10 power binoculars that are 50mm wide each isn’t really all that powerful. You might be able to make out a few nebula, definitely would make lunar viewing great. Be sure to get a tripod and if possible get a pair with stabilizing optics. I have Minolta binocs that are 10×50 and at that power the shake is very noticeable. I purchased mine to look at the comets that came through in the 90’s. Aside from that you might be a tad disappointed if you expect to see the rings of Saturn or nearby galaxies.
The wider the lens, the better though. Keep that in mind.
quantumclaustrophobe Said,
You can see quite a bit… most the planets are wonderful through binoculars – you can just see Jupiter’s 4 Galilean satellites, the crescent phases of venus, and Saturn’s rings.
It’s a nice first step.
Robert G Said,
–the exact same thing, but you can see the exact same thing with both eyes at the same time.
The ten refers to the power of magnification, which means that you can magnify the things you’re looking at by ten times. That’s about enough to be able to see that Saturn isn’t a nice round disk like most of the other planets tend to be, and that you can see lunar featurs that are ten times too small for your ***** eye to focus in on.
The fifty refers to the size of the primary objective lenses, or the lenses at the big end of the binoculars, which tells experienced opticians that it can be used in lower light situations and still see things that would be invisible to the ***** eye due to darkness, like seeing something across the valley in what you might think is total darkness.
With 10×50s, you should be able to see that one of the stars in the handle of the big dipper isn’t really a single star but that the bright star has another star that orbits around it, but they won’t be strong enough for you to see that the same ’star’ is actually a trinary star system.. of three stars orbiting around each other. You should be able to see some star clusters and you might actually be able to see that the Ring Nebula is a bit bigger than the pinpoint of most stars, but, you won’t be able to see it’s colors.
10×50s, are more for seeing earthbound objects better than with the ***** eye, so, if it’s Astronomy you want to get into, you might want to save up for a bigger and better telescope.
Jerry P Said,
You can see all of the Messier objects. (wiki them)
Also:
planets Mercury through Uranus.
moon surface craters and features
Venus phases
numerous double stars and clusters
occasional asteroids and comets
Saturn’s rings and some moons
Jupiter’s bands and moons
Charles Said,
Back in the day, I started with a set of 10×50, and am I glad I did. As another answer suggested, be sure to get a tripod.
Binocs are a great way to familiarize yourself with the sky. Consider joining the Astonomical League and starting on the Binocular Messier Club. Some are easy, some will require a dark-sky site, all are fun! Knowing where these objects are, getting used to star hoping to find objects really is a great way to start. Can it be frustrating? You bet! Can it be fulfilling? You bet!
The nice thing about starting while you are at college is access to ’scopes you might not otherwise have access to. So, save your money, use your college’s equipment, and get out at night!
Comments
10 power binoculars that are 50mm wide each isn’t really all that powerful. You might be able to make out a few nebula, definitely would make lunar viewing great. Be sure to get a tripod and if possible get a pair with stabilizing optics. I have Minolta binocs that are 10×50 and at that power the shake is very noticeable. I purchased mine to look at the comets that came through in the 90’s. Aside from that you might be a tad disappointed if you expect to see the rings of Saturn or nearby galaxies.
The wider the lens, the better though. Keep that in mind.
You can see quite a bit… most the planets are wonderful through binoculars – you can just see Jupiter’s 4 Galilean satellites, the crescent phases of venus, and Saturn’s rings.
It’s a nice first step.
–the exact same thing, but you can see the exact same thing with both eyes at the same time.
The ten refers to the power of magnification, which means that you can magnify the things you’re looking at by ten times. That’s about enough to be able to see that Saturn isn’t a nice round disk like most of the other planets tend to be, and that you can see lunar featurs that are ten times too small for your ***** eye to focus in on.
The fifty refers to the size of the primary objective lenses, or the lenses at the big end of the binoculars, which tells experienced opticians that it can be used in lower light situations and still see things that would be invisible to the ***** eye due to darkness, like seeing something across the valley in what you might think is total darkness.
With 10×50s, you should be able to see that one of the stars in the handle of the big dipper isn’t really a single star but that the bright star has another star that orbits around it, but they won’t be strong enough for you to see that the same ’star’ is actually a trinary star system.. of three stars orbiting around each other. You should be able to see some star clusters and you might actually be able to see that the Ring Nebula is a bit bigger than the pinpoint of most stars, but, you won’t be able to see it’s colors.
10×50s, are more for seeing earthbound objects better than with the ***** eye, so, if it’s Astronomy you want to get into, you might want to save up for a bigger and better telescope.
You can see all of the Messier objects. (wiki them)
Also:
planets Mercury through Uranus.
moon surface craters and features
Venus phases
numerous double stars and clusters
occasional asteroids and comets
Saturn’s rings and some moons
Jupiter’s bands and moons
Back in the day, I started with a set of 10×50, and am I glad I did. As another answer suggested, be sure to get a tripod.
Binocs are a great way to familiarize yourself with the sky. Consider joining the Astonomical League and starting on the Binocular Messier Club. Some are easy, some will require a dark-sky site, all are fun! Knowing where these objects are, getting used to star hoping to find objects really is a great way to start. Can it be frustrating? You bet! Can it be fulfilling? You bet!
The nice thing about starting while you are at college is access to ’scopes you might not otherwise have access to. So, save your money, use your college’s equipment, and get out at night!
HTH
Charles