"John Honan" wrote in message ...
I have spent the last month in my garden (well, when there hasn't been cloud
cover) with a pair of old 7x50 binoculars and a starchart. Mainly finding my
way around the constellations, and roughly locating the Messier objects. I'm
in a light-polluted area so can't resolve much detail (I need to arrange a
trip to a dark site one of these days!)

At this point I want to get a new pair of binoculars or a spotting scope

As a user of a spotting scope (80 mm, 20-60x) myself, I would say that the
spotting scope is at best an awkward compromise for astronomy. As you point
out, the larger aperture (relative to binoculars) is more than cancelled by
the higher magnification.

The spotting scope doesn't really fit well with astronomy: The field of
view is too narrow to catch constellations, the aperture isn't large enough
to see faint objects like the Messiers, and the magnification isn't large
enough to see the planets awfully well. Which leaves the moon as just about
the one object one can study in some detail. And since spotting scopes are
mounted on regular tripods and not equatorial mounts, you don't get the
additional (much needed!) help in navigating the sky.

My own experience after having used the spotting scope for a year or so,
is that even though I expect only five clear dark nights per year (the low
number has to do with the midnight sun and the weather on the coast of the
Atlantic), I have started looking around to see if there is a chance of
finding enough cash to purchase an astro scope. Yes, I can see the rings of
Saturn with my spotting scope. Yes, I can see Jupiter, with its moons and
even some hints of cloud belts. I can just barely get a hint of some of the
intriguing Messiers, but that's about it. And it's very frustrating.

If you live in a place where the climate allows for astronomy on a regular,
frequent basis and have astronomy as your main interest, chances are that
a telescope built for astronomy would suit your needs significantly better
than a spotting scope.

If possible, you should test both types first hand.

Rune