them steady?

   You must be up in the hills where the light don't shine !  Nice unimpeded view of the Quasar from what I understand.  I've never seen the red-shift though during my viewing.  The supermassive density is quite interesting.


I can manage with my monopod

This is what I love about this site,  so much diversity,  out've the blue it turns out that others also share an interest in Astronomy.  Right now for instance, it's 5 AM or the crack of dawn,  viewing can be fabulous if you're in the right place ~

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Kappy

If you buy the cheap binocs and drop them, you get two monocs..

Not about to pay the money Steiner, and Zeiss, Leica, and Swarovski ask.  I've never even looked thru Zeiss optics.  I'd be interested to.  See if the quality is actualy commensurate with the price.   Probably is..   Of course there are advantages to image stab. binos but I'll use a tripod for anything over 8X

That aside Jerry, what would the point be in costly binos ?  After 30 we start losing some of our peripheral vision or ocular ??  Is that what exit pupil means ?  (about 1 mm every 10-15 years is it?)  So assuming  I get really good bino's, and end my eyes aren't great it's pointless..  Sort've like these people that are into the super light mountain bike frames, and love the titanium, and carbon-fiber frames as opposed to the double-butted chromoly frame that might be as heavy as 28 lbs...  Funny thing is,   alot of these folks can stand to drop about 30 lbs of excess gut, can't handle the light competitive bikes and sacrifice comfort because they want to get the competitive bike.. (but so much for my bike buying experiences,  should 've bought Huffy, or Murray, but no... Had to get the GT Zaskar LE with all XTR comp)...  What happens ?  I hurt my knee peddling the thing in a casual setting... OK,  enough of my whining

I really have always liked Bushnell, but of course now that I believe Tasco bought them, not sure what's going to happen.

Ever hear of Barska ?  They seem to make both low and higher end stuff..  For scopes I stick to the big 3  Celestron, Orion, and for bigger stuff Meade...  So tonights project.  Find out difference between Muskutuv- Cassegrain, and Schmidt- Cassegrain scopes,  and see which CDS is better.. Maybe even learn how to spell these words..HAH

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

...and if I had a nickel for everytime I got Celestron, and Celestion confused I'd be able to buy the better bino's...  I tell people my cabs are loeaded with Celestron speakers...  Of course I still have Lafayette cabs from the old days, and they used the Brand name "Criterian" speakers, and up until the 80's Criterion was a Hartford CT company owned by B&L specializing in telescopes...  So I'll shutup now...



btw,  Don't bother paying money to join this site http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/go ... ope.cfm(no naked women)      
OK,  back to studying science

My stupid humor aside.  The site is very interesting..This is what it offers



, Can you imagine ?  A lazy-a@@ed amateur astronomy site for those of us too out've shape to get out've a computer chair, put shoes on and go outside and look at the sky ?   Sounds ideal IMHO

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Holy chit you still have Criterion speakers?!?!  :O

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[shadow=white][scroll]Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.....It's about learning to dance in the rain[/scroll][/shadow]

Sis,  Yeah.  Just looked,  I use one for center channel currently too it's the "Criterion77" with the attenuator knob on the back... BUT,  I also have quite a bit of Lafayette, Hallicrafters, National, Allied Radio and Heathkit equipment too.. I've got some of the older Tube stuff...I just liked the older audio stuff... Can't help it..
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Btw sis,  I still have the photo of both you and myself from 1941, from that time when we were playing out back and I acted the part of Clyde, (the time that you pretended to be Bonnie). Remember when we stabbed the delivery guy on the truck and ripped off all the cool stuff I still have downstairs ?  those were fun days !!!  (We always were enterprising type individuals going way back)

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

I had a good view of the partial eclipse this evening through a telescope!  Man it was bright!  Anyone got any spare retinas?

Actually, I did view the eclipse through a telescope... but it was the telescope on my navigation sextant which has a number of various selectable shades... the sextant is quite ideal for that kind of viewing as the mirrors allow  viewing the sun without having to strain your neck looking up.

Let me guess,  you aren't in the states now


The Annular Solar eclipse viewable in the S pacific I assume... Parts of Australia, NZ, and Antarctica...  Up here in CT,  PERFECT view of the clouds for the past three days !

I wonder if I can use my welding goggles for a solar eclipse.  We used to use old slide negatives and a slotted piece of cardboard, and view the reflection on a piece of white cardboard (or something like that)..  Not too many people I've known that've had "staring contests" with the sun, and have won though !

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

Crack open an old floppy disk, and the media filters the sun quite nicely..  :hi5:

After that last solar eclipse you told me to hold two magnifying glasses 6 inches above my eye, I'm not so sure I can trust you Jerry.

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Northeast United States runner up for the "Singing Hall of Shame".

No worries, mate..