G'day dudes,
I'm a bit of a beginner getting into astronomy. Lately I've been scoping out a good telescope to buy and I've pretty much decided that I'll be getting an 8 inch solid tube dobsonian. Only thing is, I won't be getting it straight away due to to other priorities in the budget!
In the meantime, to satisfy my apetite I am thinking of getting a good set of binoculas to gaze at the heavens and learn the sky before my eventual telescope purchase. It would be a cheaper start to my new hobby compared to a telescope. Sounds good aye.
So, I was wondering if there are any suggestions you have for me? I don't want to spend a mint. Perhaps $100-150 max. How much aperature is recommended? Is it worth having a huge magnification or is this useless if accompanied by only a modest aperature? Currently I have a small 10x magnification, 25mm aperature binoculas. Would a 50mm be much better, or should I aim larger? What is a good magnification?
I want to sit around outside and learn the constellations, hopefully see planets as more than a dot, hopefully see some of the other wonders of the sky as more than just dots etc. What would be best?
Also, why I'm here. Would I need anything to keep the binoculas steady, such as a tripod etc? Or, if I have a decent camping fold-out chair would this be the best way to keep everything still whilst being able to look directly upwards to the sky? Any tips on how best to observe the stars using binoculas would be much appreciated. It seems it's bloody hard to look up and still for a long period of time.
Well, hope to hear from youz...
Cheers
