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Many telescopes show you the sky upside down. They give you a better chance to see patterns in the cosmos. And binoculars give you a much better appreciation for how objects relate to one another. Binoculars, with their wider field of view, let you scan the sky for targets. For a most fulfilling visual experience, get all your brain's "wetware" working on it. Remember, seeing occurs in your mind's eye. Binocular literally means "two eyes." You get twice the opportunity to paint your brain with starlight. It's an issue for everything, really, except the moon - which can be too bright - and a few vivid planets. That's a problem when observing deep-sky targets like comets, galaxies and widely diffuse star clusters. Paradoxically, the more a telescope magnifies an object, the dimmer that object appears.
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But their main job is to gather light (opens in new tab). This is where binoculars have an advantage over even the best telescopes (opens in new tab) available. Binoculars can lock in tightly to both your eye sockets and your hands are close in to your face for more stability. Angling a long tube up toward the sky makes the shake problem even worse your extended arm wiggles the front objective lens. So telescopes need to sit on tripods or rocker-boxes for stability. Even little ones are bigger, heavier and longer than most binoculars. Oberwerk 15x70 Ultra Binoculars at Amazon for $149.95 (opens in new tab).(Image credit: / Jeremy Lips & Dave Brody )