Astro-binoculars useful or not?

[glend (Glen)]

I have been considering adding an astro-binocular to my visual observation the 'toolkit'. My 12" Dob is great but I do have to haul it out of the shed and align it, level it etc each time I want to have a look at something. Because of the bush surrounding my place, especially to the south it's hard to tell exactly now much altitude I have to work with for low lying objects like the the Magellanic Clouds and 47 Tucanae which sit at between 16 and 20 degrees altitude at my place in the evening hours at this time of year. I figured the binoculars might make it easy to assess whether and when to get the scope out (yes I know I could just get up at 4am and look at them after they rotate higher).

How useful are they as an observation aid?

[RobF (Rob)]

Hi Glen

Why not check out the freeware version of Astroplanner? You can set it up with the horizons for your local viewing spot (or any spot you regularly use) and it will show when an object rises at your location, sets, transits, etc.

Any binocs are a valuable addition to your arsenal though. Its surprising what you can see with them when you try. Some form of stabilisation works wonders too.

[Allan]

Hi Glen

I bought my first pair of bino's only a few months ago and enjoyed using them so much I bought a larger pair almost straight away. I have found them to be a really useful addition to telescope observing and they are great at keeping family and friends busy when you are out observing. It is quite amazing how much you can find in just a pair of 10x50.

I'm in Warners Bay if you want to come by and check out my gear.

[StarVoyager]

Very useful!

The bottom line is that some objects are going to look better at low power and in a wide field of view, which a scope isn’t always going to provide.

Some of the best views of the Andromeda galaxy, LMC, SMC, the pleiades, star fields and emission nebula in the Milky Way have come from my 15x70s. Binoculars provide excellent context of where an object is in the larger sense.

Also, it’s a real pleasure viewing astronomical objects with both eyes! It is how we were meant to see. The moon, for instance, takes on a 3D appearance in binoculars, because using both eyes allows for depth perception, unlike single eye viewing with a scope.

Cheers!

[dannat (Daniel)]

They'll be a real complement to a large Dob, it is hard to handhold more than 10x power, I put 15x on a monopod no worries

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I've got some 12 x 50's. They get used every night it's clear, even if I'm not out at the scope. Sometimes I just sit on the back steps with the bins for half an hour or so and scan and plan. Essential tool as far as I am concerned.