Your Astronomy Now

Whether you’re a beginning amateur astronomer or a seasoned veteran, if you’re not using binoculars for astronomy you’re most certainly missing out. I’ve enjoyed stargazing with binoculars for many years and, during that time, have evaluated many different types of binoculars.

While being an amateur astronomer can bring with it a high cost of entry, it doesn’t have to if you approach your new hobby appropriately from the beginning.

The truth is, many phenomena in the night sky can be seen with minimal equipment and even with the naked eye. In fact, a good pair of binoculars can take you a long way before you even begin to consider buying a telescope. One of the main advantages I’ve found over the years with binocular astronomy, as opposed to the traditional telescope, is the sharpness and clarity. By viewing with both eyes simultaneously, you can see as much as 35-40% more detail than you can with a telescope.

When it comes to astronomy, binoculars can be used primarily for locating objects in the night sky, for viewing them, or both. Each application requires a different set of priorities when determining the binocular specifications. That said, here are several factors you should consider:

* 1) Mounting: Your first priority for viewing the night sky is whether you will hold them or mount them on a tripod. Binoculars that will primarily be hand held should be lighter. This generally means they will have less magnification, but they will also have a larger field of view, allowing you to view more of the sky at one time. Mounted binoculars can have a much larger objective lenses, meaning much higher magnification. But, this naturally means a smaller field of view. Another consideration is that binoculars mounted on a tripod will provide greater image detail than binoculars that are wobbly and constantly trying to maintain focus on distant objects.

* 2) Aperture: You can use virtually any binoculars for an occasional look at the night sky. But, binoculars with large objectives (50mm and larger) are much better suited for more serious astronomical purposes than their smaller and more compact relatives due to their greater light-gathering ability. Nothing quite compares to viewing celestial objects through a pair of giant astronomy binoculars. The view is much wider than that of a telescope allowing large objects, such as nebulas and entire galaxies, to fit in their field of view. Keep in mind also that the older you are, the less likely it is that your eye pupils will be able to open to larger exit pupils. Hence, 7×50 binoculars (7 mm exit pupil) may not be appropriate for you. Your best bet may be to try 10×50 (5 mm exit pupil).

* 3) Magnification: Once you begin looking at binoculars with a magnification of 10x and higher, they can get heavy very quickly, making for an incredibly shaky image. Again, consider mounting them on a tripod so you can go for a larger magnification.

* 4) Lens coatings: Lenses are coated to improve light transmission through the lenses. Binoculars that are not coated can lose as much as 50 percent of the light that enters them. Frankly, there’s no excuse for anything less than “fully multi-coated” (FMC) for astronomy. This simply means that all air-to-glass surfaces are coated multiple times. With multi-coating now featured on very low-grade binoculars it is very inexpensive.

* 5) Eye relief: If you wear eyeglasses, you’ll want to find binoculars with the proper eye relief. Many models provide long eye relief, allowing you to see the complete field of view with or without eyeglasses.

* 6) Field of view: This is how much of the sky you can see through the binoculars at any one time. Most that offer extremely wide views do so by compromising the quality of the image. A wider field of view can also be obtained with more expensive eyepieces.

As is evident from the above, not all binoculars are suitable for stargazing. As with anything, you must find the right balance of features and price for you. But knowing your options in advance will greatly aide you in finding the best pair of binoculars for you or the budding astronomer in your family to enjoy the wonders of space and science.