Seeing Nebulae with Binoculars

[wattsy]

I've just bought myself some 7x50 binoculars and am astonished at the number of stars visible. Is it possible to see nebulaes such as orions with a stronger binocular such as the (Canon 15x50 Image stabilizers) and what do you think of these binocs, is it worth upgrading my 7x50's).
Could someone list a few objects which I can view through my 7x50's which cannot be seen through the naked eye.

[Rick]

You'll see the more extended nebulae and galaxies (Andromeda, Orion, etc.) quite well with 7x50s provided you can hold them steady enough...

[Sue]

Using a stable mount for the binoculars will improve the details you can see tremendously. I use a sturdy camera tripod for my Helios 15x70s but before I bought those saw much through 8x42s on the same mount. Sir Patrick has published a book on astronomy with binoculars - not sure of the exact title - which you may find of interest. Recently I have used charts in the Philip's Atlas of the Universe, Patrick Moore (£1 from the 'soft back preview' book club!). Clear charts for each constellation and indication of which clusters/nebulae/galaxies are binocular objects.

[ This Message was edited by: Sue on 2004-03-12 13:24 ]

[Mike]

Don't talk to me about binoculars....

[Rocket Pooch]

How are they?

[Mike]

Thy are fine(ish) now ! But what a farce to get them !! If I known it would be like that I would have paid the UK extra price and be done with it !!

[Rocket Pooch]

What was the prognosis?

[Mike]

The prism had shifted out of position. There was a metal band that had come loose (vibration in the aircraft hold?!?!) - anyway, the base of the prism is shaped especially toaccomodate it in the correct position so it was just a case of moving it back and tightening the band.

The eyepieces are slightly loose which is not good.

All I need now is a hefty tripod to use them with as they are very heavy. The photographic tripod I have is fine for cameras but wont take the weight of the binos.

I will bring them along to the obs session next week, even if it is cloudy.