Binoculars Vs. Telescopes

Video Transcript

"A good first telescope for an amateur astronomer is actually not a telescope at all, but a pair of good binoculars, and a set of star charts. That way the budding astronomer can learn a lot about the sky, find out where the stars are, where the things are that they really want to study. And, if for any reason, telescope or astronomy does not pan out for them, they still own something wonderful, a good pair of binoculars. If they do stay with astronomy, these will serve them for years, and years, and years. There's never a night when the sky is out and it's very clear that a pair of binoculars won't be a wonderful addition. A good pair of binoculars to start amateur astronomy with would be a good pair of seven by thirty fives, or eight by forty's, or like these, a pair of ten by fifty's. The first number is telling you how much power, or how much magnification the pair of binoculars are giving you. The second number, these being fifty, is the size of the aperture or how much light gathering power binoculars have. So, the greater the numbers the more you'll see at night, the better they are. But, they also get heavier as you get bigger. So, get something that's comfortable, something you'll use, that's very important. And, there are anywhere from twenty five dollars to a hundred and fifty dollar pairs of binoculars. Just get something that you feel comfortable with, with your budget, something that feels comfortable with your hands. And, go out and look at the stars, you'll be amazed at what you can see with just a pair of binoculars."