Celestron 18x50 IS question

I'm wondering what kind of performance you can get out of Canon's 18x50
IS binoculars. If anyone can comment in general that would be great.
Here are a few specific questions:

Can you see all the Messier objects with these?
How good is the view of the Moon?
Is viewing Saturn's rings possible or just an elogated blob?
Is there enough contrast to see much of Andromeda?

Thanks!

Clear Skies, Paul

Paul Murphy wrote:
Can you see all the Messier objects with these?

Definitely. You can see them all in a 10x50, for that matter, but the
view is much better in an 18x50.

How good is the view of the Moon?

Pretty darned good for binoculars, but I find myself wanting much more
magnification. At 18x, the magnified Moon only subtends about 9 degrees,
or less than 1/6 of the field of view. I'd really prefer more like 50x,
at the very least, which you need a telescope for.

Is viewing Saturn's rings possible or just an elogated blob?

That depends on how acute your vision is. I certainly think that it is
possible to see them in 18x50s; in fact, I can see them indistinctly in
10x50s. But I see it more as an observing challenge than as a way to
really reveal the beauty of the rings. For that, again, you need a
telescope.

This and the previous answer should indicate that the forte of the 18x50
binoculars is not lunar and planetary observation. It's much better at
the larger DSOs. The one aspect of planetary observation that it would
be good to use the binoculars for is for finding Uranus and Neptune,
which don't reveal much in telescopic views anyway. Since the field of
view of the binoculars is larger than most telescopic views, they make
good instruments for finding and verifying these two planets. I've
found and verified them in my 10x50 IS binoculars.

Is there enough contrast to see much of Andromeda?

That depends more on your skies than on the binoculars. If they're dark,
then the 18x50s are almost ideal instruments for M31, in my opinion. (I
am quite sure they aren't, in other opinions. g)

By the way, I didn't think Celestron made image stabilizers. Are you
quite sure you don't mean Canon?

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt

On Fri, 1 Oct 2004 02:56:40 +0000 (UTC), (Brian Tung)
wrote:

[...]

By the way, I didn't think Celestron made image stabilizers. Are you
quite sure you don't mean Canon?

Quite possibly, since he mentioned Canon in the body of his message.

Nick

--
Nick Theodorakis

contact form:
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By the way, I didn't think Celestron made image stabilizers. Are you
quite sure you don't mean Canon?

Brian,

Thanks for answering all my questions. You're right, the Celestron in
the subject was a typo...must be all my thinking about getting the 9.25
GPS after I get a house with a big, dark back yard. You can get the
Canon 18x50 IS for $974 shipped from Amazon.com, which seems like a good
deal compared to what they cost in the past. I've been so busy at work,
I haven't had time to use my telescope much (TV 102...bought last year),
so I thought the 18x50s would be my best bet to get quick views and
learn the sky a bit by actually observing on a consistent basis so I can
appreciate the views in my telescope once transportation and setup gets
more convenient for me. If I end up getting the 18x50s, I'll post my
Messier Marathon notes here.

Thanks again...Paul

Nick Theodorakis wrote:
Quite possibly, since he mentioned Canon in the body of his message.

Oops, you're right! Guess that's one of the risks of editing down the
message I'm replying to...

Brian Tung
The Astronomy Corner at http://astro.isi.edu/
Unofficial C5+ Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/c5plus/
The PleiadAtlas Home Page at http://astro.isi.edu/pleiadatlas/
My Own Personal FAQ (SAA) at http://astro.isi.edu/reference/faq.txt