During astronomical observations, our eyes need to be dark adapted in order perceive faint distant celestial objects whose photons have travelled millions and in some cases billions of light years before reaching Earth. In this blog article, I aim to demystify the mechanism of dark adaptation, the importance of dark adaptation, how long does dark adaptation take, how to preserve dark adaptation and also recommend red LED flashlights to use during astronomical observing sessions. Let’s dive right in.

Binoculars are not only an excellent instrument to begin your journey in astronomy, they are also an outstanding complement to a telescope. They do not become obsolete after you have bought yourself a sophisticated telescope. Furthermore, binoculars are the preferred instrument of observation for a number of amateur astronomers like myself. Comfort, speed of set up and ease of use are some of the advantages of using binoculars to observe the night sky over a telescope. Observing the night sky through a pair of binoculars is a beautiful endeavour.