| Re: Astronomy Binoculars
Hi
Yes, you can see plenty with 10x50 binoculars - I use a pair all the time when I'm at the telescope - they are a very handy 'bridge' between charts and the view through the telescope.
Many of the Messier objects can be spotted with 10x50s, and SEVERAL non-Messier open clusters. From a dark site, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is a wonderful sight through 10x50s - and can still be easily seen even from a suburban location (although,the light-pollution will kill-off a lot of the fainter details) - I've also detected the galaxies M33, M81, and M82 with 10x50s from a dark site,
You will be able to see ALL the planets if you know where to find them - although you won't see any details. like surface features, or Saturn's rings with only 10x magnification.
You will be able to see Jupiter's 4 brightest moons though, and track them from night to night as they 'dance' around their parent - you'll be able to see the phases of Venus, when it gets at a good sideways elongation from the Sun, you can see crescents etc, just like a tiny version of the Moon - Neptune and Uranus will only appear as blue-ish dots though, you'll see them, but no shape or detail.
Asterisms like the smiley-face in Auriga, and the Coathanger cluster - as well as open and globular clusters - The Pleiades, and the Beehive are beautiful in binocs - Perseus double cluster is another treat - and LOADS of other clusters are visible. Cygnus and Cassiopeia in particular are very rich in binocular-visible clusters - There's also the Milky Way star-clouds, to the South in Sagittarius (a summer treat)
Bigger binoculars are even better - a jump to 15x and maybe 70mm or 80mm aperture will show even more - a hint of Saturn's rings, the main two cloud-bands on Jupiter - my 15x70s will show galaxies M81 and M82 even through average suburban light-pollution.
Celestron 15x70s are available from Argos fro about £80 - probably the best bang-for-the-buck available in binocs.
Whatever you do though - AVOID ZOOMS like the plague - a zoom binoc that is good for astronomy has never yet been made.
Also - in the spec - look for Bak-4 prisms, as opposed to Bk-7 - much better light throughput.
And avoid anything with red or yellow lens coatings - as a general rule of thumb, decent anti-reflection coatings usually have a faint green/blue/or purple tint.  |