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Binocular Astronomy
Many people have binoculars, perhaps using them for bird watching, sports events, or many other things. But what about the night sky? Yes, some things are best seen with the unaided eye and others require telescopes, but it turns out that there are many celestial objects and events that can be seen well (or even best) in binoculars! As with telescopes, larger and better-quality binoculars cost more, but almost any binocular shows more than the unaided eye (years ago, I was astonished at what I could see with just a set of plastic toy binoculars!). Binoculars are easy to use and far more easily portable than a telescope. Like anything, they have limitations, but you might be surprised at what you can see!
Binocular Astronomy
Finding the Best Binocular Objects for Beginners
The locator charts for these 24 objects assume you are observing around 10 p.m. There are objects for each two-month period of the year. Whatever period it is when you are observing, click below on those two months to find the locator charts for the best objects. At any time, you can also look for the objects for the two months before or after the period when you are observing. To find the region of the locator chart in the sky, click on the Acadiana Sky Star Maps link for this year (to the left on this page) .
If you don't want to observe around 10 p.m., remember that the stars rise and set about two hours earlier each month. For 8 p.m., use the previous month's map. For midnight, use the next month's map; move forward by one month's map for every two hour period past 10 p.m.
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