New Member

[MikeGruber]

Hello folks!

My name's Mike. I'm in the Saint Cloud area. Always have wanted to do some astronomy as a hobby. Probably will be purchasing my first pair of binoculars soon (any recommendations?) and looking forward to spending some (cold) time under the sky over winter break in December/January.

Any tips for someone who has never done any observing before? Any good places to go in the Saint Cloud area?

Thanks in advance, pleasure to be on board.

[Steve Baranski]

Hi Mike,
Glad you found the board - pleasure exchanging messages earlier.

Steve

[Enberg]

Hi Mike, and welcome to the B-Sig! Watch these forums, and join us for any of the events that you are interested in.

As far as binoculars, my suggestion is start with some 7-10 x 50mm. They don't necessarily have to be "astronomy" binoculars, and you have a wide variety of choices depending on your price range. You can get good-quality binoculars at sporting goods stores, and there is also a store called "Radio City" in Mound that carries Celestron binoculars made for astronomers as well as other astro gear. You want to get the biggest objective (the larger number) that you can, because this relates to the light-gathering capability. 50mm is a common size. 24,35, and 42 are also common sizes, but a little small for astro use. The first (smaller) number is the magnification and the 7-10 range is good for hand-held use. Above 10x, it is often hard to hold them steady enough to see things clearly. and you need a tripod to hold them. I myself use 10x56 binoculars made for hunters, for a lot of astro observing as well as other uses (birding, wildlife, scenery etc). Even if you later get a telescope, a good pair of binoculars will be one of your basic astro observing tools!

Nancy (B-Sig co-moderator)

[MikeGruber]

I shopped around a bit and read a few reviews about what would be good for beginners and was able to find a nice pair of Celestron 15x70s for pretty cheap. No tripod yet, maybe in the future. The wife and I are planning on heading out Friday night an hour or so after Moonset. Skies are supposed to be relatively clear and temp only in the 30s. I'll report back and tell you how it goes!

[clayton]

Welcome to the MAS. I am sure you will enjoy the binoculars. Check collimation as they have 30 day limit for that warranty item. http://www.celestron.com/support/warran ... e-warranty.

Until you decide on a mount if any, try a old broom stick with a small 1x2x6 piece of wood attached on the end to rest your binoculars on. Something like http://www.opticsplanet.com/stoney-poin ... -e123.html or at the bottom of this article: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronom ... astronomy/

[MikeGruber]

Thanks for the tips, Clayton! Will be sure to watch for collimation and will see what I can scrounge up for a makeshift stand around the apartment.

[FF2Rydia]

... there is also a store called "Radio City" in Mound ...

It is actually in Mounds View. Important because they are in different parts of the metro.

Welcome Mike!

[Enberg]

Ah, right. Good catch, Kris. I was typing too fast......