Eye dominance

[LewisM]

Just a simple poll more out of curiosity than anything.

Which eye dominates your vision and astronomical observing? Which hand do you use to focus?


A simple way to test for eye dominance (and this is how we do it in competition shooting) is to make a tunnel with your outstretched hand (curl fingers to make a tunnel). Now, place the tunnel comfortably as if you were aiming down it, BOTH EYES open. Now shut each eye one at a time. The eye that shows NO shift in the placement of the tunnel is the dominant eye, whilst the submissive eye will seemingly shift the tunnel (for me, my right eye shows a shift to the left of the tunnel by about 3 inches, yet the left eye keeps it centralised).

So, for observing, I use my left eye, and prefer, surprisingly, my left hand for focusing(though write right handed). Using my right eye is awkward (but yet I shoot right handed in competition...after blocking my left eye with a patch). On my telescopes, even though RIGHT handed, I will - when I can - change the dual speed unit over to the left side (easy with Taks and Vixens).

Enough ramble - poll gives the options

[hobbit]

I'm right handed and left eye dominate. A pain for archery and longarms, switch to pistol and doesn't bother me as much. Was never a problem for astronomy though.

[ralph1]

I'm left handed but focus with my right hand. Figure that!

[Nikolas (Nik)]

Slight astigmatism in my left eye so right eye all the way. Left or right handed focusing depending on where the focuser is aligned at the time.

[GUS.K (Ivan)]

Observe with my left eye,focus with right hand( I am right handed), but on my Lunt pressure tuned scopes, prefer the pressure tuner on the left side( tuned with left hand).

[LewisM]

I find it VERY difficult to look into an eyepiece square on with my right eye, typically turning my head askew like many novices do. I do not have that issue with my left eye.

[Wombat68 (Trevor)]

Am right handed but lost the sight in my right eye back in 2009 so don't have any choice in the matter really

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

Left handed and left footed ( for kicking footballs etc. ) but right eyed. Tend to reach out with my left hand first for focusing which is annoying with the 10 : 1 knob on the right side. My right eye is now compromised due to a partially detached retina so it is like looking through a fine gauze with several permanent floaters a well.
Learning to use the bino veiwers more often for deep sky as well as the planets to get around the problem.

[pgc hunter]

Left handed but right eyed and also tend to focus with my right hand.

[Eden (Brett)]

I observe with my left eye and use both hands equally for other tasks such as focusing, etc.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Shoot right handed normally, though only because the grip on my Walther gp is fitted for right hand.
Also there's less tendency to get empty shell cases in my shirt with the 1911a1.
Easier to open the crane on my 44 magnum when shooting right hand too.

Left handed writer left handed cutlery. Right handed golf.
left handed tennis both handed table tennis.(used to change over to reach wide to some people's shock.)
Left handed hammer right handed welder.

[RB (Andrew)]

Originally Posted by LewisM

Which eye dominates your vision and astronomical observing?

I see you've turned to visual now.

RB

[Baddad (Marty)]

Right handed, right eye dominant, Possibly since I learnt to shoot when I was 8yrs old. I conditioned my right side dominant.

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Right handed, and strangely enough, doing the test in your first post I can not pick one side moving more than the other. I have always observed with my right eye but seem to pick out more detail with my left so I am trying hard to re train myself to use my left eye.

It is tough going, I am ex military and always shot rifles right handed, right eye.

[hobbit]

Originally Posted by LewisM

I find it VERY difficult to look into an eyepiece square on with my right eye, typically turning my head askew like many novices do. I do not have that issue with my left eye.

I find it impossible to do so unless I close my left eye. (my finderscope is on the left side.)

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Right-handed, left-eye dominant

I was born very myopic (> -8 diopters in both eyes) with strong astigmatism, and red-green colour blind to boot - I'm not sure why someone with my vision ever got interested in something like astronomy!

I had Lasik laser surgery about 15 years ago to correct the myopia and astigmatism. Given the severe correction required, they weren't able to give me perfect vision, but I still don't need corrective glasses. (Well, if I'm honest, I should wear glasses for close-up reading, especially in low-light, but after 40 years of wearing coke bottle glasses and contact lenses, I'm still happy to go "naked"!)

My right eye is slightly long-sighted, and my left eye is slightly short-sighted, and I unconsciously switch dominant eyes as I change my gaze from close-up to distant vision. E.g. while driving, my left eye is dominant on the dashboard, but my right eye is dominant on the road.

I suspect the reason I am left-eye dominant for astronomy is because it has better focus on the telescope and eyepiece as I approach it, so it is the natural eye to look through the eyepiece. If I switch eyes, I need to refocus ever so slightly, but I get just as good a view with my right eye, but 9 times out of 10, it is my left eye that is at the eyepiece.

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by RB

I see you've turned to visual now.

RB

I am a dabbler.... too busy and too lazy to set up for imaging.

[Renato1 (Renato)]

I got into archery last year and bought a few bows that I use to shoot from my balcony. A large number of people have wanted to shoot them, and I've been struck that nearly half of them have been right handed but left-eyed. The just cannot line up the target with the bows' peep sights using their right eyes.

According to archery stuff I've read, they should be in a small minority but that doesn't seem to be the case among my friends and acquaintances.
Regards,
Renato

[Steffen]

Originally Posted by Renato1

I got into archery last year and bought a few bows that I use to shoot from my balcony. A large number of people have wanted to shoot them, and I've been struck that nearly half of them have been right handed but left-eyed. The just cannot line up the target with the bows' peep sights using their right eyes.

Have they tried putting the arrow on the right side of the bow? Like this guy:

Click here to load the video

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Cheers
Steffen.

[PCH (Paul)]

Crikey, the guy in Steffen's vid is incredible!!

You'd say those things were unbelievable if someone told you about them. But watching those feats actually performed is just incredulous.