I am looking for an appendage to attach to the end of a telescope which splits the image into two eyes instead of one.
Does such an appendage exist?
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$\begingroup$ arrrgggghhhhh You should know better! One of dozens: smile.amazon.com/Orion-Binocular-Viewer-for-Telescopes/dp/… $\endgroup$ – Carl Witthoft Oct 9 at 14:40
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Absolutely. You are looking for a binocular eyepiece, or a binocular viewer. Most of them require you to insert two matching ocular eyepieces, so it can be fairly expensive.
Most major telescope eyepiece manufacturers sell them. I'm not sure what the rules are for mentioning brand names, but a quick google for 'telescope binocular viewer' will turn up many examples.
You will require a decent telescope that can take standard 1.25" or 2" eyepieces. Also, the telescope needs a lot of 'back focus', which many Newtonian telescopes do not have. You may also need a barlow lens for focus, which will increase magnification but cut down the field of view and light gathering.
It would be best to check the specifications of the specific bino viewer and your telescope to see if they are compatible. If you have a Schmidt-Cassegrain scope, you should be fine and don't need the barlow.
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$\begingroup$ Nice answer! I think naming brands is fine, as long as you don't have any interests in particular products. I know it has been done before, at least. $\endgroup$ – pela Oct 8 at 21:33
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$\begingroup$ I wonder if you have any knowledge of how much better the view is with a binocular eyepiece? I would imagine two eyes are better than one. But then again the light is split between two so may be dimmer. But defects in each eye could cancel out. $\endgroup$ – zooby Oct 10 at 3:46
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$\begingroup$ I believe opinions vary on them. Much will depend on the quality of all the optics in the train, plus some subjectivity because you aren't of course seeing anything in 3-D. I would search for reviews or look in the various astronomy forums on the internet for opinions and advice. $\endgroup$ – Dan Hanson Oct 10 at 7:23
