What is a Monocular?
A monocular is a miniature, low powered telescope or spotting scope which you hold in your hand like a binocular but use with one eye like a telescope. A monocular shares characteristics with both binoculars and spotting scopes, but is much smaller than either. Size, then, is really what a monocular is all about. Some monoculars are no larger than your thumb or thicker than a good ink pen and any monocular will slip easily into a pocket or a purse. When a spotting scope or a binocular, even a compact, is too large to take along, there is always a monocular. There is no excuse for leaving home without your monocular. When should you consider buying a monocular? Anytime you need to keep things small and just need to take a peek, think monocular. Is that a rock or a deer out in that field? Pull a monocular out of your pocket and take a look. What does that sign across the shopping center say? Pull a monocular out of your purse or pocket and take a look. A monocular can also do double duty
A monocular is essentially half of a pair of binoculars, or a very simple telescope. Using prisms and lenses, a monocular allows the user to view objects at a distance as though they were much nearer. Through the use of two prisms, the resulting image appears in the correct orientation. This is in contrast to most telescopes, in which the image is inverted. A monocular is both lighter and smaller than an equivalent pair of binoculars, making it ideal for certain uses. The fact that, like a telescope, it must be used with only one eye introduces a number of problems that make binoculars preferable in many situations. The stereoscopic effect, which is achieved by using both eyes to view an object, allows for much better tracking of moving objects. It is for this reason that binoculars are preferred for following races or for tracking aircraft or birds in the sky. Monoculars are perfectly suited for astronomy, however, where the objects being viewed are relatively stationary. Many astrono
A monocular is a miniature, low powered telescope or spotting scope which you hold in your hand like a binocular but use with one eye like a telescope. A monocular shares characteristics with both binoculars and spotting scopes, but is much smaller than either. All monoculars are small enough to slip easily into a pocket or a purse. When a spotting scope or a binocular, even a compact, is too large to take along, there is always a monocular.
