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We bid a sad farewell in 2025 to the printed versions of the popular Astronomy Australia annuals.  These had been a fond companion for astronomers of every level across the world for decades. Our friends at Quasar Publishing have now made a PDF, cut-down version of the annual for 2026 free to download. You can download Astronomy 2026 here. Quasar have also made PDF downloads of previous year's editions available for download as well. Download Astronomy previous years here The Quasar Astronomy annuals were always favourite here at BINTEL and we keep some on display in our Glebe store. These are fantastic resources that been made available to the astronomical community and a special thanks to Quasar for putting them online. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL  19th January 2026

The star Betelgeuse has a companion Head outside tonight and check out constellation of Orion, with the famous "tea pot" in the centre. One of the "shoulders" of Orion is a bright red star, the supergiant Betelgeuse. Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground based observatories announced this month that they've confirmed that Betelgeuse has a small companion star which has been named Siwarha. Rather than seeing the smaller star directly, it was detected by seeing the "wake" it left in the outer atmosphere of Betelgeuse during its orbit. An Illustration of Siwarha orbiting Betelgeuse. Image via NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI); Science: Andrea Dupree (CfA) “It’s a bit like a boat moving through water. The companion star creates a ripple effect in Betelgeuse’s atmosphere that we can actually see in the data,” said Andrea Dupree, an astronomer at the CfA, and the lead study author. “For the first time, we’re seeing direct signs of this wake, or trail of gas, confirming that Betelgeuse really does have a hidden companion shaping its appearance and behaviour.” One of the puzzling things about Betelgeuse has been changes in brightness over long periods of time. The confirmation Siwarha can help explain these changes and help understand the evolution of red giants. "With this new direct evidence, Betelgeuse gives us a front-row seat to watch how a giant star changes over time. Finding the wake from its companion means we can now understand how stars like this evolve, shed material, and eventually explode as supernovae.” continued Dupree.  You won't be able see Siwarha your telescope. Apart from it not being able to be spotted with amateur equipment, it's currently behind Betelgeuse. When it emerges into our line of site in 2027, astronomers plan to resume observations.  But if you have a look at Betelgeuse tonight, remember there's another star busily ploughing through red giant's outer atmosphere. Read more at the NASA site here. NASA to roll out rocket for Artemis II moon mission on January 17th 2026 As we've talked about in previous blogs, humans are returning to Moon as part of the Artemis program. This is NASA's project to not just land humans on the Moon and return them to Earth along the lines of the Apollo program in the 1960s, but rather the start of a permanent presence of humans on the Moon and as a stepping stone for further exploration of the Solar System including Mars. Artemis II fully "stacked" and awaiting crew for a mission simulation on the 20th of December 2025. Image via NASA/Joel Kowsky With final assembly Artemis II and the Orion capsule complete, it's due this weekend to commence the 12 hour journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B. “We are moving closer to Artemis II, with rollout just around the corner,” said Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate. “We have important steps remaining on our path to launch and crew safety will remain our top priority at every turn, as we near humanity’s return to the Moon.” Once at Launch Pad 39B, Artemis II will undergo further extensive testing including a complete "wet dress" rehearsal which includes loading of all propellants.   Launch: when? There's a number of launch windows for Artemis II in February 2026. They start off with a possible launch date of NET (No Earlier Than) of the 6th of February.  If testing and preparation indicates more time is needed then there's a possibility of the 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th of that month, with further dates coming up in March and April. As the launch gets closer, we'll be delving into the mission profile and aims and also touching on Artemis III which is due to return humans to the Moon's surface in the coming years.  Read more about the rollout of Artemis II here. Hubble Spots an entirely new type of deep-sky object: Say hello to Cloud-9 Sometimes not finding something is where discoveries are made! We've all heard of nebulae, galaxies, globular cluster and a wide range of other deep-sky object we see in the Milky Way and further out into intergalactic space, galaxies quasars and more. Astronomers have thought for some time there could be large "clouds" of hydrogen gas that for some reasons did not go on to form galaxies. These Reionization-Limited H I Cloud, or a "RELHIC" are ancient fossils left over from the earliest days of the Universe. This image shows the location of Cloud-9, which is 14 million light-years from Earth. The diffuse magenta is radio data from the ground-based Very Large Array (VLA) showing the presence of the cloud. The dotted circle shows where no stars have been found. Image via Joseph DePasquale (STScI) “This cloud is a window into the dark universe,” said team member Andrew Fox of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/Space Telescope Science Institute (AURA/STScI) for the European Space Agency. “We know from theory that most of the mass in the universe is expected to be dark matter, but it’s difficult to detect this dark material because it doesn’t emit light. Cloud-9 gives us a rare look at a dark-matter-dominated cloud.” Astronomers have thought that some clouds of gas spotted previously might have been one these "failed galaxies" but it's taken data from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys to establish that these regions have no stars in them. Cloud-9 is one of several clouds astronomers have been studying. It's about 4,900 light years in diameter, with a mass of about a million Suns based on the radio waves observed.  Researchers have calculated that Cloud-9's dark matter mass to be about be about five billion solar masses. Read more about this new type of astronomical object here. The fastest rotating asteroid  We chatted about the initial observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in a blog article back in June. Part of this first data release was the discovery of some 1,900 new asteroids. Further analysis of these new asteroids found 19 super and ultra fast rotating asteroids, with one being the fastest spinning over 50m ever seen. The fastest spinning main belt asteroid is 2025 MN45. This is some 710m across and spins every 1.88 minutes. For this an incredible rate of rotation for comparatively large object.  Only by taking multiple images over a very short space of time, which is something that the LSST Camera at the Vera C. Rubin is capable of capturing, could these speeds be established. Why do we care about how fast an asteroid is spinning? There' two main reasons. First of all, all bodies in space, from galaxies to planets to even small space rocks tend to rotate, and this is a result of accreting or gathering the material they're made from. They also spin faster as they encounter other bodies through gravitational interactions or even collisions.  2025 MN45 is likely to have been near or hit a decent number of other objects over the course of its history and this helps astronomers piece together more of the early history of the Solar System. Secondly, it helps us understand the composition of asteroids like 2025 MN45 simply because it's not flying apart as it spins!  “Clearly, this asteroid must be made of material that has very high strength in order to keep it in one piece as it spins so rapidly,” says Sarah Greenstreet, NSF NOIRLab assistant astronomer and lead of Rubin Observatory’s Solar System Science Collaboration’s Near-Earth Objects and Interstellar Objects working group. “We calculate that it would need a cohesive strength similar to that of solid rock. This is somewhat surprising since most asteroids are believed to be what we call ‘rubble pile’ asteroids, which means they are made of many, many small pieces of rock and debris that coalesced under gravity during Solar System formation or subsequent collisions.” Find out more here. Google Co-founder funds a range of new observatories New data and observations to be made freely available  Illustration of the Lazuli Space Observatory In the 19th and 20th Century, many of the world's largest telescopes were funded by wealthy individuals who wanted to leave a legacy. American philanthropists especially enabled the building of large telescopes such as the 40" Yerkes (still the largest refractor ever built), the 100" telescope at Mt. Wilson and the 200" Hale Reflector at Mt. Palomar which helped discover our place in the Universe, plus many others. More recent observatories have largely been built by consortiums of major universities or even national space agencies due to their complexities and costs.  Last week the co-founder of Google, Eric Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, announced the funding of four major new observatories, with all of them due to become operational by 2029. The Argus Array is a collection of 1,200 11" sized telescopes working together to perform like a 8m class telescope. This will aim to image the entire night sky every few days so changes and event can be captured in minutes or even minutes. LFAST: The Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope combines groups of 76-cm telescopes observing in the near infrared.  There's a prototype of this observatory already up and running The Deep Synoptic Array (DSA) radio telescope scope and is made up of  1,650 dishes in a radio-quiet valley in Nevada, USA. It aims to scan the sky faster than any current observatory. What will probably get the most attention is the Lazuli Space Observatory, which is a 3m sized space telescope and will have around 70% more light collecting power the Hubble Space Telescope, but with a much lower cost. “We are going to build a philanthropic, three-meter, off-axis telescope with capabilities that are approaching Hubble,” Pete Klupar, executive director of the Lazuli project at Schmidt Sciences, said during a session at the 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society to announce the observatory program. “And we’re going to do it in three years, and we’re going to do it for a ridiculously low price.” Do you remember SETI@home?  For many years, millions of people around the world ran the SETI@home screensaver on their PC while it analysed data from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to search for any strange signals that might point to intelligence elsewhere in space. If you ran SETI@home back in the day, did you ever wonder if anything was found? This was an early form of distributed computing where people loaned their computer processing power to work on a larger, complex problem.  There were around 12 billion signals that were momentary blips of energy at a particular frequency coming from a particular point in the sky according to computer scientist and project co-founder David Anderson. These were further refined to around million and then down to a final 100 signals that can't easily be explained.  These targets are now being investigated by the China's FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope) , a massive radio telescope in the hope of finding the data again. The results are FAST aren't in yet, but researchers aren't expecting to find any signs of intelligence in the data. “If we don’t find ET, what we can say is that we established a new sensitivity level. If there were a signal above a certain power, we would have found it,” said Anderson. “Some of our conclusions are that the project didn’t completely work the way we thought it was going to. And we have a long list of things that we would have done differently and that future sky survey projects should do differently.” There’s no way that you can do a full investigation of every possible signal that you detect, because doing that still requires a person and eyeballs,” he said. “We have to do a better job of measuring what we’re excluding. Are we throwing out the baby with the bath water? I don’t think we know for most SETI searches, and that is really a lesson for SETI searches everywhere.” Read more at the University of Berkley here. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 17th of January 2026

2026 is certainly shaping up as an exciting year for the astronomy and space community! Humans are heading back to the Moon for the first time since 1972 Possibly the most exciting event for the first part of 2026 is the Artemis II mission due to launch NET (No Earlier Than) February 2026.  That's right; people are flying to the Moon next month! Artemis II Crew. Image via: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani Four astronauts will launch from the famous Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center and spend around 10 days in their Orion capsule. Around 24 hours after successful insertion into Earth orbit and system checkouts, their spacecraft will perform at TLI (Trans Lunar Injection) burn that will send the crew on their way to the Moon. This will be the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972 that humans have left Earth orbit. Artemis II doesn't have enough fuel to insert Orion into orbit around the Moon and then perform another burn to escape the Moon's gravity and return to Earth.  Rather it will loop around the Moon just the once, using a free-return trajectory that doesn't require any propellant. Orion will be at approx. 7,4000 kms to the Moon at its closest approach.  (For space history fans, this mission profile is not dissimilar to the flight path of Apollo 13.)   While no landing, let alone time spent in Lunar orbit will be attempted, this is an important step in a permanent human presence on the Moon. Read more about Artemis at the NASA site here. Blue Moon Mk1 - the largest Lunar lander ever built Another major Moon mission is the expect launch in the first half of 2026 of the Blue Moon Mk1 aboard the New Glenn mega rocket.  This is due to land near the Shackleton Crater at the Moon's south pole. It's designed to be a cargo ship, capable of delivering approx. 3 tonnes of supplies to anywhere on the Moon's surface and is larger and heavier than Apollo era Lunar Landers which landed and returned two humans to the Moon from Lunar orbit. Read more here. Supermoons in 2026: there's three of them kicking off tonight! A "Supermoon" is where the Earth and Moon are closest together in their orbits and because of this, the Moon appears slightly larger in the sky, especially in the early evening.   They're great spectacles and well worth checking out. The first Supermoon is tonight, 3rd of January 2026 in Australia, so head outside if the weather is clear. Total Lunar Eclipse March 3-4, 2026 There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse visible in a large part of Australia in early March 2026. This is where the entire surface of the side of the Moon visible from Earth is covered by the Earth's shadow, turning a dull red and sometimes called a "Blood Moon".  It's a slow moving event and easily observed through a telescope or binoculars.  The Total Lunar Eclipse in March as seen from Sydney check it out here where you can also see the times for your location. Jupiter at Opposition January 10th An opposition is the best time to see a Solar System planet as it's when the Earth and the planet are closest or "opposite" each other.  The best time for the year to see Jupiter is around the 10th of January where it rises in the early evening sky and be visible all night.  Jupiter as seen from Sydney on the 10th of January 2026 around 10.30pm local time. Image via Stellarium. Jupiter won't be hard to miss as it will be the bright "star" in that part of the sky and will appear to twinkle less.  Oppositions are also slow events, and planets are ideally placed for viewing in the weeks before and after the date. No need to rush out on the night or worry that you'll miss it. Another bright comet? While 2025 will be remembered as a great year for comet viewing with multiple visitors to the inner Solar System including one from deep space, there's some hope that Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) might also become bright enough to be seen with just your eyes. We'll be keeping a close eye on this one! You can keep track of it here. Cool Telescope Tech Smart Telescopes continue in 2026 to make astronomy and astro imaging more accessible for everyone! We've already seen the upcoming availability of the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro and the super compact DWARF mini. These are both perfect for travelling and easy storage and the image quality from these new little telescopes is stunning.  We expect to see even more new products throughout the year as telescope makers continue to open up the Universe to everyone to discover and wonder at. Image stabilised spotting scopes For bird watchers and nature viewers, for long distance observing there's always been a challenge juggling the handheld usability of binoculars and the use of more powerful spotting scopes that require a tripod to avoid shakes and hand movements.  2026 sees the roll out of the new Swarovski Balance spotting scopes that have inbuilt image stabilising tech.  We're expecting these to find a home with folks who are after the best possible optical quality and rock steady views. If you get a chance, swing by BINTEL to try one out in person. Cheers. Earl White BINTEL 3rd January 2026       

2025 has been an amazing year here at BINTEL! There's been some wonderful news, discoveries, plus it's privilege to be at the forefront as we see trends and technologies for amateur astronomers of all levels. In January 2025, we celebrated the re-opening of the iconic Port Macquarie Observatory on the NSW north coast. This astro facility has a popular destination for many years, and the revamp included Celestron and Sky-Watcher telescopes, a Planewave mount and more, all supplied and installed by BINTEL. In fact on of the major trends we're seeing over the last few years is the continual rise of "astro tourism". People are traveling more and more throughout Australia and with some of the finest night skies on the planet to enjoy, tourism operators are keen to offer their guests the opportunity to enjoy the Universe above their heads! It's certainly an area we'll be helping with in the coming years, and there's a growing number of our BINTEL tourism customers using telescopes, especially the newer "Smart Telescopes" to showcase their locations away from city lights. 2025 also saw BINTEL supply other high-end astronomy gear, including Australia's only ZWO ASI461MM Pro Cooled Camera, to a leading University. This $20k+ 100 mega pixel camera will be used to best the design of upcoming astronomy imaging devices to be fitted to some of the world's largest telescopes. Members of the BINTEL team were also involved in a number of public outreach events and presentations. Thanks to Macquarie University and The Sutherland Astronomical Society for the invitations to be involved! Smart Telescopes continue to improve We were excited but not surprised to see the ongoing development of Smart Telescopes from ZWO, DWARF Labs, Vaonis and the release of the Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory Mark II. As these telescopes can be improved by software updates and with competition between various makers, our customers are finding new features and abilities often added. We've seen the roll out of mosaic features to allow stitching together multiple images in a larger panorama, equatorial or "EQ" mode to improve exposure length and more. This entire area is a rapidly changing and we'll be featuring some new products in next week's blog for what's ahead in 2026. 2025: Year of the comet New comets arriving at the inner Solar System from the Oort Cloud happen every year or so. This year we were several and astronomers even had the rare opportunity to photograph two comets in a single image! Comet C/2025 R1 (SWAN) and Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) capture nears Mars by Glenn Pickford on the 21st of September and posted to the BINTEL Society Facebook group. Check out his post here. We also saw the third known visitor to the Solar System, interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS. 3I/ATLAS glowing green during a Lunar eclipse. | Credit: Michael Jäger/Gerald Rhemann The comet is now heading out from the Solar System. It's been extensively imaged by both amateur and professional astronomers. The more fanciful theories about the origins and purpose of Comet 3I/ATLAS haven't shown to be the case. (IE, it's not headed towards Earth, nor is it an alien spaceship), however there are some interesting observations about its composition. This isn't surprising, giving its origin from elsewhere in the Milky Way and it was a rare opportunity to study such a body (comparatively) close up.  The "3I" in the comet's name is because it's the third interstellar object we've observed in the Solar System. Astronomers can spot these bodies as they're moving too fast to be captured by the Sun's gravity. With the opening this year of the long awaited Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, we could possibly discover several interstellar objects each year. This unique telescope photographs the entire sky visible from its location every few nights, allowing it quickly find new, fast moving objects in the Solar System and brief but faint events in distant galaxies.  During the observatory's test period, it was able to find a swarm of new asteroids, including a number that closely approach Earth. The opening of Vera C. Rubin was certainly one of the highlights of 2025 and astronomers the world over are eagerly waiting on new discoveries. What is possibly the most enigmatic news in 2025 was a very cautious announcement from NASA that their Perseverance Rover had found what could be signs of ancient life on the surface of Mars. A close up of the rock Cheyava Falls show the tiny "Leopard Spots". Image via NASA / JPL-Caltech These results are still the topic of much discussion among scientists. The onboard remote laboratory on the Perseverance Rover doesn't have equipment needed for a final confirmation and it require either samples to be returned from the surface of Mars to Earth for better analysis, or for humans to carry out experiments once they land on the red planet. Either way, it will be years before we know if life did in fact exist elsewhere in the Solar System, however the results are truly tantalising! What were your favourite events for 2025? Comment below and we'll add them to next week's blog! Cheers, Earl White BINTEL  27th December 2025                    

Premium Binoculars and Spotting Scopes from ZEISS: BINTEL have been supplying binoculars and spotting scopes to our customers for over four decades for all sorts of pastimes and lifestyles including bird watching, nature, whale watching, sports and even astronomy. We feel especially delighted when our customers decide to upgrade their optics for a better viewing experience.  Premium binoculars and spotting scopes from BINTEL offer significant improvements above and beyond simply buying a famous "name" and we're always keen to point out what they offer, as well as offering our advice on the best choice of optics for your outdoor lifestyle.  More than just magnification: Putting YOU in the scene Most people would know that binoculars enlarge or magnify the size of distant objects.  This is the same effect is getting physically closer; however there's more to the "view" than simply bumping up the size of what you're looking at.  With just our eyes, the reason we move towards something to see it in more detail is that, yes, the size of the what you're seeing does increase in size and this lets you pick up elements that can't be spotted from a distance, however, the other parts of what we see doesn't deteriorate. For example, our field of view or what we see side-to-side stays the same. The sharpness and colours we see remains. When we use binoculars to "get in close", the nature of optical systems means there's often trade offs between the view they produce, sharpness on offer and more.  We know instinctively that we're look through something rather than simply looking at something up closer. Our minds spend time making up for these differences and that experience is less lifelike One of the main benefits of higher end binoculars and spotting scopes is they have far fewer downsides to the views they produce. This means what we perceive through them is a more lifelike scene in front of our eyes.  It's not uncommon for our customers when trying out binoculars from companies like ZEISS to tell us something like "Wow! It's just like I'm  there!" ZEISS Victory SF 10x32 Binoculars   Quality optics produce more lifelike viewing The most important part of any optical system is the multiple components that blend together to produce the image of objects in the distance that our mind perceives. Some of the optical elements in ZEISS binoculars.  There's a lot of terms that are used to describe how the optics, especially of binoculars, work. One of these is sharpness.  You might hear people describing more expensive binoculars as being "sharper" or "crisper". What does this really mean? This is made up of several parts. First of all, just how well the optics bring views into a crisp sharp, focus without any blurring.  This lets us quickly see more details of what you're viewing.  Another factor is premium optics having next to no chromatic aberration. This is where different colours are focussed slightly differently and the result is a slight coloured or blurry fringing around the edges of the field of view.  Optical designers work to minimise these effects by using multiple elements in their design, often of a different and higher quality type of glass. (You can check out my article on "ED Glass" and how it improves binocular and spotting scope views here.) Another factor to take into consideration is light transmission.  A little bit of light is lost as it travels through each lens and bounces off the mirrored surfaces of internal prisms.  Again, premium optics will reduce this light loss and binoculars such as the ZEISS HDX series will offer light transmission of 90% or higher. ZEISS Conquest HDX 10x42 Binoculars   This is important especially under low light or overcast conditions as brighter viewing keeps the fine details in the scene visible. For observations in the field, as the viewing improves it's easier to concentrate for extended periods  Another thing you need to consider when selecting binoculars is field of view, sometimes shortened to FOV. I covered this in detail in another blog article that you can find here.) This refers to how much you can see side to side and up and down.     Our eyes have a field of view of around 150 degrees or just under halfway around. This, like so many other parts of our bodies sadly, will change and decrease as we age. Interestingly we evolved sensitivity to movement at the extreme edges of our vision and this the reason we refer to "spotting something out of the corner of our eye." It's not difficult to produce optics that have wide fields of view. However, it is tricky to make sure the outer edges of the view are sharp and not distorted. Again, our minds are experts at working out what's real and what's not and even slight aberrations will reduce our perception of what's being presented to us. One of the main features of higher quality binoculars is not just their wider fields, but the quality and clarity, especially around the edges of what you're looking at. Weatherproofing and keeping water away All binoculars sold by BINTEL have some degree of waterproofing.  This ranges from beginner's binoculars being ok to use in a light shower through to those with complete waterproofing and even floatation aids they're dropped overboard! At the higher end, this protection can be extremely robust. For example, the ZEISS Conquest HDX is pressure-tested to 400 mbar and immersion-tested for more than two hours at depths of up to four metres, a level of sealing designed to cope with heavy rain, spray, and accidental submersion. Alongside waterproof construction, higher end ZEISS binoculars and spotting scopes also feature LotuTec® water-repellent coatings. In rain, misty, or damp conditions, water beads and rolls off the front lenses rather than pooling and blocking your view.   Mechanical construction: toughness doesn't have to equal extra weight One key consideration about optics for your lifestyle is weight and balance while at the same time making sure they're going to handle the rough and tumble of travel and being used in the field. We've seen newer binoculars such as the ZEISS SFL series offer some remarkable optical quality but in an extremely lightweight body and rugged Magnesium housing.  ZEISS SFL 8x30 Binoculars    To wrap up: Affordable and mid-priced binoculars offer excellent views and let you enjoy bird watching, nature, sports and more,  As you move to premium binoculars and spotting scopes from companies such as ZEISS they offer a range features that you'll experience from moment you look through them.  They include: Sharper, crisper images Flawless colours Wide fields of views, right to the edge Better weather and waterproofing for use under all conditions These and other features add up to optics that provide a far more immersive viewing experience and offer relaxed and comfortable viewing for extended periods of observation. If the outdoors is a big part of your lifestyle, have a chat with the team here at BINTEL about ZEISS binoculars and spotting scopes. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 15th December 2025      

We're open for the two Sundays before Christmas, closed on the public holidays and New Years Eve due to crowd congestion around Sydney Harbour. BINTEL is Open: Sunday 21st December 10am to 4.00pm Christmas Eve: Wednesday 24th December 9.30am to 2.30pm Please note: last customer collection time for Click and Collect orders on Christmas Eve is 12.00pm Saturday 27th December 9.30am to 4.00pm - regular hours Monday 29th December 9.30am to 5.30pm Tuesday 30th December 9.30am to 5.30pm Friday 2nd January 2026 9.30am to 5.30pm Saturday 3rd January 2026 9.30am to 4.00pm BINTEL is Closed: Christmas Day 25th December Boxing Day 26th December  New Years Eve 31st December New Years Day 1st January 2026    

Binoculars are always a popular gift at this time of the year! There are many different binocular brands and models available in Australia today and we know that choosing the best set can be confusing. At BINTEL, we're always happy to spend time on the phone, online or in person at our retail store helping you select the best binoculars or spotting scope for you and your lifestyle. What do all the numbers mean? First of all, it might help to explain how binoculars are measured. They usually have two numbers.  For example: 8x2 10x4 7x50  The first is the magnification and the second is the size of each front lens in mm Magnification While it might see the highest number is always the best option - after all, the point of binoculars is to increase the size of things in the distance, isn't it? However, higher magnification also means a narrower field of view when searching for fast moving things like birds or sports action as well a emphasising and hand movements or shakes.  Lens size in mm The second number is the diameter of each front lens in mm. For example,  10x32 and 10x42 binoculars would both produce the same size image to your eyes but the 10x42 binoculars would gather more light due to the larger lenses and offer a wider view. This would make them better for low light conditions or for use during dawn or dusk as well as producing a slightly sharper image. They'd also be heavier and likely to be more expensive.  What's the best size for.... There's no one set size that fits all and there's one size that is used for certain activities despite what you read online! Here's a few suggestions for sizes and their uses. This a rough guide and have a chat with us to fine tune the right model binoculars just for you: Bird Watching - 8x42 or 10x42 for more experienced birders Scenery viewing from land - 10x50 or 10x42 Whale Watching on the water - 10x42 Sports - 7x50 or 10x50 Concerts - 10x32 Travelling - 8x32 Compact/pocket sized - 8x25 Vortex Crossfire Vortex produce a wide range of binoculars that offer excellent optical quality and mechanical construction at quite affordable prices. We've had positive and encouraging feedback from our customers who've purchased Vortex from BINTEL.  All of their Crossfire range sit below the $500 Christmas budget.  They're waterproof, include a carrycase, handy "Glasspack" harness in addition to a neck strap and as with all Vortex binoculars, have a lifetime warranty.  You can see the full Crossfire range here. If you'd like to spend a little more, the Vortex's famous Diamondback HD binoculars offer better optics and an improved body design. Check them out here. ZeroTech Thrive For some surprisingly good optics at a low price, binoculars from ZeroTech would be hard to pass by. For example, the ZeroTech Thrive series all feature rugged bodies and are very much aimed at those with an active outdoor lifestyle.  Like Vortex, they have a "no questions" lifetime warranty. You can check out the full Vortex Thrive range here. Part of the Thrive line up such as the ZeroTech Thrive HD 8x42 ED Binoculars for $499 also includes "ED Glass" which helps produces fine, sharp images. This is normally found in more expensive binoculars and spotting scopes. We talked about this in article you can find here.  Gerber  Another brand to look at for those after value for money binoculars is Gerber. Several of their binoculars also feature ED glass and a number are aimed at those heading out onto the water with an inbuilt compass plus toughened coatings that allow them to float. Handy if they're dropped overboard! Gerber also produce spotting scopes for under $500 that include  tabletop tripod and mobile phone adaptor.  You can find more about Gerber at BINTEL here.  Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 5th December 2025  

There's lots to see in our wonderful southern skies It's only a few weeks to go! Christmas 2025 is fast approaching and telescopes are always a popular gift idea for young (and young at heart) astronomers.  Here's a few of our telescope gift ideas for under $500 that Santa can load onto his sleigh and leave under the tree ready to delight on Christmas morning. What can I see? The first thing that new astronomers who visit BINTEL ask is if they can see the Solar System planets. The Celestron StarSense and Saxon 6" Dobsonian telescopes mentioned here will see Saturn, Jupiter and Mars and even spot the more distant Uranus and Neptune.  The Moon will be amazing, showing craters, mountains and open planes called Mare. You'll also gain an appreciation of the phases of the Moon as the Lunar "day" progress, revealing changing shadows that highlight different features. What many folks don't realise is that our Moon and the Solar System are just the very start of your astronomy journey.  There's a lifetime of exploration to be found checking out deep-sky features such as nebulae, star clusters and more in the Milky Way. You'll even be able to see galaxies millions of light years away. BINTEL's monthly guides to the night sky covers some of what you can see and when, and are a great way to learn about what you can view each month. Celestron StarSense Explorer telescopes We've probably sold thousands of these popular telescopes over the last few years and based in the feedback from our customers, we never hesitate to recommend them. They're available in a variety of sizes or "apertures" to suit your budgets. You might think magnification is the most important way to work out how powerful a telescope is, but this is not the case. Astronomers measure telescopes by their aperture. This is how wide their main mirror or lens is in mm or sometimes in old-school inches. As a telescope's main task is to collect the light that falls into it and concentrate it into your eye or camera, the larger it is, the more light from the Universe above us it scoops up. This means more detail and the ability to peer at even fainter, distant objects.  Basically, the larger the aperture of a telescope, the more you'll see. The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT70 AZ is a 70mm refactor telescope and an ideal low-cost introduction to astronomy. It's also quite lightweight, making it easy to move around and store. We have these telescopes in store to show you and can also send online orders to anywhere in Australia. Celestron StarSense Explorer LT70AZ - $349  Moving up a little in size or aperture, the StarSense LT127 AZ offers larger optics that collects more than three times as much light as the smaller LT70 AZ telescope.  Celestron StarSense Explorer LT127 AZ Both of these Celestron telescopes include: Tripod Mount Two eyepieces for different magnifications This is essentially everything you need to start observing on the night after Christmas. While there are other accessories and upgrades available, you don't need them to enjoy views through your new telescope.  Possibly the handiest feature of all the telescopes in this range is the Celestron StarSense Explorer systems. This mounts your Apple or Android phone in a cradle attached to the telescope and using a special Celestron app included with the telescopes, shows you where to locate astro objects in the night sky.  This cool gizmo shows you where to point your telescope to observe planets deep-sky objects and even take you on personalised guided tours.  This is included on all models in the StarSense Explorer range.   Saxon 6" Dobsonian - $499 A Dobsonian or "Dob" telescope refers to the simple yet highly effective mount that's usually associated with Newtonian style reflectors. They've been popular with astronomers for decades mainly as Dobs are probably the most effective way to get the most telescope for your astro dollar.    Saxon 6" Dobsonian Telescope We'd rate this 6", along with the larger models in the Saxon Dob range, as ideal telescopes for serious beginners.  They all come with two eyepieces as standard,  and there's wide range of add on eyepieces to further improve your viewing as your experience grows.  It's not uncommon for our customers to use their Dobs for years or even decades! Perfect starter telescope for young astronomers - Celestron FirstScope - $99 This might be the tiniest telescope we sell but it's certainly not a toy. This little 76mm Celestron can easily be picked up in one hand and carried around. Simple to use, it's a perfect introduction to star gazing, offering memorable views of the Moon and discovering Milky Way star clouds, nebula and star clusters.  Celestron FirstScope - $99 The "Dob" base means it's and won't shake or wobble around. The optics are surprisingly good, plus there's a low cost upgrade kit available as well. You'd be surprised how many experienced astronomers keep a little "pocket dob" like these in their car as a quick, grab 'n go telescope.  Celestron FirstScope Accessory Kit - $25 This kit includes a couple of additional eyepieces, finderscope and Moon filter.  What about taking photos? Next week we'll cover taking photos with your telescope and dedicated, Smart Telescopes. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 22nd November 2025

Blue Origin's New Glenn mega rocket has a second launch This time it's sending twin probes to Mars! We've mentioned SpaceX's Starship rocket in this blog over the last couple of years as it progresses through to a fully operational launch vehicle.  While Starship remains the largest craft even flown by humanity, New Glenn from Blue Origin is also in the class of "mega rocket". It's had one flight in January of this year when it successfully launched a prototype satellite into orbit.  The second flight of New Glenn was delayed this week due to weather, a cruise ship straying into the launch zone and even by the same weather condition a couple of days ago that caused the spectacular aurora seen across Australia on Wednesday night. However, when Blue Origin "lit the wick" yesterday morning Sydney time, New Glenn successfully launched and carried out two major mission objectives.  New Glenn launch yesterday Sydney time. Image via Blue Origin Firstly, Blue Origin has now become the second company after SpaceX to successfully return a large space launch vehicle safely to Earth so it can be flown again.  New Glenn 2 touching down on the Jacklyn landing platform ship It also carried two NASA spacecraft, ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers), destined for Mars where they will spend several years studying the extreme outer regions of the red planet's atmosphere.  The two ESCAPADE spacecraft during final testing onboard New Glenn ahead of its launch this coming week. Image via Blue Origin These twin probes, known Blue and Gold, are test probes design to highlight how comparatively low-cost planetary spacecraft can make valuable contribution to science. They will study the magnetosphere or Mars and investigate the role of the Solar wind in depleting the red planet's atmosphere over the life of the Solar System. We know the Mars once had large regions of surface water and why this disappeared is an ongoing area of active research.  What's "Launch and Linger"? ESCAPADE is now in an elongated Earth orbit where it will remain until late 2026 when it will execute a single burn to commence its journey to Mars when the window for the quickest route for spacecraft to transfer to between the two planets opens. It will arrive there in 2028. This lingering in orbit around Earth means that spacecraft can be launched to Mars when it's economical to hitch a ride on commercial vehicles as opposed to needing to head to orbit to meet up with transfer windows.  An interesting approach to help bring down the costs of deep-space mission! More to the Pleiades than meets the eye One of the most beautiful open clusters in the night sky is the Pleiades (M45). The Pleiades taken by Damir Makšan and posted to The BINTEL Society Facebook Group. This is a famous open cluster in the constellation of Taurus known since ancient times and a favourite of astronomers around the world.  Now astronomers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered the Pleiades that is about 20 times larger than previously thought.  They combined data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope and found thousands of other members which now combine into a region they're now calling The Greater Pleiades Complex. “This study changes how we see the Pleiades—not just seven bright stars, but thousands of long-lost siblings scattered across the whole sky,” said Andrew Boyle, lead author and graduate student in physics and astronomy at UNC-Chapel Hill. “We’re realizing that many stars near the Sun are part of massive extended stellar families with complex structures,” said Andrew Mann, co-author and professor of physics and astronomy at UNC-Chapel Hill. “Our work provides a new way to uncover these hidden relationships.” These newly identified members are likely to be beyond the reach of amateur telescopes, although you'll be able to gaze at at Pleiades this summer knowing that what you're seeing is only part of vast stellar structure. Check out more at the UNC news website here. We talked about open clusters in a blog post earlier in the year that you can read here. While our Sun was formed along with other stars in a nebulae, there's still a search for our stellar siblings. Could exoplanets also have aurora? This past week has seen the Earth whacked by a massive release of charged particles from the Sun. Apart from interfering with communications and space launches, it produced a stunning series of aurora seen across large parts of Australia.  This is caused by a CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) from the Sun.   Artist's impression of a large red giant star emitting a stream of energised particles. Credit: Olena Shmahalo/Callingham et al. Despite extensive searches, no other star has been found sending matter into space like our Sun does on a regular basis. Now for the first time astronomers have now observed an explosive CME on another star, one so large that it could not only cause aurora planets orbiting it, but possibly even strip away a nearby planet's atmosphere! “Astronomers have wanted to spot a CME on another star for decades,” says Joe Callingham of the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), author of the new research published in Nature. “Previous findings have inferred that they exist, or hinted at their presence, but haven’t actually confirmed that material has definitively escaped out into space. We’ve now managed to do this for the first time.” Read more here. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL  15th November 2025

I'd ideally like to observe birds and wildlife at quite a distance, possibly beyond the range of my binoculars. How do I do this? This is a pretty common question we get asked here at BINTEL. We've talked about selecting different binoculars sizes and even about using image stabilising binoculars. (You can read the articles here.) However there comes a point where standard hand held binoculars no matter what the size simply don't have enough magnification. This might be due to a number of reasons.  You could either be trying to observe birds at a distance where you can't get any closer, or where you wish to stay a little further away for example, when they're nesting and don't wish to disturb them. Another situation is trying to observe shorebirds, where they're often beyond the distance you'll see them clearly using standard binoculars.  That's when a spotting scope might help.  What's a spotting scope? A spotting scope or spotter as many call them looks like one side of a big pair of binoculars and this is because that's what they basically are! They often have a larger main lens, a larger body and most importantly for viewing at a distance, offer higher magnifications.  Most spotting scopes come standard with zoom eyepieces. The allows you to look around to find an object of interest and then with a quick twist, zoom in for a closer view.  A Celestron 20-60x80 TrailSeeker Spotting Scope How are spotting scopes measured? Spotting scopes are measured in much the same way as binoculars, IE the magnification and then aperture in mm.  The common zoom eyepieces are given as a range of magnifications instead of a single number.    For example, if a pair of binoculars are said to be 8x42, this means they 8 times magnification their front lenses are 42 mm across in size.  If spotting scope such as the Celestron TrailSeeker listed above is 20-60x80 it means its magnification goes from 20 times to 60 times and has a front lens 80mm across.  Much the same general advice about binoculars also applies to spotting scopes.  Larger main lenses will mean more light gathering for brighter and wider views. They also increase the cost and size.  Working out the best sized spotting scope for your needs is something BINTEL can assist with. Are they any downsides to spotting scopes? There's two and they're both related to their increased magnification offered. First of all, many have a narrower field of view compared to binoculars. You won't be able to see as much side to side.  This makes it a bit hard to spot and locate wildlife or birds, especially if they're flying.  Due to their larger size and higher magnification, they're much holder to hold still. To keep them steady you will generally need to use a tripod.  While this is an extra piece of gear to take into the field, it will ensure steady viewing for longer and easier observing sessions.  Spotting scopes will fit onto any standard photographic tripod with a head that allows it to side to side and up and down. You can use both full height or tabletop tripods.  A Slik 504QF tripod at BINTEL   Can you get compact spotting scopes? Yes. Just like you can get compact binoculars, you can also buy compact spotting scopes such the Kowa TSN-501 and the Celestron Hummingbird.  You might be able to use these hand held at their lower magnification but are likely to need a tripod for higher power when zoomed in. Kowa TSN-501 Spotting Scope Can I take photos through a spotting scope? Yes. This is often called "Digiscoping" and refers to attaching a either a phone or a DSLR camera to the eyepiece of the spotting scope to take photos. A low cost and popular digiscoping gizmo is the Celestron NexYZ: Celestron NexYZ Phone Adaptor What are other common uses for spotting scopes? Spotting scopes are not just for bird watching. If you're looking to view something in the distance, or you'd like to observe for extended periods of time, a spotting scope might be a better option than binoculars. Many BINTEL customers use spotting scopes for whale watching from the shoreline, scenery and cityscape views and even Lunar and Milky Way viewing.  What are some of the brands of spotting scopes that BINTEL sells? Many companies known for the binoculars also make spotting scopes, including Swarovski, ZEISS, Nikon, Kowa, Vortex and others. Bottom line: what's better? A spotting scope or binoculars? There's no real answer to this as they perform different tasks. The portable viewing at close to medium distances, binoculars are ideal. For longer distances or getting in close to medium distance views with minimal disturbances, a spotting scope could be a great solution. It's quite common for bird watchers to have both! If you have any questions about your best choice for birding optics, our friendly team here at BINTEL are always happy to have a chat.  Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 14th November 2025