Equipment for The Amateur Astronomer: Good Astronomy Binoculars For Beginners

Telescopes and binoculars and other astronomy accessories and are the meat and potatoes of amateur astronomy.

What helped me familiarise myself with the night sky was a good set of binoculars. It was only after using them for a couple of years that I upgraded to a telescope.

That was one of the department store 60mm telescopes we’re all warned about, but my folks didn’t know any better, and to a 12-year old kid, it opened up the universe.

Astronomy Binoculars For Beginners

Binoculars have a role to play in astronomy. A good pair costs less than a telescope and is a good entry point for someone familiarising themselves with the night sky.

They don’t provide the same magnifications as a telescope (but magnification isn’t everything) but binoculars do show a much wider field of view which makes it easier to navigate across the sky.

Because of this wider field of view, you also get to see the ‘big’ picture. And, because you’re using both eyes, there’s less eyestrain.

Binocular viewers are available for telescopes and those who use them (even though they cost a couple of hundred dollars and you need two eyepieces for each one) swear by them (rather than at them!). However, since these are a piece of specialised equipment, they will cost more than a pair of binoculars.

A typical set of binoculars will be 10×50s (10x magnification and front lenses 50mm in diameter). More powerful models are available – 20×60s are available from $150 upwards and you can get 20×80s for as little as $90 (yes, cheaper than 20×60s).

Astronomy binoculars are quite heavy and you’ll get tired quickly pointing them skyward for any length of time. Also, due to their higher magnification, any tremor in your hands will also be enlarged and stars will dart around in the view.

If you plan to look at the sky for extended periods, you’d be advised to use a tripod with a binocular adaptor. This lets you securely mount the astronomy binoculars on it and easily point them around the sky without strain.

Large scale objects such as comets or the Moon are well suited to astronomy binoculars. The Moon through 20x binoculars can be breathtaking, bringing it close enough to see relief in craters and mountains but you’ll see it in 3d as well, something that doesn’t happen when looking through a telescope because you only use a single eye with one.

Astronomy binoculars for beginners are available from a wide range of manufacturers: Barska, Zhumell, Celestron, Meade, Canon, and Pentax.

Serious amateur astronomers may want to invest in top-brand models from Nikon, Vixen, Kowa and Fujinon. Expect to pay $1,000 and upwards to $5,600 depending on the make and model. Why would anyone want to pay that kind of price for a pair of binoculars? They’re the best instrument for comet hunting for one. The 3-D view they give makes you feel like you’re out in space. The better models use interchangeable eyepieces so you can change the magnification and field of view.

Conclusion

You can start using a pair of binoculars much more quickly than setting up a telescope so if you have very changeable weather where you live, they’re probably a better option for sky viewing. Of course, you can throw a pair of binoculars into your luggage very easily and view the sky from your holiday destination with ease.

All in all, binoculars are a much better option for casual viewers because of their portability, daytime and night-time use and their cost in comparison to a decent telescope.

As with almost everything else in life, you get what you pay for. There are binoculars that cost under $10 (being cheap in every sense of the word) and other specialised astronomy binoculars which cost in excess of $5,600. My experience says you will need to spend at least $90 for a pair of binoculars that are worth owning, but $140-300 is a more common price range for astronomy binoculars.

Gary Nugent has pursued astronomy as a hobby for over three decades. He runs one of the best-known astronomy and space news websites – the Night Sky Observer where you can learn more astronomy facts. His site has been online since 1997.

categories: amateur astronomy,astronomy,science,binoculars,telescopes,hobbies,hobby