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No need for a telescope: The right binoculars can help amateur astronomers get started

Here are some suggestions from experts on what kind of stargazing binoculars to buy

LAKE CITY, COLORADO - JANUARY 13: Local "Starman" Phillip Virden looks down the valley at the San Juan Mountains with his binoculars at Windy Point on Slumgullion Pass on State Highway 149 on January 13, 2021 near Lake City, Colorado. Virden is the Coordinator for the Astronomy and Dark Sky Initiative for the Lake Fork Valley Conservancy. He is working closely with Gunnison National Forest to create a site for a new observatory that will be near the summit of Slumgullion Pass about 10 miles from Lake City. This site will be a Dark Skies designated site. The plans are to build an observatory with a deck and scope to view the night skies. Known locally as "Starman" he hosts events for children and others's to teach them about the night skies and stars. Gaining dark sky status means that parks and communities provide public education about dark skies and helps to preserve dark skies. Other towns in Southern Colorado looking to get dark sky designations include Alamosa, Monte Vista Crestone, La Veta and Pagosa Springs and areas near Creede and Mineral County in the San Luis Valley. Virden suggests that before buying large and expensive telescopes to view the skies use your neck and eyes first to learn about the stars, constellations and planets in the night sky. Then get some binoculars which are portable and light and allow users to see things more closely. Then graduate to telescopes. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
LAKE CITY, COLORADO – JANUARY 13: Local “Starman” Phillip Virden looks down the valley at the San Juan Mountains with his binoculars at Windy Point on Slumgullion Pass on State Highway 149 on January 13, 2021 near Lake City, Colorado. Virden is the Coordinator for the Astronomy and Dark Sky Initiative for the Lake Fork Valley Conservancy. He is working closely with Gunnison National Forest to create a site for a new observatory that will be near the summit of Slumgullion Pass about 10 miles from Lake City. This site will be a Dark Skies designated site. The plans are to build an observatory with a deck and scope to view the night skies. Known locally as “Starman” he hosts events for children and others’s to teach them about the night skies and stars. Gaining dark sky status means that parks and communities provide public education about dark skies and helps to preserve dark skies. Other towns in Southern Colorado looking to get dark sky designations include Alamosa, Monte Vista Crestone, La Veta and Pagosa Springs and areas near Creede and Mineral County in the San Luis Valley. Virden suggests that before buying large and expensive telescopes to view the skies use your neck and eyes first to learn about the stars, constellations and planets in the night sky. Then get some binoculars which are portable and light and allow users to see things more closely. Then graduate to telescopes. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 13 : Denver Post's John Meyer on Monday, January 13, 2014. (Photo By Cyrus McCrimmon/The Denver Post)
By | jmeyer@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
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Getting your player ready...
Binoculars can help you see nebulae, star clusters and several planets, including Jupiter with some of its moons.
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