Best pair of astronomy binoculars for star gazing and moon viewing?

I recently got a pair of Meade astronomy binoculars which are 19x63. I think they're great - they have a nice zoom with clear views and are easy to use. However my curiosity always gets the best of me and I want something more powerful now. Can you guys recommend a pair with more power for seeing all the fine details of our moon's craters? I'd also like to be able to view other planets in our solar system. Thanks

reply to post by genma


It'll be hard to make much improvement on what you have as the largest I've seen is 30x80 by Saxon at about $250+ and they're non-zoom plus you'd need a tripod to steady them (they have a tripod mount fitted). To view the planets you're into the realm of largish telescopes like an 8" or larger Dobsonian with the right eyepieces particularly if you expect to see the rings on Saturn, Jupiter and its moons or polar icecaps on Mars IE serious cash unless you can grind your own mirrors and DIY the whole thing.

I have used THESE before, they have built in image stabilization so everything is very sharp.

I'm looking for something really portable that I can grab and take places and view through with my hands. If I bought a pair with a ton of zoom would those let me see further? Else, do I need a pair made specifically for astronomy?

One thing i used to do as a kid was zoom into a magnifying glass with a camcorder to see the fibres of my jeans - I didnt know it was macro photography back then lol.. but perhaps you could use a similar technique via binoculars, since they are a zoom lens in effect and zooming further with a decent HD camcorder could yield brilliant results. As long as the camera and binocular optics are decent it should be ok. Plus, the moon is bright enough to counteract any decrease in brightness via coupling of different optics.

For an example in terms of planetary viewing, I have a 127mm reflector telescope (1000mm focal length) and with a 3x Barlow plus a 12mm eyepiece I can just make out Saturn's rings (even edge-on as they are at present) and even a hint of its moon Titan but that's only a pinpoint of light. Translate those specs to a pair of binoculars and you wouldn't be able to hold them up very long at all (too heavy).

reply to post by genma


The most powerful binoculars I could find are the Celestron SkyMaster 25x-125x 80mm zoom which sell for around $500 in Oz. They weigh about 3lb so your arms are likely to get a bit weary if you don't mount them on a tripod



For that sort of cash you could get an 8" Dobsonian with far more power but the portability and convenience is lost I guess.