Stargazing What type of binoculars are best for stargazing in a light-polluted area?

[joej24]

Hi, I've become interested in astronomy but there are many street lights near my house. My
10 X 25 binoculars don't really help at all too. Would a pair of 10 X 50 's better suit me for stargazing in this situation or is light pollution the problem?

From where I live, the sky is dark enough to see the Small Dipper constellation however.

 

[DaleSwanson]

The first number represents magnification, and the second represents aperture size. For star gazing the second number should be as high as possible. A wider aperture will capture more light and allow you to see fainter objects (which will help with light pollution). Magnification, on the other hand, can actually be a bad thing if you aren't using a tripod. You may find 10x to be too much magnification. I'd say 7x50 is ideal for tripodless star gazing.

Also, if you live in North America, this is a pretty good map to help you find areas near you with less light pollution.
http://www.jshine.net/astronomy/dark_sky/index.php"

 

[RobinSky]

Welcome to star gazing!

First of all feel free to ask questions. I'm pleased to help.
Second, a binocular 10x50 is not that "great". It works fine but it won't take long until you want to get even bigger to see more & better so I'll suggest you get an aperture of at least 60mm. Let's say 10x60-70.

Ignore the magnification (10) for this case because the magnification will be suitable for the binocular no matter.

But if is 10x50 is your only option, then just go! It's a big sky to explore!


Regards, Robin Andersson

 

[joej24]

Is one that's 10X60-70 light enough to use without a stand? Why is the magnification not important?

 

[Chronos]

10x is manageable for most people. More than that tends to get exponentially more difficult without a stand. Aperature is more important than magnification irrespective of magnification. The same applies to telescopes. The main issue with aperature is portability - also true with telescopes. An instrument that is grab and go easy will be used more than one than that doubles as a bowflex.

 

[DaleSwanson]

Why is the magnification not important?

Because the objects you are trying to see aren't small, they are dim. For example the Andromeda Galaxy appears larger than a full moon in the sky. However, if you live in a populated area you've probably never seen it due to light pollution. There is no need to magnify it, but there is a need to amplify its light. Stars are point objects, which means even with a huge amount of magnification you won't see anything other than a point. The point won't be brighter with only magnification either. You need aperture size to collect more light to make it brighter.

See the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Messier_objects" , all of which are large enough to be seen with no or very little magnification (10x will be more than enough). However, many won't be bright enough to see without collecting more light than your eyes alone will be capable of.

The exception to all this is objects within our solar system (eg planets and moons). These objects can actually be magnified to the point where surface details appear. However, for anything other than our moon you are going to need a serious (and expensive) telescope, not binoculars.