Mark, even in your back yard in suburban Melbourne, you'll see a lot more stars with your binoculars. Look hard and you'll even see Omega Centauri, the big globular cluster. It won't be all that big in 9x, but it should be there. I see it easily in an 8x50 finderscope.
G'day Well just thought i would drop in let you know from this point on I will be known as the guy that asks all the dumb questions.I have just gotten into astronomy .I have a 8 inch reflector one of the cheapies from australian geographic.The real fun starts with trying to identify the constelations.Haveing been raised in the northern hemisphere i didn't even know where the southern cross was. Had a mate come out and help me set up the scope and on the first night I saw the rings of saturn something i had dreamed of doing since i was a kid.The night just got better,off to jupiter and its 4 moons,then into the jewel box.All in one night a trip through the heavens.What amazed me was getting an understanding of the distance and time for the light to reach us.We are watching the universe unfold as it was. Someday hopefully i will get a bigger and better scope and be able to get the fantastic shots some of the members take.but for now its study ,learn and enjoy one of the greatest pleasures in life ,the feeling of being amongst the stars.
G'day .....The real fun starts .............something i had dreamed of doing since i was a kid............What amazed me was.................the fantastic shots............ enjoy one of the greatest pleasures in life, the feeling of being amongst the stars.
ive noticed alot of newbies (myself included) ask for lists of DSO based on telescope aperture. i just found a website with a few lists, each based on the aperture of the telescope being used. it goes from 50mm to 300mm and includes a recomended magnification for each object. you'll need a sky atlas of some sort because the list only names the constellation the object is in. it seems to include more northern constellations then southern, but that might just be my imagination...
Binoculars are a great place to start. 20x90 is quite high power and large aperture. That is, they are big and heavy and can't be effectively used handheld. You'll need to get a big tripod to hold them securely, or make a parallelogram mount.
There's a few articles about choosing binoculars and making a mount in the Projects and Articles section. Have a read and keep asking questions. I'm sure some other bino guys like erick will offer some advice too.
Starting your observing with 20x90s would be a bit challenging due to the high (relatively) magnification. If you could complement those with a pair of 7x-10x and 50-60mm aperture, it may make your life a bit easier. I find that I often need to go back to my 12x60 when I am also using 20x80 or 30x100 in order to reorient myself when I am looking for targets.
But the 20x90s should be a good performer for the night sky. I'm happy with all three pairs I have bought from AOE, accepting that they are the budget end of the market.
As Mike says, you'll need a good support for the 20x90s. I can manage my 20x80s on a Velbon tripod in the $100-120 range. The 20x90s might be a bit too heavy - you can only try. Don't be surprised if you find you really need a $300 tripod to hold them properly!
Do read the articles Mike has pointed you to. Search for "binoculars" and "parallelogram" mounts threads on the forum.
Question to all
On Thursday night june 21 while driving home I noticed the moon was sideways like a bowl could you explain this to me.
thankyou
bungnposs
Question to all
On Thursday night june 21 while driving home I noticed the moon was sideways like a bowl could you explain this to me.
thankyou
bungnposs
OK bungnposs, then it should have looked like this if you were looking west, and it was relatively close to the horizon. This is what you saw? Think about the position of the Sun and I think you'll understand why the Moon is illuminated like this. Any specific questions?
the binos you've chosen are the ones I bought first uoff, and I must say I've never been disappointed. They give great views of a huge range of objects, but, as has been said, they do need the tripod mount that appears down the bottom of AOEs Binocular page for about $179 as I recall.
When I bought the binos, they were on special at just $249 - down from $299as well. What a bargain !
Yes that is what it looked like but it was not close to the horizon thank you I have never seen the moon look like this just goes to show how un observant we are
bungnposs
Now that my kids are giving me a little over 5 minutes in a day, I thought I'd try getting into astronomy a bit more, a subject that has always had me looking up where ever I go.
I have a lousy 8" reflector and have been looking longingly at a couple of different telescopes that some guys and girls had at an open night at Macquarie Uni a while back.
My interests are some of the deep space objects, and the science/physics of stuff going on in space. Having said that, I'm a bit light-on in the detail department!
Anyway, I came across this forum and am very impressed by the professionalism of this site. Nice job indeed!
Welcome to IceInSpace! You've made the first step in getting back into astronomy, congrats!
An 8" reflector can be more than suitable - what type is it? How old is it? What eyepieces do you have?
I work just around the corner from Macquarie Uni - unfortunately I wasn't able to attend their open night.
Thanks for posting and enjoy getting back into this great hobby! You're more than welcome to attend our monthly new moon meets on the Central Coast if you'd like!? It's a great way to get out of the city skies and observe through some different telescopes with some great friends.
Actually, the problem is more the tripod than the telescope. It's a little crippled and wobbly. And true, I could do with one or two decent eyepieces. However, it is second hand and nameless, which can't be a good sign.
When you look through some of those newer telescopes, the optics seem way superior and the portability looks great. Maybe I just like new shiny things.
Is there a page of "Excuses for why you MUST leave town for a few hours" that I could use?
Last edited by andrewc; 26-06-2007 at 11:34 AM.
Reason: Added a bit more info.
Andrew, an 8" cannot be hopeless - they don't make them entirely out of plastic. I'm sure that, with a bit of help and work, you can get the best out of it!