PROJECT: Binocular Dewshields By Art Russell

Everybody seems to have a set of binoculars of some size lying around the house. But how many of you have given serious thought to using binoculars in your astronomy projects?

It may come as a surprise to those permanently wedded to their telescopes that for some large extended objects, binoculars may give the best possible view. Take the Pleiades for instance. Even a moderate sized telescope under anything other than low magnification looks THROUGH the Pleiades. All you see are a few very bright stars. But, take a look through a set of binoculars and viola! You have one of the prettiest sights under the Winter skies! The same is true for many other objects as well. To get a good start, check out any one of several good books on binocular astronomy. You may be surprised to find that many of the Messier Objects are in fact binocular objects.

Having set the stage for one’s interest in binoculars, if you head out under night skies with your binoculars unprepared for the evenings’ cool temperatures, you’ll soon discover that common bane of all good astronomers’ optical systems, dewing on your lenses!

Unlike solutions for larger telescopes, you can protect your binoculars very cheaply. In the picture, you see my solution for a set of 11X80mm binoculars: two "Quick Quaker Oats" boxes. The fit is tight but is perfect for the job. In this application, simply cut the bottom off both boxes so they are the same length, about 6 1/2 inches. Be sure to keep the tops, because they make excellent lens caps when the dew shields are in place. As the fit may be very snug, the second step is to slide the boxes onto your lenses to make them expand a little bit before painting. Once you’ve made an adequate fit, remove your "Quick Quaker Oats" dewshields from your binoculars and at a safe location, spray paint them both inside and outside with several coats of Krylon’s Ultra Flat Black paint. Once dried, they are now a set of custom binocular dew shields. Need a different size for your binoculars? Simply find a different type of cylinder and make your own dewshields in the same manner!