Do you know which binoculars are better for astronomy?

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Ok, here is the deal. I asked for a 10x50 Zenith binocular for christmas. I read in Scientific American that they recommend 7x50 binoculars for amateur astronomy if you are a beginner. That was because the exit pupil is 50/7=7.1 milimeters. And that is the diameter of the human pupil when it is adapted to the dark. So all light that is received by the binocular is perceived by the eyes. But later I read that only happens if it is pitch-dark and I live in a big city (16 million habitants) so there is light polution. So I thought, ok maybe a 10x50 will be fine. And also I only could find 10x50 binoculars in the stores so I asked for that one.

But my father is very generous and he gave me a 16x50 Zenith binocular and he said "This one is better". I was a bit angry. So, last night I gave it a try. The image was really good and I could see so much more than with the naked eye! I really liked it. I don't know anything about astronomy so I didn't know what I was looking at. But I could see that some of the "stars" that you see with the naked eye were in fact composed by many stars. I also could see a green cloud and a red cloud with stars inside. Was that a nebula? Or maybe a galaxy? I'm sorry if I'm saying something completely wrong, I just joined the world of observations yesterday. Also the image was much clearer than my kiddie telescope with 50x or 150x augmentation. And it was so much more pratical! Just aim and see.

Ok but here are the problems. The image was far from stable. Every little movement with my hands shaked a lot the image. In fact it was near impossible to stabilize the image and it was moving all the time. That is one of the reasons I'm considering exchanging the 16X50 binoculars at the store for a 10X50. With less magnification it should shake less. But I'm worried that with less magnification I will not be able to see so many things as I saw with the 16X10 binoculars.

Also another problem. My binoculars have the true field of view of 4.2 degrees. I read that binoculars with true field of view less than 5 degrees there is the sensation that you are looking through a tube. As if there was a tube in the border of the view. I had that feeling when I was using the binoculars. I read that binoculars with true field of view larger than 5 degrees there is the feeling that the image that you are looking fill the field of view completely. So you have this feeling of immersion. The true field of view of the 10X50 binoculars are 5.7 degrees so I guess that it would be better in that sense.

I just wanted to know if anyone had experience with binoculars and could help me with the choice. I plan to use the binoculars primarily for astronomy. At the moment I'm thinking that I will exchange the 16X50 binoculars for the 10X50 in the store although I got until January the 11th to make the choice. Tonight I'm going to make more observations. Any comment will be appreciated. Thank you.

In the end, it really comes down to your personal preference.

Do you want a wider field of view, and more hand held stability, or more magnification?

I think that I prefer the stability but I can't deny that the 16x magnification was really cool. The angst of the choice is killing me. It is so hard to choose between two good things! I feel that whatever I chose I will be leaving something good behind. I think that I will exchange it anyway. If I exchange I also will get some credits at the store so maybe I can buy an astronomy guide.

You can always get a tripod. You can also buy this device that stabilizes them when lying down. I don't know that you need to buy an astronomy guide. There is plenty of information online about astronomy, and there may be a freeware version of SkyMap you can download.

The sky is cloudy now, I can't see anything. It is that everyone in my country says that this guide is really good. I already downloaded the software. I am going to travel tomorrow so I am only going to install it when I come back. Thanks for the tips Chronos.

Without a tripod, the best thing to do is sit down and place your arms upon your knees. I do that when I observe the Andromeda Galaxy and the Orion Nebula. It works quite well. And when you want to go vertical, lay down somewhere and let your binoculars sit upon your eyes.

I will try that. Thanks ShenLong. Do you use a tripod?

I think all the glowing "dust" you're seeing is part of the Milky Way galaxy. That's all us.

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