although am working in italy, when back in my adopted home of manila I live on the 31st floor of a condo block in the central business district of makati, manila. I have a panoramic view of the makati skyline and also over to malate and although am no peeping tom apart from just looking at ordinary day to day stuff, (also my close neighbour buildings are call centres and such like). Manila has weekly events such as firework displays, warehouse fires, police rushing through the city and other things that represent a great and vibrant city!
I have a great view as it stands but would love to be able to home in to street sellers peddling their stuff and see more action. I also regularly go to the islands where there is no light polution and even with the naked eye have a breathtaking view of the milky way. I want to be able to see more of the constellations and planets
In short …i wanna see more! What do I need? what binoculars? whats these stabilised image binos? do I need a telescope for the star stuff? For the street action I want a wide vision? I wanna stress that am not interested in peering through anyone’s bedroom curtains, enough happens in my bedroom to keep me happy hahaha!
any advice?
apreciations in advance
doh! can a mod correct the spelling error in the title
I use these, mostly for birdwatching and stargazing. They have almost every undesirable attribute possible: heavy, expensive, eat batteries, poor close-focus performance. Offsetting this is just one virtue: they let you see impressively more than any other set. And that makes them the clear choice.
I can’t suggest a specific model since I’ve only owned cheap binoculars, but I can give you a few pointers to do with their use in astronomy. You certainly don’t need a telescope to get started with star gazing. In fact binoculars are usually recommended as the best instrument for a beginner since the offer a wide field of view and ease of use at a relatively low price. Look for models with a large front lens upwards of 40mm to gather a decent amount of light to study fainter objects. Magnification typically comes at the expense of a smaller field of view and something between 10-15x would be my suggestion (I use 10x50). Stability and weight are obviously issues, however I’d highly recommend getting a tripod for any practical extended observation, which largely resolves these problems. Bear in mind that not all binoculars can be mounted on a tripod so it’s worth checking beforehand. A fairly comprehensive buyers guide in relation to astronomy can be found here.