Re: ATM binocular scopes

["Clive Milne" <milnecd@wantree.com.au>]

>Wayne wrote.....
>just how much does this kind of scope increase resolution?
>Can you calculate
>a value, or is it "personal sight" dependent?


.... I couldn't give you specific numbers, but in my experience the effect
is significant.
You will find that the information that is in the image will be more easily
visible at lower powers... that is to say that you will not need to crank up
the magnification to see all that is there.
     On high contrast objects I have noticed that binocular vision allows
your brain to reconstruct a sharp image when the seeing is bad. Opening the
second eye turns a mushy image into a sharp one that is just distorting
(like ripples on a pond)....  The Moon and Sun are transformed into
magnificent objects, the perception of depth in craters and mountain chains
is undeniable, obviously the human mind relies on more than just paralex to
infer dimension. And low contrast features like solar granulation stand out
like hairy dog's.... well, we won't go there.
    Aside from all the aesthetic reasons, binocular telescopes (when
properly aligned) induce a heck of alot less eyestrain than monocular
telescopes... Dr Robert Suding notes that the average time that people will
spend at the eyepiece of a monocular is around 30 seconds.... With a
binocular telescope, people naturally spend 5 minutes on average before the
next person in the queue persuades them to leave.... Imagine how long the
line would be if you were to take a 40" bino to TSP....!
    You were born with two eyes.... why only use one of them...?.... It's
like listening to your stereo whilst wearing one ear plug.