looking at Andromeda Galaxy with binoculars last night;

[oker59]

I couldn't help liking having looked at the galaxy through the binoculars instead of a bigger telescope; or at least, that was a thought that came to me(warning, this is just a cute little thought!).<br /><br />It just seemed to me better to barelly see it than to blow it up to higher size. Seemed to me, that looking at the galaxy with a regular sized binoculars gave it the experience it should be; more like a fish that is just beginning to show its form at twenty feet visibility; that is what looking at the Andromeda galaxy through regular sized binoculars gives me the feeling of; the right feeling of just how far away it is.

 

[tfwthom]

That's why there are RFT's (Rich Field Telescope) like the TV76 (5.5 Max Visual Field), TV85 (4.4 Max Visual Field), Pronto (no longer made), Ranger (no longer made). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I personally belive you are best off learning the sky in this order<br /><br />1. Just looking up with your eyes at night.<br />Learning how the stars rise and set as the seasons change, where Polaris is, how the moon and planets move against the background. And satellites, too.<br />It's an interesting thought to see the ISS go overhead (which is too bright to miss) and think that 3 humans are up there all the time. I wave <img src="/images/icons/rolleyes.gif" /><br />2. Scanning the things that have interested you with binoculars. Bright fuzzies, the Milky Way, <br />3 Then a telescope. or two.<br /><br />Now it doesn't hurt to visit your local astronomy club and get a chance to look through some big scopes during 1 and 2 above. Inspiration.<br />But I like the idea of learning enough about the sky to know where you are before zooming in on objects.<br /><br />But that's just my philosophy.<br /><br />I kind of have binoculars and 3 scopes.<br /><br />An old beat up, wonderful Astroscan 2001.<br />Nice wide field, a rugged scope that takes a minute to set up, is great on comets, and not a bad look at the moon.<br /><br />8" Dob<br />Nice to look at the planets, most deep sky objects, can't look at the moon without a lunar filter; then the views are fantastic. However, needs a few hours to cool down in winter, from an indoor temperature.<br /><br />Finally, our observatory's 26" scope.<br />To be truthful, because I'm a meteor guy I don't use scopes much. However, if you want to see something really faint, diameter talks <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />I'd rather work my way in to the sky from here, than just look at the highlights at high magnification.<br />It's my perspective on perspective <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>