DonB
19-06-2012, 11:24 AM
I'm new to astronomy and got a monocular as an aid to learning the night sky. I wanted a monocular as I don't have binocular vision and thought I could get better optics for the price and prefer the smaller size and weight (it fits nicely in the small glove box of my old Pulsar).
Last night I went out with my new Nikula 8x60 monocular and was treated to very nice views of the Jewel Box and several open star clusters in Carina. I wasn't star hopping carefully and am not familiar with the shapes to identify the ones I saw, but just wandering around Carina was a lot of fun with the dramatic increase in brightness and the moderate magnification.
Since they're such different scopes, not much can be derived from comparing terrestial viewing to my Yukon 20/50 x 50 spotting scope but the difference in sharpness and colour fidelity is quite noticeable, contrast seems better too.
The scope is here (http://weihongmj.net/index/en/product-27-740.html) and was purchased from Kizlyar Knifes here in Australia for $100 & s/h. The lenses are fully multi-coated, it's nitrogen filled and fully waterproof. It has an adjustable eye cup and 18mm eye relief so can be used with glasses although I prefer it without mine. The focuser falls right under the right index finger and works smoothly. The 6 deg TFOV should be useful for star hopping which is handily very close to the diameter of a 20 cent piece on the Pocket Sky Atlas.
I'll be keeping my eyes open at garage sales for an outdoor lounge chair to make viewing near the zenith more comfortable.
FWIW,
Don
Last night I went out with my new Nikula 8x60 monocular and was treated to very nice views of the Jewel Box and several open star clusters in Carina. I wasn't star hopping carefully and am not familiar with the shapes to identify the ones I saw, but just wandering around Carina was a lot of fun with the dramatic increase in brightness and the moderate magnification.
Since they're such different scopes, not much can be derived from comparing terrestial viewing to my Yukon 20/50 x 50 spotting scope but the difference in sharpness and colour fidelity is quite noticeable, contrast seems better too.
The scope is here (http://weihongmj.net/index/en/product-27-740.html) and was purchased from Kizlyar Knifes here in Australia for $100 & s/h. The lenses are fully multi-coated, it's nitrogen filled and fully waterproof. It has an adjustable eye cup and 18mm eye relief so can be used with glasses although I prefer it without mine. The focuser falls right under the right index finger and works smoothly. The 6 deg TFOV should be useful for star hopping which is handily very close to the diameter of a 20 cent piece on the Pocket Sky Atlas.
I'll be keeping my eyes open at garage sales for an outdoor lounge chair to make viewing near the zenith more comfortable.
FWIW,
Don