Expert: Steven LJ Russo - 2/9/2006

Question
I don't particularly know much of anything about astronomy.  However, my husband expressed an interest in it, and I'd like to get him a pair of binoculars for our anniversary to get him to start looking at the sky.  But I don't want to invest too much money in something which might not materialize into much of anything.

I've read that many suggest getting binoculars before getting a telescope, especially like us, who know nothing about the sky.  I've read that Nikons are good astronomy binoculars.  And I saw Nikon Action 10x50 Binocular, Nikon Action 10x50 EX Extreme ATB Binocular, Nikon Tundra 10x50 Waterproof Binocular and Nikon Monarch ATB 10x42 Waterproof Binoculars on amazon.com for reasonable prices.  However, the binoculars are not in their astronomy line.

I was wondering if I were to choose one of those, which would you suggest or would you suggest something completely different, and why?  I am leaning toward getting a 10X50 because I'd also like to use the binoculars for daytime viewing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Answer
Terez:

Well, quite frankly, Binoculars for Astronomy really don't serve much use, unless accompanied by a telescope.  Binocs can show some nice views of the Milky Way, and a few star clusters, and the moon, but that's about it.  A small telescope will show the Moon, Planets, and thousands of star clusters, nebulae and galaxies.

However.  10 x 50 is a pretty good choice.  But I wouldn't get Nikons.  You are paying a lot of extra money for the name.  Binoculars by Edmund scientific, Orion Telescopes, and Celestron will give you the same quality at much less of a price.

Stay away from red coatings and amber coatings if you can for astronomy use.

Check out the web sites of the above. and if you see a specific product, then feel free to e-mail me about it through my web site at www.look-to-the-skies.com

But in reality, I would get the Orion XT 6 Classic Dobsonian telescope, which costs as much as some Nikon Binoculars.  Check it out at the Orion site at :  www.telescope.com

The Edmund site is www.scientificsonline.com

Steve