Binoculars

When you are starting out and first want to explore the night sky, you don’t necessarily need a telescope. You can always begin with a pair of binoculars. They are generally lighter, less expensive, and easier to transport. Binoculars have a wider field of view, but a lower magnification. They also allow you to look with both eyes rather than squinting through the single eyepiece of a telescope.

Binoculars can provide a nice view of some of the brighter objects (particularly the Moon). However, you might have some trouble holding them steady and a mount could be helpful. Leaning against a wall or sitting in a chair often does the trick.

As with telescopes, make sure to purchase binoculars with quality optics and a solid construction from a reputable supplier. Cheap “department store” binoculars will probably not work too well.

Porro Prism and Roof Prism Binoculars

Porro prism binoculars are less expensive and are the usual choice for astronomy.

Roof prism binoculars are lighter, but generally more expensive.

Magnification X Field of View

Binoculars have two numbers associated with them, the magnification and the size of the front lenses (which determines the field of view). For example, 10 X 25 binoculars provide a magnification of 10X and have 25mm lenses. Some suggest using a lower magnification to reduce the shaking of the image.

Binoculars for Astronomy

Large binoculars designed specifically for astronomy are also available. These typically require some type of a mount and might be something to try after you have some stargazing experience.

For many, a standard tripod will do (left image). However, others have suggested using a monopod or possibly a parallelogram mount (right image). If you are really creative, you could build a binocular chair. A few random links are found below.