Iā€™ve been into Astronomy for a couple years now. However, I always find myself reading the articles people publish every now and then about how to get started in Astronomy. Iā€™m not sure why but I guess I really like remembering my roots, why I fell in love with this hobby in the first place. Reading these articles always spark that excitement back in me! Or maybe I always read them because Iā€™m hoping to find some simple thing to fuel the Astrofire back in me.

In these ā€œHow to start in Astronomyā€ articles the authors will almost always recommend people start out with a pair of binoculars because of binocularā€™s convenience and intuitive nature. It always sounded like a good idea, but I knew that I really wanted a telescope so I skipped the binocs.

Well, tonight Jessica and I ended up going to a benefit dinner in Appleton, WI. We placed some bids on some items and won the Bushnell PowerView 12 x 50mm Binoculars (13-1250C)! Got them for a what I consider a pretty good price too! $41.00. I was excited to get home to see what all the authors Iā€™ve read were raving about.

When I got home I unpacked the binoculars and ran out side to put these babies to the test. I was really curious to see how well DSO (Deep Space Objects) would show up if at all. So I targeted right on the Orion Nebula (M42), of course, and sure enough there she was! Even though Iā€™m in the city. There she was! She wasnā€™t as bright as when I use my 8ā€ Dobsonian, but there was no mistaken there was a nebula in my field of view! Beautiful!

I think my binoculars and I are going to have many years of stargazing ahead of us. The convienence is a HUGE plus! If I want to go camping and I donā€™t have enough room or I just simply donā€™t want to haul my big olā€™ telescope out I really think that my binoculars will be a great alternative.

For those that want to know how to find The Orion Nebula (M42) hereā€™s a quick picture. The nebula sits in the constellation of Orion right on what appears to be the middle star of Orionā€™s sword.

The Orion Nebula



Gregory Strike

Husband, father, IT dude & blogger wrapped up into one good looking package.